The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1915-11-13
MANUAL BLOCK SYSTEM.
Telephone Train Dispatching Circuit
in Operation on T. & r.

| Telephone train dispatching was
| recently put into operation in the
New Orleans-Addis district of the
Texas & Pacific system, simultaneous
ly with the operation of the manual
block system for train control. The
| New Orleans-Addis portion of the
Louisiana division is 80 miles. Two
No. 3 gauge copper wires were strung
from Gouldsboro, across the Missis-
sippi river from New Orleans to Ad.
dis. The wires were transposed every
half mile. Conductors were pro-
cured through submarine cable
| across the river, to extend the wires
TO the present dispatcher's Office, in
Thalia street, New Orleans.
The new wires were strung under
the supervision of c. C. Bowers,
electric engineer of the T. & P.
Railway. While some of the distance
between New Orleans and Adds saw
slow progress in wire stringing, on
account of unfavorable right-of- of-way
conditions, rapid progress was made
on the whole. The best days record
was twenty-five miles.
after the erection of the lin@ssEires.
two of the existing iron telegraph
wires We're cut at each station and
manual block telephone circuit Great
ed between these stations. Over
these two iron wires, one grounded
telegraph circuit was installed, form
ing what is called simplex circuit
This block telephone circuit is so ar
ranged on switches that the stations
which close at night can connect the
circuit through offices SO that it will
extend from one night office to the
next.
On the train dispatcher's circuit, at
all regular telegraph stations, se-
lector telephone equipment was in
stalled. BY using the selector call
system, the dispatcher can ring the
bell in any station that he desires
without another station receiving the
ring. All stations can listen in on
the line.
For facilitating the moving of
trains and preventing delays at blind
siding spurs, etc, telephone booths
have been installed, one at each end of
sidings, and at each spur along the
right-of-way. This requires a total
of 40 booths. The telephones in these
booths are arranged so they can be
connected to the train dispatchlng
or the block circuit by throwing
a double through switch. A suitable
hand generator is installed in these
telephones to ring the bells on the
block circuit stations east and west
from the booth. 1t is not necessary
to ring on the dispatcher,s circuit,
for the dispatcher wears head tele-
phone connected to the circuit con-
tlnuously.
At day offices wall cabinet has
been installed on the outside Of the
building and is equipped with tele-1
phone and switches similar to regular
siding booths.
1t has been eonservatively esti-
mated that approximately SO per cent
more business can be handled over a
telephone train dispatehing circuit
per day than by the use Of the Morse
dots and t1ashes. The real value as
to tine-saving on the New Orleans
Adds district win be demonstrated
this fall when the heavy cane move
ment is being handled.
As an evidence OF simplicity and
efficiency Of the telephone train dis
patching circuit, the general super
by use of a telephone
stand installed IN his business car, is
now able to communicate with the dis
patcher's office in New Orleans while |
the general superintendent himself IS
ia his car on a spur track, probably /
so miles from the dispatcher's Office
and several miles from a depot.