Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1907-01-07
PHONES ON TRAINS
NOT PRACTICABLE
Officials Of the PennSy Re-
card the Perfection Of a
System as improbable
LIKE WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY

road train while it is bowling along
from station to station, IL is with more
optimistic eyes they view the ultimate
utilization Of the wireless telegraph to
keep the train crews and passengers in
close touch with outside world.
The Pennsylvania men were asked
what they thought of the reported sue
cessful experiment conducted recently
from a train running at the rate of
0hirty-fve miles an hour, with Louis
willie, Cincinnati, Madison, Ind, and sew
eral other points. To this they had
one reply that the apparatus used, an
invention OF DIR. Alvin p. Jones, Of
Louisville, was such an elaborate one.
so costly. and likely to become easily /
disarranged. they were inclined to
think it viii never come into practical /
use.
That the Pennsylvania is interested \
in the perfection OF wireless telegraph /
system for use on trains. however, IL
was admitted. While no experiments /
with apparatus on the Pennsylvania |
system have yet been made, and none |
have been arranged for, during the
past few months the electrical, me- |
chanical ard telegraph men have been
watching with interest several expert |
ments that have been conducted on
other lines.
Hearing Of this. an inventor has sub
mitted to the Pennsylvania officials
drawings and patent papers he has
taken out. He proposes to establish
I'm the locomotive cabs a sound wave
gathering apparatus with receiver with
in easy reach OF the engine driver and
I'M the coaches. The scheme looks
---f4.- a.. ,a~,a- I,,r4 tN. man nUnc fold
to submit a practical working model
do that" was the purport Of the
MESSAGE sent him, land II 1t can be
worked We viii give It a trial.
SO far, however, no model has como
along and the papers are still in Broad
street station.
When w. w. Atterbury general
manager o. the Pennsylvania, was
asked what he thought of the tele-
phone in every train scheme, ne smiled
and said:
1T certainly would be a good thing
If it were practicable but it would
have to be a system that could be
operated economically, and one not
possessing too many mechanical de-
tails. However. I am not an electrical
or telegraph man, and therefore can
not discuss learnedly on the PROPOSE
tlon."
Another Pennsylvania official said:
This idea about telephoning from
moving trains is not new. Edison had
such a scheme over a decade ago, but
it never came into practical use.
should think had ne thought it pos
sible he would certainly have developed
the idea At the present time on some
lines, in Chicago and in st. Louis.
think. the system is in use Local and
long distance telephone connections are
made from the passenger coaches dur
ing brief stops at stations. / do not
think however, the idea viii ever be
used by the Pennsylvania.
Take, for instance, the Pennsylvania
Limited. say a five-minute stop to
change engines would be made in
Broad Street station or in North Phil
adelphia. BY the time passenger got
a long distance connection with New
York the train would likely be ready
to start out. Isn't it obvious, there
fore, that a passenger would not care
to go to this expense and trouble only
to be compelled to break off in the
middle of a conversation.
Wireless Telegraph System.
Before the travelling public is en-
a.bled to hold telephone conversations
from moving trains. look to see first
the establishing Of a wireless telegraph
system. Telegraphing from a moving
train would, in my mind. he much
easier than telephoning. The batteries
DO not have to be so strong and there
is not apt to be so much trouble on
the line.
sRut even before messages are fash
ed by from express to express the
wireless system will first have TO be
perfected so IT can be utilized for COM
mercial purposes. before it will attain
universal use on railroads. The Penn
sylvania Railroad is interested in ex-
periments along this line and should
a-wireless system be perfected would
adopt it as the company would adopt
any other practical invention which
would take railroading a step higher
"As for the scheme to put sound wave
gathering apparatus in locomotive CABS
it certainly would be hard to prevent
The sound waves from getting tangled
up with the waves from the many other
engines on the other tracks.
"A wireless system not solong since
was tried on the Chicago and Aiton
but, so far as I can learn, nothing eVei
came OF IL and the scheAle was o'''i'1
)ned or is in statu quo.
TN telephone experiment out IN I'm
.innati, Madison and Louisville, a sor'
# a trolley wire arrangement was
lsed. stretched along the track Suet
n system could never be USED on ll'
Pennsylvania for the wires would oe
n the way OF free movement Iaker
all together. I think it viii be ions
lime before you and 1 are able to hole
telephone conversations while wnizzins
,along at sixty miles an hour.
The Telephone Experiment.
According to the newspaper dispatci
which told of the telephone experiment
\ alluded to, men who were on the tralr
nor the purpose of testing the workings
of the system, declared It TO De th'
greatest railroad safeguard since tn'
invention of the air brake, as 1t enables
rain despatchers to communicate oil
-ectly with crews on moving trains an'
rive such crews the same facility o
communicating with each other.
The test was made from a Tram OF
Che Carrollton and worthwhile pranel
Of the Louisville and Nashvihe. aioh'
ID stretch of track which had Deei
equipped for the purpose.
- Successful conversation was heid VIII