Wrecks

[Dave Monroe]

Railway Post Office (RPO) clerks processed mail on moving train cars.
It was hard and dangerous work. Railway mail cars were often placed
directly behind the engine, putting clerks in danger during wrecks.
Companies used wooden mail cars that were not as safe as metal cars,
but were cheaper. These cars often turned into death traps after a
wreck, filled with scalding water from steam engines or set ablaze
when oil lamps and wood stoves tipped over or exploded on impact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FXE0wGCJz4

"'Sorting isn't work?' Oedipa said. 'Tell them down at the post
office, you'll find yourself in a mailbag headed for Fairbanks,
Alaska, without even a FRAGILE sticker going for you.'" (Lot 49, p.
68)

http://books.google.com/books?id=c6ZtqAX7BHMC&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q&f=false