New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-01-04
TINE engineer Of Limited
No. s, eastbound, looking
- mt ~ hia ooh m;r1ou

siSSu eA1s q SSCtlOu OF Lnl
rail running parallel to that ove]
which his train was passing hac
been washed away, probably by one
Of the mountain freshets which were
frequent in this particular section O,
the country at this time of the wear
He knew that the Cannon Ball, west
bound, was due to pass there in 8
few minutes and that, unles.
checked, it would be wrecked, with q
possible great loss in lives.
Turning to the telephone ON the
wall Of his cab the engineer of No
6 put on the double receiver and
sounded signal.
Hogan" he said, when the en-.
gineer Of the endangered train,
which was then fifty miles away
answered. 1.-THE track west Of SAG
has been washed away. Better tele-
phone to wainwright to send q re-
pair gang right away. because you
can't get through until the track is
fixed up"
Easy, isn't it? No waving of a red
flannel petticoat or shirt to stop the
Cannon Ball just in time; no hero.
les, no thrills, no collection by the
passengers to reward the devoted
girl or brave man who had brought
the great train to a stop just as it
was about to plunge down the en-
bankment; no material for the
movies. Just one engineer of a NOV
ing locomotive telephoning quietly
to the engineer of another moving
locomotive, and telling him, in the
same calm voice you would employ
In breaking an engagement for din
ner, that there was trouble on ths
line which needed to be fixed I'D.
Fiction? For the moments YES,
But soon it will no more be fiction
than it was fiction when, during the
war, observers in the air wirelessed
headquarters information on how a
battle was going and told the staff
how to direct the movement of the
troops. In the war the value of
maintaining communication was an
preciated by all the combatants
wireless played as big part in
winning battles as guns. Through
lts aid the armies were endowed
With eyes and cars which told them
how to meet danger, or avoid it
although that particular danger was
as far beyond the range of ordinary
vision as was the bit of broken raj
In the supposititious case of the en-
dangered Cannon Ball limited, re-
fcrred to above.
In the Near Future
Science, profting by what it
learned in the war, is now prepar-
ing to give eyes and ears to rail
road trains also, just as it did to
'ne armies in the field; and within
a very short time, if the experts are
70 be believed, telephoning from,
speeding coach to coach, or locomo-
1--WE to locomotive, or from either to
liked stations on land, will be as
common as communication between
business houses is now.
In little WHILE" said j. j.
1raf, wireless engineer for the
Lackawanna Railroad, engineers
OF moving trains will be able to
TAX to each other by wireless tele-
phone over distance of 200 miles
az least. In fact, ! think this, with
sne proper apparatus, which is
available, is possible now.
Moreover, it is an experiment
which the Lackawanna will under
take as soon as the road is re-
turned to private control, on March
] next"
headers OF the periodicals, and
especially Of those which deal with
scientific subjects, may remember
saat as tar back as 1914 the Lacka-
wanna conducted a series of expert
ments to provo that telephoning by
wireless from moving trains, as
well as sending radiograms, was en-
arely possible. Now that the road
- about to 60 back TO its owners,
a'ong with all others taken over by
9ne government in the war, these
experiments are to be resumed.
The indications are that other roads
WIN do the same, and that the
knowledge in the art of communi-
cation gained in the war will be
used TO introduce Innovations in rail
transportation which will revolu-
t'onizc the business.
Through the aid Of devices en-
p'oyed in the fighting, the opera
ION Of trains, the experts say, will
10 safeguardcd. Mistakes in dis
patching which might result in