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Trackside Phones

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Posted by SFbrkmn on Friday, June 27, 2008 10:27 PM
My plans are not to put a phone in it, just display the box on a post. It'll set next to the SF derail sign. Not to change the topic but the size of portable/pakset radios has certainly changed over the yrs. In 1984 the Mopac McPherson local began using radios. These were shoulder starp military style that was big, bulky & certainly had a be a pain to carry around. By no means were these hand held sets.
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Posted by csxengineer98 on Sunday, June 29, 2008 5:16 PM

ok..see if this works..i uploaded some photos to flickr of the phone that i have..maybe some of you can shed some light on it... hope this link works...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28176561@N08/

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 30, 2008 9:27 AM
 csxengineer98 wrote:

ok..see if this works..i uploaded some photos to flickr of the phone that i have..maybe some of you can shed some light on it... hope this link works...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28176561@N08/

csx engineer 

Activated that link for you.

Interesting device - can't say that I've ever seen one like it.

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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, June 30, 2008 9:41 AM

....Looks a bit similar to an Army field telephone that connected to wires wherever they were available.  {Korean War era}.

Quentin

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Monday, June 30, 2008 4:22 PM

i have been thinking about selling it..but would like to know at least its age and a good ballpark value...

csx engineer 

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Posted by DSO17 on Monday, June 30, 2008 6:57 PM
     Many B&O track gangs had portable phones. Along with the phone would be several wooden pole sections which could be fitted together to reach up into the "telegraph wires". The top section had a hook attached to the pole and another hook on a flexible arm that extended a foot or so from the pole. Each hook had a wire coming down from it. The Employee Timetable had listings of which two lineside wires were the phone for each section of the railroad (they were always next to each other). You would stick the pole up into the wires and grab one wire with the flexible hook and then grab the other wire with the hook on the pole. Attach the wires coming down from the hooks to the terminals on the phone and be ready to go. Like Army field phones I don't think it mattered which wire went to which terminal.
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Posted by ben10ben on Monday, June 30, 2008 8:01 PM

I collect telephones, and so thought I throw in a little bit of information about the Automatic Electric Company.

Basically, Automatic Electric started out in Chicago in the late 1800s(around 1890, I think) as the Strowger Automatic Telephone exchange company. Almon Strowger was an undertaker who found that many calls for his business were being directed to a competitor, whose wife worked as an operator. 

Strowger developed the first practical switching system, based on pulses of electricity from a dial. The system was sucessful enough that it continued to be used in smaller cities all the way up through the 1960s, and even in third world countries up through the 1990s. 

The Bell System, of course, only ever used Western Electric telephones. Smaller local and/or private phone companies, however, including the railroad phone system, couldn't purchase Western Electric phones. Thus, Automatic Electric was one of the most popular suppliers of telephone equipment to such groups.

The Automatic Electric company was the first to develop a telephone which contained the network, ringer, dial, hookswitch, and transmitter/receiver in one unit. Previous telephones would have a "deskset" that contained the hookswitch, dial, and transmitter/receiver, with a separate "subset" which contained the network and ringer. This was a big enough deal that Automatic Electric called their telephones so equipped "Monophones."

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Monday, June 30, 2008 8:07 PM
 ben10ben wrote:

I collect telephones, and so thought I throw in a little bit of information about the Automatic Electric Company.

Basically, Automatic Electric started out in Chicago in the late 1800s(around 1890, I think) as the Strowger Automatic Telephone exchange company. Almon Strowger was an undertaker who found that many calls for his business were being directed to a competitor, whose wife worked as an operator. 

Strowger developed the first practical switching system, based on pulses of electricity from a dial. The system was sucessful enough that it continued to be used in smaller cities all the way up through the 1960s, and even in third world countries up through the 1990s. 

The Bell System, of course, only ever used Western Electric telephones. Smaller local and/or private phone companies, however, including the railroad phone system, couldn't purchase Western Electric phones. Thus, Automatic Electric was one of the most popular suppliers of telephone equipment to such groups.

The Automatic Electric company was the first to develop a telephone which contained the network, ringer, dial, hookswitch, and transmitter/receiver in one unit. Previous telephones would have a "deskset" that contained the hookswitch, dial, and transmitter/receiver, with a separate "subset" which contained the network and ringer. This was a big enough deal that Automatic Electric called their telephones so equipped "Monophones."

well if you collect them..what do i have and what do you think the value of it is...

csx engineer 

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Posted by SFbrkmn on Monday, June 30, 2008 10:06 PM
I have the Mopac book by Craig Minor. To me that photo of Jenks talking on the portable phone wearing his high water boots has to be one of the most powerfull rr pics of all times--just looking at it explains all. Minor is a retired history professor @ Wichita State Univ. He has written several books on rr history. He was my history professor @ WSU way back in the day. Man that guy was tough but I learned much from him and it worth the time & cost.
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Posted by al-in-chgo on Monday, June 30, 2008 10:46 PM

 SFbrkmn wrote:
I have the Mopac book by Craig Minor. To me that photo of Jenks talking on the portable phone wearing his high water boots has to be one of the most powerfull rr pics of all times--just looking at it explains all. Minor is a retired history professor @ Wichita State Univ. He has written several books on rr history. He was my history professor @ WSU way back in the day. Man that guy was tough but I learned much from him and it worth the time & cost.

Your post is intriguing.  Here is what I found on alibris.com, which has ithe book both new and used.  Author is listed there as "H. Craig Miner" with an "e."   

                                                         ---

The Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983

Cover may not depict edition offered for sale

available COPIES

  

The Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983

by H Craig Miner

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Your search:  Books » Author: Miner, H Craig » Title: The Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983 » The Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983 (16 available copies)

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The Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983used book

The Rebirth of the Missouri Pacific, 1956-1983

by H. Craig Miner

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price: $20.99

Ships from IL, USA

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Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Texas a & M Univ Pr Date Published: 1984-01 ISBN-13: 9780890961599 ISBN: 089096159X

Description: Good. Dustjacket has edge bumping and shelfwear with a few edge chips. Pre-owners addr. lbl. on ffep. Text unmarked, pages clean and bright. Good solid binding. http://www.alibris.com/images/elements/bitmap_arrow.gifread more

condition:

Book: Good

 

seller information:

Name: KeepsBooks, IL, USA

Reliability: Excellent

 

(Etc. etc., almost a whole page of listings from various suppliers.)  If alibris dot com has it, a good chance at least some of the other big online services do too.  --  sounds like a great book!  - a.s.

 

 

al-in-chgo
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Posted by SFbrkmn on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 7:05 PM

Reffering to H.Craig as "Minor' was a typo error on my part and correct name is 'Miner' for those who may be doing a search.

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Posted by beefmalone on Saturday, July 26, 2008 9:58 PM
You guys shouldn't go on about this pic without scanning and posting it. Banged Head [banghead]

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