utility pole question

[NW Mailing List]

Bruce,
thanks for that Western Electric ad.
Mike Rector

On Sat, May 6, 2023 at 11:16 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> On Fri, May 5, 2023 at 8:23 PM Jim wrote:
>
>> This was done so that the Section Foreman (or others) needing to talk to
>> the Train Dispatcher could identify the pair of wires which carried his
>> voice circuit, and could clip their portable telephone onto the pair.
>>
>> So my question is, who got to climb the pole to clip the portable phone
>> to the line?   Or am I missing an important detail?
>>
>
> From the beginning of telephone dispatching, portable phone sets were
> available. Western Union was one of the manufacturers. This ad from their
> 1914 newsletter gives a decent view of the setup. It was basically several
> sections of a light pole that could be easily stored on an engine, caboose,
> car, someplace convenient. When needed, the sections were connected
> together so the metal contact on the end could reach the phone wires. Once
> dropped onto the bare wires, contact was made and the wire from the pole
> was connected to the portable phone box. From there, the system operated
> like any other lineside or station phone. Search "railroad portable
> dispatcher phone" on Google and you will find quite a discussion of
> portable phones, "fish poles," and how valuable such an apparatus was to
> running a railroad.
>
> Bruce in Blacksburg (who saw part of such an apparatus in the Bedford
> station years ago before it became a restaurant)
>
>
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