Here is a view inside the Telegrapher's office, posted for our resident Telegrapher, Dick. Trains could not have run safely without him.
Thanks for posting the photo Watash...I was only one in a line of people required to keep trains running. I was to go between, between the Dispr and the engineer and conductor. This photo is typical of a Telegraph office right at the change from code to phone. Orders were given over the phone and the telegraph was a back up until the powers that be were confident the phones worked. I had worked both the key and the bug. I had my own bug and could transmit about 40 words a minutes. With the key about 20. Later when I bid in a job in a terminal, (Gerber Ca) we had teletypes and key punchers. The Teletype transmits at 60 words a minutes. I could key punch about 3 feet of tape, put it in the transmitter and keep punching and finish a train consist a half hour before the tape finished. I was timed at 140 words per minutes. Now on this computer key board when I try to type oaver 40 words annimuts mu fingrs get tangeld pu. [ 14 January 2002: Message edited by: Telegrapher ]
Telegrapher, that's great! Your photo looks almost the way I remember the NY Central office in my hometown during the 40's. I remember one operator who was going to college at the time, could read a homework book while listening for his station's call sign with another part of his brain. He claimed that he never missed a call. I guess not since he kept the job for over a year.
That thing on the desk that kinda looks like a switch board, is that for the phone or the telegraph? How far could you send messages both by phone and by telegraph? Another question is when was the last telegraph message sent by a railroad? I have an old telegraph "key" (?) but have no idea if it is from a railroad or not.
Johnny, I heard a comment on one of the Antique Shows, that if the Key is marked U.S.S. or H.M.S. something or other, it is off a ship. Some railroads marked their own keys, which would be obvious, while otheres were marked by the maker only and were simply purchased and used as needed. They had two, one was older and worked sideways, and the later version worked up and down. That exhausts my knowledge, except a tidbit I notice in my Engineering Manual: Telegraph was spelled Telegraf in 1871.
Johnny. That is a switchboard of type. Before the phones were installed we had only the telegraph. There were two lines coming in. One was the disprs line and the other the local. When the telephone was installed there were two lines for it also. The local line we could talk to different stations along the way within our division without interferring with the dispr. We had two sounders for the telegraph, one for each line. We could listen on both but to talk (send code) we had to move the plug to the appropiate hole. For the phone we had ringers just like present day, and the same thing applied by changing the plug to the proper hole. The ringers set to ring at different tones so we could tell the two phones apart. I hope this explained it for you. I got home from work last night and my internet provider was down so could not answere until this morning.
Telegrapher, if I remember right, there was a telegraph office at the end of each block. The Telegrapher would be "sounded" when a train arrived in one block, and the Telegrapher would then notify the next block that a train was coming his way. Is that right? I think it still worked the same way even after the phones arrived. Is railroad code the same as the Boy Scout Morse Code ?
My key says J-38. Doesn't say anything else at all. It "embossed" into it in white. The key is brass with a black base. There are actually small sharp pieces of telegraph wire still attached to it! I never want to remove them! Hope I'm correct in saying the railroads had their variation of Morse Code?
Dick, I admire you guys that could use that key. I remember learning as a teenager from a local ham radio operator (and Minister) and I think I just barely passed the WPM requirements for a novice license. Can't even remember most of the code now, though I noticed Lady Sunshine was originally signing hers _ _ . _ or "Q". How about explaining that Barbara?
To Johnny Trains and Watash, The J-38 is a model number for a standard model telegraph key used by the military. I used that kind myself a few times, as well as a "Vibroflex" bug, when I was in the Army. "Boy Scout" or International Morse Code is quite different from Railroad morse, although both are a combination of dots and dashes. Sorry, but I don't know railroad morse, although I am sure you can find someone on these boards who does. A high school buddy of mine worked for the C&EI in their tariff dept when he was in college and going to school in the afternoon. He got acquainted with an operator on the C&EI and at that time(very early 60's) they still had a few stations still on telegraph. We went to the dispatchers office to see the operation, quite interesting. Sad to say, thats all gone, railroad included!!! Charlie T
Watash. I don't know about other Railroads but the Southern Pacific did not have blocks hooked up to the telegraph offices. If we weren't on the ball, like being engrossed in a book or something, all of a sudden the ground shakes and an enginge flies by followed by a bunch of cars and caboose. We are supposed to be alert and step outside to get the engine number in order to report the time to the dispr. If the telegrapher does not report the passing of a train by a certain time the dispr will call the station and ask where that train is. once in a while the answere is "er er huh aaa". Normaly we monitor the dispr line and listen to train orders and jot down the engine numbers just in case. Also we were to watch for hot boxes or anything draging on the ground In most cases there was a telegraph office at each siding. I haven't used the telegraph code in over 40 years so have forgotten almost all of it. Altho if I see a code it might bring back memories and remember which letter or number the code is. [ 16 January 2002: Message edited by: Telegrapher ]
jOHNNY, the signal for Titanic first was CQD and then the did SOS for the first time it was used. and the way it looked was ... --- ... it was chosen not for the Save Our Ship it had to do with the ease it looks and for novices easy to remember. Barb
My dear, you are speaking to an Honorary member of the now defunct TITANIC MEMORIAL MUSEUM of SIDNEY, OHIO. The memembership was bestowed upon me by the founder, John Whitman. Ah, but I thought your "Q" might have had something to do with CQD........... CQD: "COME QUICK DAMMIT!"*. Oh, how British! * I have no bloody idea if that is what that means!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANKS! I WASN'T SURE WHAT THAT MEANT! I LIKED MY VERSION TOO............ IS THERE AN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED RAILROAD TELEGRAPHERS? WAS THERE A UNION FOR THEM? WHAT WAS THEIR DIVISION CALLED? SOMETHING LIKE "COMMUNICATIONS"? OR SOMETHING STRICTLY WITH THE WORD "TELEGRAPH" IN IT?
When I worked for the railroad there was no ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD TELEGRAPHERS. If there is now I haven't heard about it. We belonged to the Clerks union which meant we got very little representatio if any. We lost a lot of good Telegraphers because of this. The reason I left was that I finally got bumped out because of installing CTC (Centrialized Traffic Control). I saw the handwriting on the wall and started studying for another career. [ 18 January 2002: Message edited by: Telegrapher ]
Telegrapher. I have an Extra class Amateur license. Before my stroke I could send and copy 30 words per minute .But sense my stroke I am to shaky and am inactive (NX3L). I have set in the operators office in Rockwood for hours trying to copy the clicker and can't do it. The solonoid in the wedge shaped box and I just can't get our act together. Art [ 18 January 2002: Message edited by: Art ]
