One of the mainstays in my early games is the post boy. Low running costs and it takes 15 bundles of mail.
But at 12km/h I think he's a little too fast for realism. Humans can and do achieve this regularly, but it's basically the speed of an average marathon runner (running it in 3 1/2 hours). Walking speed is closer to 5 or 6 km/h.
I agree.
Walking speed with a full sack of post would also be slower. Do post boys yet have a maximum distance between stops. Obviously there should be a limit to the length of rounds, or as good a proxy restriction as we can come up with.
The "post boy" is a young man riding a pony, not walking. Walking speed would be 5km/h. See here (https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/the-postal-service-in-18th-century-britain-post-roads-and-post-boys/) for details.
Ah, my mistake, I hadn't noticed the pony.
That's very interesting, didn't know that's where the phrase came from. So the "post" is the premises the staff operate from, rather than the material they transport.
Makes perfect sense, intriguing to think many people probably don't appreciate that subtlety today when we use "postal service" and think "postman" deliver "post" from "post boxes".
Are you collating all your various researches somewhere? I imagine you've found a fair few other little gems of wisdom?
There is not a single place for collecting the research (other than on prices, which has its own thread), but what I have found so far has certainly been interesting.
He is needed as he is the only viable way to deliver mail by road on roads serviced by coaches. Coaches run at 12 km/h so he mixes with them well. All other mail delivery options are slower so will cause service interruptions to the 12 km/h coach line due to them refusing/unable to overtake.
To avoid confusion perhaps he should be renamed Mounted Post Boy.
I have used "post boy" as this is the precise term used historically: "mounted post boy" is not an historical term.
One Train Staff is not a historical term either... yet a change to the historically accurate "One Engine in Steam" was ... resisted. Seems inconsistent?
Either we are making the terms user friendly, or we are following historic terms and letting people look up things they don't understand.
Googling "post boy" doesn't take you to a helpful page that explains the term, however.
Would it be clearer to call it "one train working (with train staff)"? The nomenclature for this was and us not as clear or consistent as for the post boy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_block_system#One_train_working
Yes, "one train working (with train staff)" is far better. To modern eyes, "staff" more often refers to personnel than a piece of wood. Perhaps "Post boy (with pony)" in parallel?
"...and room for a pony!" says Hyacinth