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Story: Mail and couriers

Sorting mail in a railway carriage, 1930s

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Sorting mail in a railway carriage, 1930s

Travelling post offices – railway carriages where mail was carried and sorted – were in use in New Zealand from 1878 until 1971. From 1909 the post office carriage ran direct from Wellington to Auckland. After one mail carriage caught fire, they were carried right at the end of the train. These postal workers are sorting mail in about 1939.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Making New Zealand Centennial Collection (PAColl-3060)

Reference: MNZ-2091-1/2-F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Tim Shoebridge, Mail and couriers – Mail in the 20th century, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/23057/sorting-mail-in-a-railway-carriage-1930s (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Tim Shoebridge, published 12 April 2010.