Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-30
WIRELESS FOR TRAIN WORK
SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT BY
THE UNION PACIFIC ROAD.
Device by Which Dispatcher May
Send Orders From His Desk to
Engineer in His Cab.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
CHICAGO. November 30.-Actual control
OF running trains by wireless telegraphy
took step forward when the Union
Pacific railroad recently equipped one
of its locomotives with a wireless device
by which train dispatcher may sit at
his desk. and send an order right into
the cab Of any locomotive on the line
of the road within talking distance of
his machine And since talking dis
lance is governed only by the strength
of the current and can be heightened
at will. it will be seen that the new dis
coveries of the railroads wireless eX-
pert. DR.. Frederick Millener, will forever
put an end to those accidents that have
often resulted when some telegraph OPP
orator failed to deliver a train order
which had been sent him.
In an emergency of THIS kind the train
dispatcher will now simply touch tele-
graph key and far out on the railroad
line, in the cab of the locomotive which
is in danger. gong will begin ringing
and before the eyes of the engineer red
light will flash while a miniature soma
phore, painted red, will rise to the
danger position and both the engineer
and fireman will know there is deadly
train.
Experiment a Success.
AS yet only the one locomotive has
been equipped with the wireless appara-
tus. but so we'll does this operate and so
satisfactory is its work that it is only
a question of a short time until every
locomotive on the system is fitted with the
safety device.
With wireless sending stations every
hundred miles along the main line, DR..
Millener says the dispatchers will be In
absolute touch with every engineer on the
road at every minute and will be able to
communicate with them should 1t become
necessary to do so.
The instruments are simple and COM
pact. The sending apparatus which is
placed in the shops OF the Union Pacific
in Omaha. occupies less space than any
wireless sending apparatus ever built.
The current. generated by a dynamo.
goes into an interrupter at 900 volts and
there is transformed and transferred into
between 100. 600 and 10000 volts. Frank
lin plates are used as conductors. A
Massey cooling device is used to keep the
dsrupture discharge points cool. In the
tuning coil the alternating current is
changed into high voltage oscillating al
ternatng current. from which it is con-
Quoted to ground and anchor gap and
thence to the antennae, where it is dis
charged into the air.
Work in the Locomotive Cab.
The antennae on the cab of the locomo-
tive picks up the current. carries it down
into the cab and into the receiving instru-
ments within a brass box not unlike
fire alarm box. On the front of this box
is the big gong whose ringing can be
heard above any noise that can be made
by the locomotive. Just above this gong,
and on the face of the box, is the little
red soma phore and the red danger signal
and when the gong sounds the semaphore
goes to danger" and the red light flashes.
ceiving box prevents any locomotive eX-
cept the identical one for which the sig
nal is sent from receiving the wireless
waves Thus. should it become necessary
to send out a signal to the overland linn
tied. one tap Of the telegraph key is given
and the box in the locomotive cab of the
overland. No. 1, responds. Two taps of
the key brings a response from No. =.
six taps will tell the engineer of No. q
that something is wrong, etc.
This portion of the device Is being kept
strictly a secret and will not be given out
until a patent is applied for and granted.
In the meantime however, the equippinS
of the different locomotives and the build
ing of the sending stations along the sys-
tenn will probably be begun soon as
the shops can turn out the necessary
parts