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 Celluloid
  
Location: Chicago Northside
Gender: Female
 |  |  |  | Post Office catwalks
< on 1/16/2006 1:57 AM >
|  | | | (do i really need to say which ones? ;) )
Would anyone like to explain what they were for, who they were used by, and so on....
I had rather limited light and started at the basement entrance and worked my way all the way up to the highest set. I think I saw all there was to see, but I have several questions.
They were rather perplexing in design, as the slots seemed to go either nowhere special or somewhere you wouldn't want mail dropping to. I also noticed nowhere where there would be a light source. Were they meant for people to use? Running through one was a single wire, but I didn't see any offshoots or fixtures for lighting.
All in all, I'm rather proud of myself that I braved the whole span - 3 floors worth! - but I'm screaming out for answers now!
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mayhem154
  
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male
Hello...
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 1 on 1/16/2006 2:05 AM >
| | | | I believe they were used by postal inspectors to "spy" on the workers in the processing areas. Most of these catwalks will have separate entrances, so they could be entered without the knowledge of the employees who worked there.
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Watcher
 
Location: Louisiana
Gender: Male
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 2 on 1/16/2006 2:55 PM >
| | | | I believe you are right. The US Postal Service has always been a bit anal about making sure their employees don't steal anyone's mail. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is a federal offense to steal someone's mail. And you could cause a lot of crap for people besides. Postal inspectors' job is to make sure that doesn't happen. It also makes the employees really resentful but there isn't much you can do about it if you want to comply with postal regs.
"Well, let me just jump into my time machine, go back to the Twelfth Century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show." |
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Mr Nikon
Location: North Side
Gender: Male
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 3 on 1/17/2006 5:16 AM >
| | | | A co worker of mine use to be a postal worker and confirmed to me that they were for the inspectors.
These are my photos from the post office both from the upper catwalk
This was a little freeky walking through an area just one person wide then bam a larger room, that kind of felt like being in a bunker. i could not think how it was to work in this type of enviroment with no lights and climbing and confined spaces, possably alone too.
this is just a look down one of the if you look to the middle upper left you can see one of the two wires. and one running down the steel brace that went to a door bell type button. And also how narrow these things are.
Another thing the celings were pretty low i would say no more then 6 feet high at the most (sometimes it is nice being short)
[last edit 1/17/2006 5:21 AM by Mr Nikon - edited 2 times]
Hello dont mind me. |
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AdventureGrime
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Gender: Male
Something original.
| | | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 4 on 1/19/2006 8:58 PM >
| | | | Damn, that is a sexy sexy building. I must see it.
All your neighbours are competitors
Where'd you all go wrong
There never was a mountain to climb |
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Celluloid
Location: Chicago Northside
Gender: Female
| | | | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 5 on 1/19/2006 10:11 PM >
| | | | Yes you must!
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Nelles22
Location: Nashville, TN
Gender: Male
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 6 on 1/19/2006 11:47 PM >
| | | | I can't believe i missed these catwalks when i went to Gary, now i gotta make a return visit.
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Celluloid
Location: Chicago Northside
Gender: Female
| | | | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 7 on 1/20/2006 12:02 AM >
| | | | They're not easy to find, yet at the same time not hard. We found our first entrance in teh basement. There are several entrances on each floor. Most access is gained by a ladder, so the small balled may miss it.
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Curious_George
 
Location: Cambridge
Gender: Male
Straight outta New Bedlam
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 8 on 1/20/2006 3:50 PM >
| | | | I found only one of them when I was in Gary and they are hard to find.
Interestingly enough I explored another post office in Calgary, Alberta that also had those catwalks.
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Nancy_Drew
Location: East Vancouver, Yo.
Gender: Female
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 9 on 1/20/2006 3:55 PM >
| | | | Yes, it's not just the US Postal Service that is anal about security; those catwalks in the Calgary PO were very cool I have to say but so Big Brother-ish.
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n-rock
Location: Oakland, CA, USA
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 10 on 1/24/2006 10:50 PM >
| | | | Interesting that this is a general architectural feature for post offices. The old PO in Detroit has these things too and they're very creepy to walk through.
==================================
Warning: Prosecutors will be Violated |
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Mr Nikon
Location: North Side
Gender: Male
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 11 on 1/25/2006 12:36 AM >
| | | | Posted by n-rock
Interesting that this is a general architectural feature for post offices. The old PO in Detroit has these things too and they're very creepy to walk through.
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That they are. Painted completly black, no lights, and tight passageways to get into them that are hidden away.
Hello dont mind me. |
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oh-ten
Location: San Francisco CA
Gender: Male
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 12 on 5/6/2006 3:42 AM >
| | | | Posted by Watcher
I believe you are right. The US Postal Service has always been a bit anal about making sure their employees don't steal anyone's mail. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is a federal offense to steal someone's mail. And you could cause a lot of crap for people besides. Postal inspectors' job is to make sure that doesn't happen. It also makes the employees really resentful but there isn't much you can do about it if you want to comply with postal regs.
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yup. I took a tour of the Old (actually 2x old) post office in Columbus, which is now a law firm. One story that was mentioned was that there was a 3x4' door hidden in the back of the Postmaster's office that led to a crawlspace that spied on the clerks. I guess that in the pre-CCTV days (it was built in the 1890's) they wanted to make sure that the underpaid employees weren't filching from the till. I didnt know it was an architectural programmatic requirement across the country though... interesting!
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DiVaMoNKeY
Location: Grundy County, IL
Gender: Female
I pushed with all my might; I pushed with all my love.
| |  | |  | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 13 on 5/6/2006 6:57 AM >
| | | |
| Yes, it's not just the US Postal Service that is anal about security; those catwalks in the Calgary PO were very cool I have to say but so Big Brother-ish. |
Yeah, big brother is ALWAYS watching...I see you now! Can I have some of those chips?
I know more about blood than you |
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OkieMan
| | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 14 on 10/28/2006 7:05 PM >
| | | | I work at the PO, and the doors to the catwalks are visible to see. The inspectors have doors from the outside of the building they come through to get to the catwalk's, so they can go undetected. Last night, while at work, one of the inspector doors were open. So I guess they were watching us last night, just forgot to shut and lock the door. Kind of funny though, sometimes you can see a light on up there, so they can be detected sometimes, if their not paying attention.
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minusonebit
Location: Oklahoma City, OK, United States
Gender: Male
Will Explore for Food
| |  |  | | | Re: Post Office catwalks
<Reply # 15 on 10/29/2006 12:28 AM >
| | | | Its not the just the clerks and employees, but post offices have all kinds of people going in and out of the back rooms. Bulk mailers, contractors, couriers and all sorts of other people use the back door instead of the front.
And yes, nearly ALL but the smallest post offices have the catwalks. Some of the small town post offices that have only a route or two will not have them, but even a town of maybe 20,000 people will have a post office with these in there.
Commit a Random Act of Exploration. |
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