The Transorma was the first large-scale multi-position
mail sorting machine
Mail sorting refers to the methods by which postal systems determine how and where to route mail for delivery. Once accomplished by hand, mail sorting is now largely automated through the aid of specialized machines. The first widely adopted ma ...
, built by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
heavy industrial company,
Werkspoor
Werkspoor N.V. was the shortened, and later the official name of the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel. It was a Dutch machine factory, known for rolling stock, (ship) steam engines, and diesel engines. It was a successor ...
. The name is an acronym for "TRANsport and SORting, Marchand and Andriessen", the last names of the inventors.
Transorma machines had up to five stations where letters were presented one at a time to operators who read the address, selected a routing code that was typed onto the front of the letter, and then sent it off to be automatically sorted into one of up to 300 chutes. Several models were offered; the first U.S. postal station to install a Transorma system used the "5/300" model, which supported 5 sorters and 300 bins. Smaller models, like the "1/150", were similar in concept but were operated by a single sorter and used different mechanism for the sorting.
The Transorma was introduced in the Netherlands in 1927, and the first production version started operations in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
in 1930. Further sales in the Netherlands followed, but widespread adoption was interrupted by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. New installations followed after the war and the machines spread around the world during the 1950s. However, they were used for only a short period of time before computerized systems replaced them in the 1960s.
History
Manual sorting
Traditional manual mail sorting broke the routing task into a hierarchy of sorting stations. Letters were delivered to sorters who examined the address and placed it in one of a number of "
pigeon holes". At smaller sorting offices, the pigeon holes could represent individual delivery routes. Runners would collect all the mail from a particular route's pigeon hole from all of the sorting stations in the office and then hand it off to the deliverymen.
At larger sorting stations there were many potential routes, and a single sorter could not be expected to remember them all. For instance, all the out-of-state mail routed to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
state might be sent to a single state-wide sorting station, as stations in other states could not be expected to know how to route to various cities within New York. Sorters at the station would sort the mail by general geographical area, perhaps "Buffalo area" or "Albany". The letters in these pigeon holes would be collected up and sent to other sorting stations, perhaps for the branch office that served a single town, where it would be sorted again to the routes within that city. Mail might have to go through several sorting steps before it reached the level of the deliveryman.
One of the fundamental limits on the number of routes a single sorter could service was the length of their arms. This limited the stack of pigeon holes to a cabinet three to four feet on a side. Making the pigeon holes smaller allowed any one sorter to have more of them within reach, but increased the effort needed to place the letter in the bin, as well as reducing the number of letters that could be sent to a given destination before the pigeon hole filled up. Most stations had about two dozen pigeon holes, which demanded huge numbers of sorters to handle large volumes of mail and routes.
Transorma
Transorma was an attempt to solve the problem of providing more pigeon holes for any one sorter through the use of mechanical switching. Instead of the operator placing the mail directly in a pigeon hole, the machinery would do this for them. This not only greatly increased the number of pigeon holes a sorter could "reach", it also allowed each bin to be much larger, reducing the number of times mail had to be collected out of them.
Sorters read the address and selected a routing code on a keyboard. The machine typed the normally two-letter routing code onto the front of the mail in colored ink, allowing it to be sorted by hand at other offices. The machine then used the same typed route to set up a series of mechanical switches in the mechanism and then moved the mail to the proper bin, often at a long distance from the sorter. In theory, the machine could be expanded to any number of bins, but the majority had either 250 or 300.
The Transorma was first displayed in 1927. The first machine was installed in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
in 1929 and started full operation in 1930. Another was set up in
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
, followed by installations in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
,
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
(a 1/150),
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
(Den Bosch) and 's-Gravenhage (
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
). The original machine in Rotterdam was used until July 1968, and one of these was sent to the
Museum voor Communicatie in 1981.
In the U.K. a similar machine had been displayed at the 1924
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Background
In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibit ...
, but not installed. A decade later, two 5/250 machines were set up in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, officially opening on 7 October 1935. The machines remained in use until 25 May 1968, and were broken up for scrap the next month.
A 5/300 was demonstrated at the
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, in partnership with
Pitney-Bowes
Pitney Bowes Inc. is an American technology company most known for its postage meters and other mailing equipment and services, and with expansions into e-commerce, software, and other technologies. The company was founded by Arthur Pitney, who i ...
who acted as Werkspoor's local sales agent. No sales were made before the war started. Another international sale was made to
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, which started operation until 1940. In 1942 the Germans moved one of the Dutch Transormas to
Steglitz
Steglitz () is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is a Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German .
