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00:25You must go now, or I shall be late for work.
00:29Take good care of yourself, my love.
00:31And Merry Christmas, my darling.
00:34Carefully.
00:38I have informed your response with keen anticipation.
00:42Yours are silly.
00:43You have an unforeseen reflection.
00:45Return.
00:50You have an unforeseen reflection.
00:53I hope so, if there are any spare ones, that will be a very great one for you, wishing you
00:59a very happy Christmas.
01:01Merry Christmas.
01:04So those three letters all got delivered quickly and safely.
01:08And so did the other four million, which travelled along Mail Rail every day.
01:13We're now leaving Platform 2 and heading back up to the depot.
01:18One of the most surprising things about the railway is how bonded the workforce were.
01:24I would say a good third of the people down on the railway had connections with other guys.
01:30Lots of fathers and sons and brothers and uncles and all that kind of stuff.
01:37And that made the bond between the guys a lot stronger.
01:42And I suppose it made the culture of the railway that much stronger.
01:47Not all of the railway workers were men.
01:50There was one woman.
01:51Traffic inspector Amanda Stokes.
01:55I was the only woman who was in a leadership position.
01:59I don't ever remember feeling uncomfortable or challenged because I was a woman.
02:07So I could have faced a lot of pushback, but I didn't.
02:11We made so many friends there.
02:13Even since coming to Australia, I've still been in touch with so many of them.
02:17So yeah, it was just really special.
02:37For most of its life, the network was officially known as the Post Office Railway.
02:42In 1987, it was rebranded to Mail Rail, and for a few years, it was busier than ever.
02:48But in the 90s, email and phones began to eat into the railway's core business.
02:55I remember us all getting called to a meeting where they talked about mothballing the railway,
03:01as if it was going to be a temporary thing.
03:03But I think we all knew that it wasn't going to be temporary.
03:09Mail Rail closed on May 31st, 2003.
03:13It had been in service continuously for almost 76 years.
03:19Someone had the foresight to commission this unique method of transporting mail about,
03:26and you've got to applaud that.
03:29You'd never forget working on Mail Rail.
03:32You'd never forget it.
03:33My ghost will walk the...
03:35You'd never forget it.
03:37My ghost will walk the platforms at Mount Pleasant.
03:42I always thought, especially when we were just about to shut down,
03:45that that was it, and it passed into history,
03:48and no-one will ever know it was here, and all the things that happened.
03:52I thought that would just disappear into the past,
03:54but I was so pleased that it's been preserved.
03:56It looks the same to me.
03:58And that's why Mail Rail matters.
04:01What once worked quietly, out of sight, is now open to everyone.
04:05Our visitors have a chance to see the tunnels, hear the stories,
04:09and discover the people who kept London's mail moving.
04:12Thanks to those who built it, ran it, and saved it,
04:15This hidden railway isn't forgotten, after all.
04:21Here we are arriving back at the airport.
04:23We hope you've enjoyed your tour around the little world of Mail Rail.
04:27Don't forget to explore the exhibition as well.
04:30There's lots more to see.
04:32Goodbye, and Merry Christmas.
04:33My name is Merry Christmas.
04:38I'll be back.
04:38I'll be back.
04:39I'll be back.
04:43I'll be back.
04:46I'm back.
04:57I'll be back.
05:13I'll see you next time.
