Nearly every letter and package once traveled by train in railcars that contained complete post offices. Postal workers picked up, sorted, and dropped off mail without stopping the train, and for security they were required to wear pistols while on duty. To collect mail, workers used the black metal hook near the forward door to grab canvas bags hanging beside the rails, and to deliver it they tossed the mail bags onto the ground as the train passed a station. This car was built in September 1949 and served on Union Pacific routes through northern Utah, southern Idaho, and Oregon, delivering mail to communities in those areas until it was retired sometime during the 1960's, when airplanes and trucks began carrying mail.