The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-02-21
DISPATCH TRAINS
 WITH TELEPHONES
Georgia Railroad Has Installed
 Complete System
ADVANTAGES OF PLAN
It's Entire System With the Telephone for Dispatch-
 ing Purposes

Atlanta. February 2O.-(Special. )-To tho
 south belongs the distinction of having
 the first railroad to equip it's entire sys
 tenn with the telephone for train dispatch'
 ing. The Georgia railroad has just placed
 its order for material and equipment witt
 which to employ this modern and efficient method of operating it's road and within
 the next % days every train order will be
 sent ou. ovef the telephone.
 While this method has been employed
 for number of years and has passed the
 experimental stage, the roads which have
 heretofore used it have done so on parts | of their systems only
 There are now 4S steam roads using the
 telephone for train dispatching, or about
 per cen. of the total of the roads in the
 United States and Canada. These 4S roads have a total of 12S,6 ,619 miles, on 16,l1 of
 which, or about 12.5 per cent, trains are
 handled by telephones. This shows not only how generally the telephone is being
 tried out for this purpose, but also to what a comparatively limited extent some
 of the roads have equipped their lines. In the south the Atlantic Coast Line, Sea board Air Line, Southern railway, Louis- vile and Nashville, Illinois Central, Ches- aoeake and Ohio Norfolk and Western, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and some others have equipped certain di- visions. just as in the north and west the Pennsylvania railroad. New York Gen. tral, Lehigh Valley. New York, New Haven and Hartford, Erie, Burlington system, Great Northern. Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, Southern Pacific and other representative roads have done.
 At no point where 1t has been used has the telephone been found wanting During the recent blizzards in the north 1t is re- ported that had it not been for the tele- phones many roads would have been tied up for some time because of trouble on their telegraph lines. Between Rochester and Syracuse the New York Central did not have a telegraph wire working. To add to the troubles the telephone line be- tween these two points was crossed at several points with the Morse wires, and was further interfered with by break down in the Niagara Power company s high tension wires.
 In spite of this the telephone dispatch ing wire was operated for four days, and the rush of business on the circuit was so great that it was Impossible to turn the wire over to the test man to have the trouble cleared. The telephone was limp ing. but it was still able to keep the trains moving.
 On the Delaware division of the Penn sylvania system not a single through tel ephone wire was in service, and breaks in the telephone dispatching circuit and grounds due to heavy storms further com plicated matters. Notwithstanding this the dispatchers were still able to talk the entire length of the division and to handle their trains properly.
 The officials of both roads say that had 1t not been for the telephone no traffic on the roads could have moved an inch until the wires had been repaired.
 The travelling public is vitally interested in any steps which the railroad com panies may take, either to minimize the chances of disaster or to relieve the un- fortunate conditions attendant thereto. On railroads operated by telephone member of the train crew can always communi- cate instantly with the dispatcher by means of his portable set. It is never necessary for a man to run a mile or more to the nearest telegraph station in order to report the wreck and summon as- sistence. With the telephone the wreck ing train, with it's corps of surgeons and nurses. would be on the way before the telegraph could have called for aid. This feature appeals to the trainmen, as
 does the element of personal relation
 which Is bound to become closer between men who are talking with one another at | frequent intervals. One telephone con- versation will do more than a dozen tele- grams to clear up a situation, and re- | uuires less time than the exchange of | two. It has the advantage of man to man" method of understanding a situa- | ton, and in emergencies means bringing | those who can do the most good practi- cally into actual contact with and control of the situation.
 The Georgia railroad is being congratu. lated upon having adopted this method oi handling it's business, which is but an in- dication of the way the south as a whole | is accepting improved methods of doing business in all ljnes. The apparatus whicf will be installed is the product of the Western Electric company, the manufac turer of the Bell telephones, and the
 pioneer in perfecting the special equip
 ment required for the exacting service oi handling railroad traffic.