The new service had some teething troubles. It was found that some of the mail arms, erected at various points where the train did not stop, were too high and bags could not be picked up as the train passed. In one place, at Colosseum, the mail arm was sited on a curve and the bag was knocked off by the cabin on the engine before the T.P.0. van reached the point The several minor faults rectified, the service was maintained on a smooth pattern for over 30 years, although during this period alterations in frequency occurred from time to time. The initial T.P.0. service was between Brisbane and Bundaberg (217 miles) and commenced on 26th October, 1900. The service, Bundaberg to Brisbane, opened on the following day. At this time there were four runs a week in each direction. The route between Bundaberg and Gladstone was not within the ordinary limits of the T.P.O. service although mails were dropped in this section twice a week. To meet time-table and staffing requirements the service comprised four sections, Nos. 1 to 4. From 3rd March, 1901, the T.P.0. service was reduced to two a week but by December, 1903, it has been arranged on a basis of three runs a week in both directions. During these periods, the number of operative units was reduced. The travelling post office route was extended to Rockhampton as from 3rd August, 1908, following the building of the railway line to this point. At that time, T.P.0’s Nos. 1 and 2 were confined to the Brisbane-Bundaberg section and Nos. 3 and 4 to the Bundaberg- Rockhampton section, both services continuing on a three-times a week basis. Earlier, when the railway terminus was at Gladstone, mails for Townsville and points north were carried to and from Gladstone by a contract mail vessel and this practice was not varied when the railway line was extended to Rockhampton. As from 1st January, 1913, the Brisbane-Bundaberg service was expanded to six times weekly in each direction and this necessitated an increase in the number of T.P.O. vans and sorting staffs, the further additions being designated Nos. 5 and 6. In subsequent years, particularly over the period of World War I, the frequency of the services varied considerably but from 24th May, 1922, it was practicable to reorganise it on a six-times a week basis between Brisbane and Bundaberg. At the same time, the Gladstone- Rockhampton section was reduced to two a week in each direction. The section between Bundaberg and Gladstone was eliminated. On 1st December, 1923, the North Coast line was extended to Townsville but it was decided at that time that the T.P.O. Service would not be established over this new route. As from 6th February, 1924, the steamer mail service between Gladstone and Townsville was discontinued and, from the following day, mails to and from Townsville travelled all the way by train. The Gladstone-Rockhampton T.P.O. Section ceased to operate in 1927 and from that time, until 31st December, 1930, when it also ceased, the only T.P.0. route on the North Coast line was between Brisbane and Bundaberg. In its last few years, it was operated only twice a week in each direction. One type of postmark associated with the North Coast line is illustrated by the accompanying reduced illustration. Diameter of actual impression is 24 mm. A companion postmark showed “DOWN” in lieu of “UP” above the date line. The series of post markers ranged from No.1 to No. 6 and it is thought that most, if not all, were in pairs of “UP” and “DOWN”. On this route, “DOWN” meant down to Brisbane and “UP” meant away from. Originally published in APO Philatelic Bulletin, August 1960 |
Postal History 
