te was the only possible way by which the Pony Express letters could travel; this makes the Pony Express system an example of Static Routing (Shelly, Cashman, and Serwatka 145).These in-route stations were of two types: there were relay stations and home stations. At the relay station, a fresh horse would continue along for the next leg of the journey, until the next relay station. The horse that had carried the mail up to that relay station was given a chance to rest and eat. All of the 190 stations served as relay stations (Dicerto 16). Some of these stations also served as home stations. In the home stations, the Pony Express Rider himself would be given a chance to rest and eat, and another Rider went along the next segment of the route (Dicerto 17). Horses and riders were frequently replaced, so as to ensure that the letters would arrive at their destinations in as short a time as possible (Dicerto 17). This effort to minimize message transport time is an example of Network Layer Flow Control. Furthermore, the relay and home stations had to be kept in functioning order, so that the horses and Riders at each station could be best prepared to continue along the route. This maintenance sometimes entailed extraordinary measures; for example, in some stations that were located in the desert, drinking water for the horses and station manager was not accessible, and this water had to be brought from remote locations by pack mule (Dicerto 33). Since these measures were necessary to maintain the speed of the Pony Express, the author believes that they are also aspects of Flow Control. An additional example of Flow Control implementation in the Pony Express system involves the speed at which a rider would perform his duties at the relay stations. From the time of his arrival at a station, until he had changed horses together with the letters and left the station, was approximately two minutes. The new horse was prepared for the Rider by the ...
