Omaha & Ogden RMS duplex handstamp

Pitney Bowes manufactured this steel-head postmarking handstamp between 1934 and October 1, 1949. This duplex handstamp has 'flange-style' type, meaning the date, month, and year type are inserted from the back of the head and held in place by flanges running along the top and bottom of the heel.

This stamp was used by the Railway Mail Service (RMS) on the West Division ("W.D.") of the Omaha & Ogden route. The route was divided at Cheyenne, Wyoming, between the East and West Divisions. The West Division was 516 miles between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Ogden, Utah, and was operated over the Union Pacific Railroad.

Much of this route's alignment was part of the original line between Omaha and San Francisco that was completed in 1869. It represented the first rail link to California. In later decades, this Railway Post Office route was part of the transcontinental mail service performed by the RMS. For example, a letter from New York to California could have been distributed and dispatched via close connections between the New York & Chicago, Chicago & Omaha, Omaha & Ogden, and Ogden & San Francisco Railway Post Offices. Coast-to-coast transit time for a letter was five days from pick-up to delivery.

Reference:

United States Transit Markings Catalog by Charles L. Towle and published by the Mobile Post Office Society, Affiliate 64 of the American Philatelic Society. Its catalog number is 932-V-1 and found on page III-O-9 of the 1979 edition.