Steglitz was also a borough from 1920 to 2000. It contained the ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and another to
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...
in the Ruhr. The Mönchengladbach machine was destroyed by bombing in 1943.
Post-war sales
Two were installed in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in 1947, one in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and another in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
. Further sales to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
were interrupted by the war, but in the post-war period another was set up in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
in 1952, and
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...
in 1954. Argentina purchased several Transormas following the war,
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
started their 5/300 in 1948, followed by 5/300's in
Rosario
Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
and
Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...
in 1949, and another 1/160 in Bahía Blanca in 1955.
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
installed a 5/300 in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
in 1956.
Transormas were also tested in
Linköping
Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...
and
Norrköping
Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...
in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1949 and used through 1950 before the test was abandoned. They felt that the machines placed too much demand on the sorter's memories to be truly effective. Although they were concerned about this problem, the
Canadian Post Office installed a 5/300 at their new sorting office in
Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...
, in 1955. This machine operated only until 1963, when it was shut down and later sold for scrap in early 1964. Even prior to the Transorma installation, the Canadians had started work on a computerized system that looked up addresses as well as sorted the mail, the
Route Reference Computer.
On 10 April 1957 the first U.S. Transorma, a 5/300, started operation at the Blair Station Post Office in
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
. At the time it was launched with great fanfare, described at the time "as history-making as the Pony Express, the train, and the plane in speeding up mail handling."
["New Gadget to Route Mail Faster Will Get Test Here", ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald'', 21 September 1956] However, the U.S. Post Office by this time had seen the Canadian
Route Reference Computer prototype and was in the process of launching an effort to build a similar system. The Silver Spring machine was the only Transorma to be installed in the U.S. A plaque is all that remains of this installation, after the buildings were removed in 2003.
[Marsh]
Another Transorma was used in Providence (Rhode Island) in early 1960s.
Description
The larger multi-position Transorma machines were 13 foot (4 m) tall, long and about wide, and weighed . They were arranged as a two-story structure with the delivery bins on the bottom and the sorting stations on top. The upper area was ringed by a walkway protected by handrails.
[McCoy]
Mail was first sized to remove non-standard packages, and then fed onto a long conveyor belt
A conveyor belt is the carrying medium of a belt conveyor system (often shortened to belt conveyor). A belt conveyor system is one of many types of conveyor systems. A belt conveyor system consists of two or more pulleys (sometimes referred to ...
running from the ground floor up to the sorting stations on the top. The sorting stations would extract letters from the belt and place them at the back of a large queue of letters that for each of the operators. The operators were presented with letters one at a time at the front of the queue, and selected a two-letter routing code from memory.
Once the route was selected, the code was typewritten onto the front of the letter, typically in colored ink printed 90 degrees to the written address. The letter then dropped through the sorting station into a row of spinning wheels that propelled the letter through the bin area. Mechanical shutters, activated by the same keypad entries, opened to allow the letter to drop through into the bins. The bins were much larger than a typical pigeon hole, reducing the number of collections. In full operation, the 5/300 Transorma could sort 15,000 letters per hour. This was about double the rate that the same number of clerks could sort by hand.[
The single-user machines were considerably different. These machines were a single floor with the operator sitting at one end. Letters were picked up from the machine and sent to a conveyor running above the sorting bins, then dropped when it was over the right column of bins. A series of shutters behind the bins selected the right one in the stack. Basic workflow was otherwise unchanged.
]
See also
* Route Reference Computer
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Allison Marsh
"Former Object of the Month: Transorma Letter Sorting Machine"
National Postal Museum (US), July 2006
* Jerry McCoy
''Takoma & Silver Springs Voice''
Patents
* Jean Joseph Martin Lambert Marchand and Jacobus Cornelus Andriessen
"U.S. Patent 1,774,447, Sorting or Distributing Apparatus"
filed 27 October 1925, granted 26 August 1930
* Jean Joseph Martin Lambert Marchand and Jacobus Cornelus Andriessen
"U.S. Patent 1,856,165, Mail Distributing Apparatus"
filed 30 August 1930, granted 3 May 1932
External links
"Sorting"
a selection of Transorma marks from around the world
Charles Livermore's page shows the various two-letter marks that the Canadian Transorma could make
{{refend
Mail sorting
Postal systems