The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1911-03-09
Rail RI / ]. WAY ] 70 { US
WIRELESS PHONE:
Expected to Insure Safety and
Gut Down Delay.
REINFORCE SIGNAL SYSTEM.

REINFORCE SIGNAL SYSTEM.
Trains Often Held UseiessIy In Block
by Inability to Communicate With
Division Headquarters Union Pa
cifie Finds Its Experiments With New
Scheme Successful.
Frederick n. Millener, an electrical
expert, who has been conducting tests
in wireless telephony from moving
trains for the Union Pacific railroad,
discussed this subject recently before
the Railway Club Of New York.
''On railroad an electrically con-
trolled automatic block signal may
work at least 100000 times without
failure" said DR.. Millener. 1.-THE hun
dred thousandth time, perhaps, it may
go wrong. The lighting of an arc lamp
or some atmospheric disturbance may
cause the signal arm to fly up and
the signal to be set at danger The
engineer Of the train that it halts has
to wait until he gets orders to proceed.
On these rare occasions when the Sig
nails go wrong the track may be clear,
but the engineer does not know any
thing about what is ahead of him ex-
cept what the signal tells him; there
fore he waits.
'The delay may be so long that traf-
fic may be held in an ever lengthening
line from the point where the signal
has stopped the movement of the
trains. This costs the railroad more
or less money. It means the loss of
the productive labor of a great many
employees and the idleness of a lot of
rolling stock. as well as annoyance to
travellers and shippers.
Wireless Phone Tried.
'The Union Pacific has one of the
finest systems of block signals Of any
railroad in America. Perfect as it is,
however, there is this remote but pos
sible element of delay-of loss in the
battle against time-that must be elimi-
mated. The Union Pacific decided that
the only way to do so was to devise
some means by which an engineer in
his cab, either while the train was in
motion or if it was stopped anywhere
on the line by some inexplicable dan
ger signal from the automatic devices,
could call up the train dispatcher's Of
flee and find out what was wrong
whether to stay where he was or to
go ahead. Therefore about four years
ago l was asked to devise a means of
overcoming this difficulty. The solu-
ton seemed to be in wireless commu-
nication by telephone
eve have been prosecuting these re-
searches ever since then. The conclu-
sions we have reached have been salts
factory. We are not prepared to state
in detail the methods we have follow
ed, for the work is not yet absolutely
completed. l may say, however, that
wireless telephony from a moving
train is more than a practical prob
ability and that within a year or so
from now it will be a feature of the
daily operation of trains on the Union
Pacific
Travel to Be Safer.
IF we save one fruit train from
freezing it will pay for the cost of prac-
tically the whole installation. More
than that, however, it will make travel
by rail even safer than it is now on
the safest of railroads. With properly
constructed wireless stations there is
no chance of failure. There will be no
more trouble with block signals, no
delays or annoyances because wires
have been blown down by storms or
anything of that sort
1.-TWO Of these wireless stations will
be established soon, one at Sidney,
Neb., and the other at Cheyenne, Wyo..
lob miles apart, where the line is a sin
gle track. We expect to keep up COM
munication with moving trains be-
tween these stations and others that
are to be established These wireless
stations will be close to the train dis
patchers' Offices, so that communica-
ton may be established quickly when
ever it is necessary.
eve have discovered through our ex-
periments that wireless waves will fol-
low the direction of the rails farther
than in any other direction and more
closely. It is we'll known that they
will follow stream of water or metal
lie conductors better than they will
pass over a wooded country or even
a treeless plain and that these waves
work better in stormy weather than
when the skies are clear"