The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-05-29
RAIL MESSAGES
SENT BY RADIO
SUCCESS
Extensive Test to Determine
Feasibility Of Use in Case
Of Tie-up Of Systems.

Feasibility Of Use in Case
Of TIe-up Of Systems.
Extensive tests, to determine the
availability Of the radio telegraph
for transmitting railroad messages
(other than train orders) in the
event Of extensive prostration Of the
wire systems. have just been con-
Quoted through cooperation be.
tween members Of the American
Radio Relay League, operating
under Federal licenses, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad System
management.
The tests, which covered the
principal operating points on the
Pennsylvania Railroad System be-
tween the Atlantic Seaboard On the
east, and the Mississippi river On
the west, proved in the main highly
successful and, in the opinion Of
the railroad management, demon.
s?rate that the service Of the radio
telegraph stations embraced in the
league offers a practical means Of
emergency Communication.
Refore commencing the series Of
tests, confer sEces were held at
Philadelphia between A. j.. bud.
long of Hart:1rl, Conn. officially
representing the American Radio
Relay League: J. c. johnson. gen
eral superintendent Of telegraph of
the Pennsylvania Railroad System,
and the superintendents Of telegraph
and signals Of each Of the four re.
gions in the system, namely, J. d.
Jones. of Philadelphia. eastern
region: w. M. Post, Of Pittsburgh,
central region: c. w. Hixson, Of
Chicago northwestern region: and
e. B. Pry, Of st. Louis, South.
western region. In these conferences
the methods of operating end the
general plan for dispatching mes.
sages and receiving replies were
sgreed upon.
flick originating Stations.
For each region an originating
station in the league was selected
to send out all Of the messages for
the region and receive the replies.
The messages were al transmitted
between 1870 p. m. and 1880 a. M,
Eastern Standard Time. Q0:30 p.
m. and $50 a. m. Central Standard
Time.)
In each region, divisional or gen.
era1 divisional points on the rail-
road were selected as the places to
which messages should be sent from
the headquarters Of the region and
from which replies would be
awaited.
At each receiving point a radio
telegraph station was designated by
the American Radio Relay League,
to receive the messages, and an
employe or officer was designated
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany as the person to whom the
messages should be delivered and
from whom the reply should be
awaited.
The messages themselves, while
not in the form Of railroad orders,
dealt with facts such as would
ordinarily form the subject matter
Of such messages. For instance, a
communication from Philadelphia
to Williamsport, after giving the
condition Of the weather at Phila-
delphia, stated: I'm replying to
this message quote paragraph 1856.
page so, Williamsport Division
timetable No. 6, Of April 81, 1924"
The reply quoted the text of the
employees timetable correctly, as
follows: Train BILL will take
water at Y. o. instead Of at Sun.
bury Passenger Station"
Test Satisfactory.
While the great number Of the
messages were between points in
the same region, the tests demon.
strated the feasibility Of transmit.
ting messages from one region to
another and from the most remote
points on the lines to general sys.
tenn headquarters at Philadelphia.
In making these tests several inter.
mediate or relay points were in.
troduced for the purpose of de.
terKnining whether accuracy could
be maintained. The results were
decidedly favorable.
J. c. johnson, general superin.
tendent Of telegraph, expressed
himself as being very much graft.
fled with the results Of the emerg-
ency radio service tests, which
demonstrated that, in emergencies,
these, stations provide a means Of
getting general information to
various points on the Pennsyl-
vania system as well as enabling
distant points on the system to
communicate with the regional or
system Headquarters.