The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-11-26
RAILROAD NEWS.
Will Wireless Messages Suffice
for Train Operation.
Union Pacific Road EQuips En-
CINE For a Test.
TALKS TO ENGINEER.
Communication Is Maintained
From Office to Cab.
Other Items of Interest in Rail-
way Circles.
TALKS TO ENGINEER.

Actual control of running trains by
wireless telegraphy took long step for
ward when the Union Pacific railroad
last week equipped one of its main line
locomotives with a wireless device by
which a 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, distance"
is governed only by the strength of the
current and can be heightened at will,
1t will be seen that the new discover
les of the railroads wireless expert, DR..
Frederick Millener viii forever put an
end to those accidents that have often
resulted when some telegraph operator
failed to deliver a train order which
had been sent him.
In an emergency of this kind, the
train dispatcher will now simply touch
a telegrap key and far out on the rail-
road line. in the. cab of the locomotive
which is in danger, a gong will begin
ringing and before the eyes of the en-
gineer a red light will flash while a
miniature semaphore, painted red, will
rise to the danger" position and both
the engineer and fireman will know
there is deadly peril ahead for them
selves and their train.
AS yet only the one locomotive has
been equipped with the wireless appara-
tus, but so well does this operate and
so satisfactory is it's work, that it is
every locomotive on the system is fitted
with the safety device.
With wireless sending stations every
hundred miles along the main line, DR.
Nillener 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
it become necessary to do So
The Instruments are simple and COM
pact The sending apparatus which is
placed in the shops of the Union Pa
cific in Omaha, occupies less space than
any wireless sending apparatus ever
dynamo, goes into an interrupter at 22O
volts and there is transformed and
transferred into between 100000 and $780,
600 volts Franklin plates are used as
is used to keep the disrupture discharge
points cool. In the tuning coil the al
ternating current is changed into high
voltage Oscillating alternating current,
from which it is conducted to ground
and anchor gap and thence to the
antenae, where it is discharged into the
air.
The antenae on the cab of the loco
motive picks up the current, carries 1t
down into the cab and into the freceiV-
ing instruments within a brass box not
unlike a fire alarm box On the front
of this box is the big gong whose ring
ing 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 semaphore and the
red danger signal and when the gong
sounds the semaphore goes to danger
and the red, light flashes
A curious arrangement within the re-
ceiving box prevents any locomotive,
except the identical one for which the
signal is sent. from receiving the wire
less waves. Thus, should it become
necessary to send out a signal to the
overland Limited, one tap of the tele-
graph key is given and the box in the
locomotive cab of the Overland, No. 1,
responds Two taps of the key brings