Pa. railroad calendar delivered 63 years late

Published 10:26 am Wednesday, January 2, 2013

SCRANTON, Pa. — A northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper has just received a calendar to help ring in the new year — except the year is 1950.

Scranton’s The Times-Tribune reports a mail carrier delivered it 63 years late without explanation on Friday.

The large tube contained a 1950 Pennsylvania Railroad calendar addressed to James Flanagan, former general manager of The Scranton Times.

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The calendar includes a holiday greeting from a railroad executive dated December 1949. Flanagan died that month.

A U.S. Postal Service spokesman says lost mail is sometimes found when a machine is dismantled or office space is renovated.

Times-Tribune publisher Bobby Lynett says he’ll see if the Steamtown National Historic Site railroad museum is interested in the calendar. If not, he’ll display it in the newspaper’s offices.