Steve and Lenny...I had almost forgotten that I put up the post re another
means of communication..ie THE WHANGDOODLE. Since no one had responded.
I think you're right that there was a Whanger at Watson and/or Corning. I
recall that there was one at Craig during my growing up years when I would be
at Langdon with my dad for 21 and 26 and if the right operator was on duty I
would grab the DS phone and listen...
At Craig (if memory serves correctly) the WHANGER had a special
feature...There was a dog who would begin to bark, even before you could hear
the train
coming.
For those who don't yet know what the Whangdoodle was here's a brief
explanation...Subject to correction by Steve and/or Lenny or any former "old
time"
operator or dispatcher.
The Whangdoodle was simply a microphone mounted someplace on the outside of
the depot, probably up under the eaves someplace to protect it from the
weather. It was connected to the dispatcher's phone circuit. The operator,
upon
going off duty, would turn on the Whangdoodle when he left. When the DS
wanted to find out when a train was actually passing a station, he would "key
in"
that station with his "ringer" and could then hear what was going on around
the depot, and hopefully, hear the train going by, thus he would know exactly
where said train was.
The fact that the whangdoodle would pick up surrounding sounds, including
people who were around the depot platform, who, of course, did not know that
they were being "eavesdropped" on... led to some interesting 'situations"...The
late Robert Brown sent me a little story, a few years ago which I think
comes close to be the epitome of Whangdoodle stories...I've got it with my
"stuff"..ran across it the other day when I was looking for something....I read
just recently that the average person spends 55 minutes each day looking for
something he knows he has, but can't find. When I get it dug out I'll post
it
here.
Pete
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