Danbury, CT — The Danbury Railway Museum (120 White St.) will honor the legacy of railway Post Office dog Owney on July 12 with an event showcasing a fully restored Pennsylvania Railroad Railway Post Office car (circa 1910) and a one-day-only collectible Postal Service special-event pictorial postmark.

The event takes place between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and has an admission charge of $15 for ages three and up. The admission includes a train ride, a free Owney post card, a dog treat, and a free hot dog, drink and chips. Train rides depart hourly between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Owney: The ‘Barkstory’

In the 1880s, during the height of the Railway Mail Service, clerks in the Albany, NY, Post Office took a liking to a mixed terrier named Owney. Fond of riding in postal wagons, Owney followed mailbags onto trains and soon was known as a good-luck charm to Railway Mail Service employees who made him their unofficial mascot. Working in the Railway Mail Service was highly dangerous. According to the National Postal Museum, more than 80 mail clerks were killed in train wrecks and more than 2,000 were injured between 1890 and 1900. However, it was said that no train ever met with trouble while Owney was aboard.

As Owney traveled the country, clerks affixed medals and tags to his collar to document his travels. When John Wanamaker, Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893, heard that Owney was overburdened with tags, he gave him a special harness to display them all.

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