1959 Mini Locomotive delivers Mail

Paint, scraps and ingenuity converted box into locomotive

"Locomotive" chugs up Wire to deliver Mail

Mail is delivered to Morton Murphy's front door by private locomotive.  Murphy's home, in Brown County, Ind., is 200 feet from the road, and a trip to the mailbox takes him across some rugged terrain.  Murphy redesigned his mailbox into a miniature locomotive, complete with cab, cowcatcher and headlight (a Christmas tree bulb).  The "track" is a wire strung at waist level between the house and the road.  the mailbox hangs from it on pulleys.  A small electric motor attached to the flywheel of an old sewing machine provides its power, winding up a line attached to the locomotive.  Murphy flips a switch, and the mail chugs up to the house.

"Station" is convenient height

Electric motor belted to the flywheel of an old sewing machine winds up a line to pull locomotive up the track.



This article appeared in the June 1959 edition of Popular Mechanics magazine