All three were quickly overshadowed by two new orchestras: Walter Legge's Philharmonia and Beecham's Royal Philharmonic ( RPO ).

The 1. 8-litre engines were replaced by two SOHC multi-port injected 2. 0 liter versions for 1987, one naturally aspirated ( 96 hp / 71 kW ) and one turbocharged version known as RPO LT3.

Most of the equipment in the 1938 upgrade was built new by Pullman-Standard between March and May of that year, but the diners, RPO and baggage cars were rebuilt from heavyweight cars by the railroad's Altoona shops.

In the United States, RPO cars ( also known as mail cars or postal cars ) were equipped and staffed to handle most back-end postal processing functions.

Through the second half of the 19th century, most RPO cars were painted in a somewhat uniform color scheme regardless of the railroad that owned or operated them.

The first plans for RPO car designs were based on light baggage car frames and bodies, which sometimes resulted in catastrophe for RMS employees when the trains were involved in accidents.

At its height, RPO cars were used on over 9, 000 train routes covering more than 200, 000 route miles in North America.

There were 794 RPO lines operating over 161, 000 miles of railroad in that year.

Only 262 RPO routes were still operating by January 1, 1962.

These highway post office ( HPO ) vehicles were initially intended to supplement RPO service, but in the 1950s and 1960s, HPOs often replaced railway post office cars after passenger train service was discontinued.

In December, the diesel engine, generator, trucks, and the steam generator from the RPO / baggage car were removed and installed in a new carbody to become the third power unit on the CD-07 set for the City of Denver, along with the former M-10003's two power cars.

Smooth-sided and corrugated stainless steel equipment were routinely mixed, and heavyweight baggage, Railway Post Office ( RPO ) and dormitory cars were common.

The railway post office | RPO section of the Pioneer ZephyrIn response to Armstrong's request to experiment with the concept, the first railway post office ( RPO ) began operating on the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa, on August 28, 1864.

Rather than stopping and losing precious time, RPO ( railway post office ) cars featured a large hook that would catch the mailbag in its crook on the way past the station.

" In 1970, the RPO named him Conductor for Life, but in 1975, he resigned his post with the orchestra.

The museum originally included two former Canadian National Railway passenger cars: one former wood sided baggage car and a steel railway post office ( RPO ) car.

In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery.

On a given RPO route, each clerk was expected to know not only the post offices and rail junctions along the route, but also specific local delivery details within each of the larger cities served by the route.

The mail handled in this manner received a cancellation just as if it had been mailed at a local post office, with the cancel giving the train number, endpoint cities of the RPO route, the date, and RMS Railway Mail Service or PTS Postal Transportation Service between the killer bars.

* May 6-Pacific Electric quits the Los Angeles to San Bernardino railway post office, the last interurban RPO in the United States.

The railway post office | RPO section of the Pioneer Zephyr

The Railway Mail Service reached its peak in the 1920s, then began a gradual decline with the discontinuance of RPO service on branchlines and secondary routes.

In 1946, Sir Thomas Beecham founded the RPO, which played its first concert in Croydon on 15 September of that year.

A further threat to the orchestra's existence came in 1984, when a review carried out on behalf of the Arts Council by the journalist William Rees-Mogg opined that England lacked ' a great eastern symphony orchestra ': the suggestion was that the RPO should move to Nottingham.

RPO players have been involved with many performances away from the classical repertory, including Yanni Live at the Acropolis, a concert held in Greece in 1993, conducted by Shahrdad Rohani ; the Hooked on Classics series of records ; orchestral arrangements of rock music by the likes of Pink Floyd, Elkie Brooks ( on the album Amazing ), Oasis, Queen, George Michael, R. E. M., U2, and ABBA ; the song / album, Art of Life by Japanese rock band X Japan, composed by Yoshiki Hayashi ; the official theme music of the UEFA Champions League ( UEFA Champions League Anthem ), tracks on the British folk metal band Skyclad's 2004 album A Semblance of Normality the Symphonic Rock: A Symphony of Hits 2004 album ; and the BBC Grandstand Theme in 1982 ; Seotaiji Symphony, a concert held in Seoul in 2008, with South Korean rock star Seo Taiji, conducted by Tolga Kashif.

The Delmont 88 got a larger 350 cubic-inch V8 as standard equipment and the optional V8 that was standard on Delta 88 / Custom and Ninety-Eight was jacked up to 455 cubic inches with a W-33 option primarily designed as part of the division's police package available as an RPO on all 88's.

The Delmont 88 got a larger 350 cubic-inch V8 as standard equipment and the optional V8 that was standard on Delta 88 / Custom and Ninety-Eight was jacked up to 455 cubic inches with a W-33 option primarily designed as part of the division's police package available as an RPO on all 88's.

Chevrolet made extensive changes to the Spyder package including separate Equipment and Appearance packages with separate RPO codes found on the build sheet.

This version was called " Super Wildcat ", and could be ordered on the 1965 Riviera Gran Sport and the 1966 Wildcat GS as RPO Y48.

RPO 5436 was scrapped on the grounds of Rail City.

The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to the passengers on the train.

Purpose-built Railway Post Office ( RPO ) cars entered service on this line a few weeks after the service was initiated.

An interior view of Great Northern Railway ( U. S .) | Great Northern Railway # 42, a restored RPO on display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California | Sacramento.

A working RPO on the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company | Chicago and North Western in 1965.

Because of the physical and mental demands placed on RPO clerks, the Railway Mail Service pushed the adoption of standardized floor plans and fixtures for all RPO cars, with the first plans published in 1885.

In 1949 / 50 the LPO gave 248 concerts, compared with 103 by the London Symphony Orchestra and 32 each by the Philharmonia and RPO.

The Royal Philharmonic Society decided not to engage the RPO for its concerts in 1963, Glyndebourne engaged the London Philharmonic instead of the RPO from 1964 onwards and the management of the Royal Festival Hall also severed its connections with the orchestra.

In 1964, Igor Stravinsky recorded his opera The Rake's Progress with the RPO.

From 1964 to 1979 the RPO was engaged by Decca Records to record the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D ’ Oyly Carte Opera Company.

An optional 4. 3L ( RPO L35 ) with central port injection and a balance shaft was phased in.

It was later rebuilt by the NP into NP 631, an 86-seat heavyweight coach, and in 1947 as a triple combine car with a fifteen-foot RPO section.

Interestingly enough, many 442s ( and G-body Hurst / Olds ) did not come with RPO G80 ( limited-slip ).

For the 1980 model year, Chevrolet combined the Spyder Equipment and Appearance packages into one Spyder Equipment package with an RPO code of Z29 and included newly re-designed bold Spyder side decals and a new front air dam that blends into the front fender wheel openings.

Chevrolet-Mexico offers a police variant of the Suburban with factory installed armor plate and an uprated Vortec 8100 RPO L18 and is arranged in the 9-seat configuration retaining the two tone leather trim of the Z71.

* 1990 – 1991 Pontiac Grand Am LE with " Sport Performance Package " ( RPO: W32 )

Image: Great Northern RPO No 42. jpg | A view of the mail hook on GN # 42, along with a track-side mail crane complete with mail bag.