Hi Ken,
Next time I get a chance to inspect the unit, I will try to ascertain the
make and model. I is in a small wodden box (maybe 6x6) and there were about a
dozen paper tapes with it in seperate container.
Tom Johnson
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "apo09324" <apo09324@...> wrote:
>
> Was the machine an Instructograph? I borrowed one from a local ham when I
> was learning code for my novice license in 1964. The beauty of the machine
> was you could use paper tapes for whatever type of code you needed to learn.
> The problem was when the tapes started to wear thin in places and you might
> get extra dihs or dahs.
>
> Ken Vandevoort
> WA0KYT
>
> --- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "teejay0469_2" <t.m.j@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > This has been a very interesting thread and have enjoyed it. It really hit
> > me since I had a desire to learn morse when I was a teenager. I never did
> > but I might have a chance in the near future. To this end, I wanted to let
> > evrybody know about a very unique find that is very relevant to this
> > subject. A railroad club that I use to belong to here in Minnesota is
> > responsible for maintaining and old Joint Milwaukee Road/CB&Q tower that
> > was in Newport Minnesota.
> >
> > I was up in the tower a while back and found a box that had an interseting
> > electronic device in it along with several reels of paper tape. After
> > looking and inspecting it very closely, I found out that it was a morse
> > code tester/sounder. I sequestered the device away to a safe place since
> > the tower was being gone through and all of the "trash" was being thrown
> > out. I definitely did not want this unit being tossed out.
> >
> > Since I dropped my membership, I sorta lost track of what happened to the
> > unit, but a couple of months ago, one of our local ham radio groups and
> > railfans held a ham radio event in the tower. I visited and talked with one
> > of the members who is also a club member and asked if he had seen the unit.
> > I had let him know sometime before hand (before I dropped my membership) to
> > keep track of it. He said he pulled it out and fiddled with it and it would
> > start reading the paper tape but than stop and damage the tape. He only let
> > one tape get damaged, but I impressed upon him how important the unit was.
> >
> > Now, I just need to find a historian that could reburbish the unit and find
> > a way to copy the paper tapes to new tape so it can be used. I would
> > believe the morse is in true dispatcher format which would be very cool to
> > hear...........
> >
> > Tom Johnson
> >
> > --- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "John D. Mitchell, Jr." <cbqrr47@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Even after they started to use telephones for train orders, the oldtime
> > > operators would say BK (break)Â when the dispatcher got too fast to copy!
> > >
> > > --- On Fri, 12/10/10, Dale Reeves <drale99@> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Dale Reeves <drale99@>
> > > Subject: Re: [CBQ] FW: Morse Code: A Lost Language
> > > To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
> > > Date: Friday, December 10, 2010, 9:15 PM
> > >
> > >
> > > Â
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > My dad, a Q agent/operator, was teaching me to become a helper in
> > > '44-'45.
> > > I got so I could send a little. The Navy interrupted my RR carreer. Later
> > > I was in Northwood, ND on the GN in the early 60's The mayor was agent
> > > there. I was in the depot with him, and I started to send on his key. He
> > > was impressed, as he didn't know how to telegraph. Evidently the GN
> > > branch
> > > up there wasn't using the telegraph then -- probably around 1962 I would
> > > guess.
> > > The thing that always amazed me was how fast those old telegraphers could
> > > send and receive. They abreviated a lot, and they could send over 100
> > > words
> > > a minute. They could really make those sounders sing! My dad claimed he
> > > could send as fast on the key as he could on the bug.
> > > Dale Reeves
> > >
> > > Dale Reeves
> > > Original Message -----
> > > From: <Jpslhedgpeth@>
> > > To: <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 2:30 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [CBQ] FW: Morse Code: A Lost Language
> > >
> > > Gerald et al
> > >
> > > I seem to remember that 1972 was the last year for telegraph on the
> > > Q..but I
> > > can't point to any particular reference...IIRC the Rock Island quit the
> > > telegraph in1965.
> > >
> > > Coincidentally I've been reading through some of my od RR Magazines and
> > > have
> > > recently read some of Palmer's stuff in the 1941 and 42 issues.
> > >
> > > When I was braking on the Q 1956-58 the branch lines in Nebraska were all
> > > telegraph and the mainlines had both telegraph and telephone
> > > communication.
> > >
> > > All of the old head agent-operators were telegraphers..Most of those guys
> > > were 1900-1920 seniority and used mostly the key and sounder.
> > >
> > > Some new agents-operators were coming on and most could telegraph a bit
> > > but
> > > didn't like to use the key in preference to the phone.
> > >
> > > There was a young telegrapher who worked on the Lincoln-Ravenna line as
> > > an
> > > extra operator...It was said of "Arch".. "The only thing Arch can use the
> > > key for is to send....FN. ie...."get on the phone"
> > >
> > > I've opined in my monthly piece in our local railfans club newsletter
> > > that
> > > the new fad "texting" is nothing more than the old telegrapher's
> > > "shorthand"..Those guys never used unnecesary words of letters..
