Milford chronicle., 1883-12-07
RUNNING TRAINS BY TELEGRAPH.
Charles lIinOt's idea. which wns First Put
Into Practice 33 Years Ago.


Into Practice 33 Years Ago.
'The first train of cars that was ever
run by telegraph, said an old rail-
road official, to a New York Sun re-
porter, ''was in 1850, between Turner's
Station and Port Jervis, on the Erie
Railway. The road was then called the
New York and Erie In that year the
road was opened between Piermont and
Elmira. 1t was only single track, of
course. Charles Minot was the general
superintendent A telegraph line had
been put up along the line, and other
roads were using the telegraph in their
business, but none of the managers of
railroads had ventured to utilize it in the
matter of train signals.
ENGINEERS and conductors were
afraid of the telegraph. Trains were
run entirely by the printed time tables
furnished to the engineers and conduc-
tors, on which were indicated the places
where a train going in one direction
must wait for the arrival and passing of
another. No matter how long this wait
happened to be there the engineers
would wait. Under this system passen-
gers were frequently detained hours on
sidings and switches.
"When Superintendent Minot came
into power he urged the use of the tele-
graph in running trains, but he could
not induce any engineer to start train
from a station where the passing place
was marked on the time table before the
other train had passed. They said the
telegraph might err in reporting a train
late, and that there was always a chance
that the two might meet on the way.
cone day in 1850 Minot was a passen-
ger on a west-bound train. Upon its
arrival at Turner's Station he received a
telegram saying that the east-bound
train was six hours behind time He de-
termined to settle at once the question
of the value of telegraph signals in run
ming railroad trains. He telegraphed to
the agent at Port Jeryis that he intended
to run the west-bound train to that sta
ton on the time Of the overdue train,
and ordered him to let no train leave
Port Jervis until the train from New
York arrived there. He requested the
agent to telegraph back to him how he
understood the instructions. The
answer was all right, and the Superin-
tendent gave orders to go ahead.
'The engineer declared that he would
not leave Turner's until the arrival of
the other train. Minot ordered the in
subordinate engineer to dismount from
his engine. This order the engineer
had to obey, and the Superintendent at
once took charge Of the throttle himself.
He ran the train not only to Port Jer-
Wis, but as far west as Narrowburg,
where the train was compelled to wait
only a few minutes for the passing of the
delayed train. This successful expert
ment was the death blow to the old sys-
tenn of railrOading. 1t was followed at
once by the adoption Of telegraphic sig
nails on all the railroads Of the country,
and advanced railroading at least a
quarter of q century.
'cWhen the late Col. D. G. McCollum
became General Superintendent of the
Erie, about thirty years ago, Charles
Minot having been promoted to the
Presidency, he originated a system Of
rules for the running of trains by tele
graph, which We're adopted by nearly ali
the roads in the country. The regular
telegraph orders are very simple, and
only through gross carelessness can
they fail to secure complete safety, or to
facilitate train movements.