train and engine crew communications between stations

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 11:32:29 EST 
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org  View Contact Details  
Subject:  Re: Insulators -- A Clinker ?

In a message dated 12/18/2004 10:09:19 P.M. Eastern
Standard Time, nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:
So, how did the N&W mark the DS circuit in the
pre-telephone days of single-wire Morse Telegraph
circuits?
 
Is this an obscure reference to note that train crews
had no method of communicating between attended
stations BEFORE telephone service ?

Harry Bundy


December 26, 2004

Hello, Harry and others:

Generally, train crews were incommunicado between
stations unless they were at a point specified in the
employee timetable where there was a wayside telephone
box.  The general guidelines for placement of wayside
telephones was: 1) at absolute ("home") signals; 2)
spurs where there was an electric-lock switch; and 3)
occasionally near portals of major tunnels.  The
employee timetable special instructions also specified
which station or tower's operator would answer the
line.

The earliest phone installations were usually a "block
line" that was between two offices.  When the operator
was on duty, the block line from each direction
stopped at that office.  When the operator at an
intermediate office was not on duty, the line was
"patched" so that it extended through the office.  The
ultimate endpoints when many stations were closed were
the operators at interlockings or at other
"continuous" offices.  The wayside telephones as well
as the operator conversations for entry of trains into
blocks (when required) or "OS" of trains passing one
station heading to the next were done on the block
line.

I never worked as an operator on the N&W, but on the
C&O the general ringing code for the next station to
the east or north was two short rings, while the next
station to the west was one long ring.  I may have
these codes switched with each other since I don't
have any convenient documentation to refer to for an
authoritative answer.  Occasionally posted in wayside
boxes were phone ringing codes which in most cases
specified this ringing format.  Not all C&O stations
had operators on duty, so when the block line extended
through several stations with agents only and no
operators, there might also be a code designated for
each station for the agent to answer.  For example, on
the C&O between Charlottesville and Gordonsville plus
the Virginia Air Line between Lindsay and Strathmore,
several agency code rings were included plus one for
the water tank at Rockaway.

What was an easy way to tell the agent-only stations
on the C&O?   Answer: no train order signal in front
of the station.

If anyone has recollections about telephone block line
usage on the N&W, I'd like to read about it.  Before
telephony, though, most train and engine crews did not
know American Morse code so there was no ability to
converse with an operator or agent unless they stopped
at a station and met with that person.

Happy holidays,

=====
Dr. Frank R. Scheer, Curator
Railway Mail Service Library, Inc.
f_scheer at yahoo.com
(202) 268-2121 - weekday office
(540) 837-9090 - weekend afternoons 
in the former N&W station on VA rte 723 
117 East Main Street 
Boyce  VA  22620-9639
 
Visit at http://www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org