> > >
> > > In a story by Don Livingston RR October 1941...."Wt dd u sa wd be ur gess
> > > on
> > > tt local"...Translation..."What did you say would, be your guess on that
> > > local".
> > >
> > > Every telegrapher had a sine by which he was known..Harry Bedwell's Eddie
> > > Sand's was DY... Every station had a two letter telegraph call...these
> > > were
> > > called in Employee timetables through the 1950's and maybe
> > > later..example..at El Reno, OK on the RI....El Reno freight yard's call
> > > was
> > > FO...the passenger depot was RN...There was an old dispatcher...and many
> > > of
> > > them did likewise still continued to use the telegraph call on the
> > > phone...I
> > > can still hear old Charlie Forbes..who really didn't need the
> > > telephone...yelling into the phone..."Hello FO" when he wanted El Reno
> > > yard.
> > >
> > > Pete
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Gerald Edgar <vje68@>
> > > To: cbq <cbq@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Sent: Tue, Nov 16, 2010 11:29 am
> > > Subject: [CBQ] FW: Morse Code: A Lost Language
> > >
> > > We have not discussed use of Morse Code on the Q to my recollection;
> > > anyone
> > > know where on the system was the last use of same? I'm guessing it was
> > > post-BN as I recall a Trains article identifying an ex-GN or SOO line in
> > > No.
> > > Dakota still using Morse in the "80's. When I hired on C&NW in "78 three
> > > stations still used Morse; consecutive stops from Marchalltown east on
> > > the
> > > 'main'. These were 3 senior Agt/operators who insisted the Signal gang
> > > keep
> > > their wire operational. When they ret'd, that ended Morse on the
> > > Northwestern. 9allefgedly there were some rare opccasiopns
> > >
> > > I learned a semblance of American Morse as a Scout and intensive
> > > knowledge
> > > of International Morse while in the Air Force; those of you who are old
> > > Ham's learned some as well.
> > >
> > > Any stories out there relating to Morse on the Q? I have a RPPC showing a
> > > Q
> > > work train with one car clearly marked 'Telegraph Dept'. Dates from
> > > 1920's.
> > > I think some old equipment bklts also differentiate between Telegraph
> > > Dept
> > > and Signal Dept. Also Western Union had their own work trains that
> > > traveled
> > > any & all RR's well into the 60's (even later?)
> > >
> > > Gerald
> > > ----------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > "A LOST LANGUAGE", by LeRoy Palmer. An Article appearing in the June,
> > > 1940 issue of "Railroad Magazine", pages 89-92.
> > >
> > > As months and years drift by, the number of us old-time telegraphers
> > > in rail service who know the train wire language is dwindling, like the
> > > "thin blue line" and the "thin gray line" of Civil War veterans.On
> > > practically all the main-line dispatching circuits the telephone has
> > > displaced the telegraph. Only the oldest ops can remember the days
> > > when the average train dispatcher had a "copier", a fast pen operator
> > > who wrote all orders in the order book as the dispatcher issued them
> > > and checked as each was repeated.
> > >
> > > In this era of telephone dispatching, the work is, of course, done
> > > much more quickly. Orders are now repeated in one-fourth the time that
> > > was required for even the "gilt-edge" Morse man, although the time and
> > > all station names are spelled out, while train and engine numbers are
> > > repeated on the telephone. The veteran brass pounder has to admit it,
> > > even though he misses the vanishing language. Formerly I could be busy at
> > > my
> > > desk, or even reading the newspaper, and still hear the train wire with
> > > its
> > > "OS" reports of trains passing over the district, and thus I kept posted
> > > on
> > > everything approaching my station. Now I hear nothing unless I sit with
> > > the
> > > telephone receiver hung over my head. They took some of the romance and
> > > fascination away from railroading when they installed telephones on the
> > > train wire.
> > >
> > > The twelve-hour night shift men were excellent "spotters". That is, they
> > > were adept at catching much-needed sleep when opportunity offered and
> > > they
> > > trained themselves to wake for their call. The old Morse dispatchers knew
> > > that Bill or Joe was "in the hay" when they got no answer on the first
> > > call
> > > and they would slowly repeat "RC RC RC DS" or "ZA ZA ZA DS," or whatever
> > > the
> > > call was, the repeated chatter bringing the Op to life. This was
> > > customary
> > > and was well understood.
> > >
> > > One of the first things the op learned was to arouse from deep slumber
> > > for
> > > his call.
> > >
> > > I remember the first job I ever worked, night operator for the Milwaukee
> > > Road at Burlington, Wis., in 1901. I'd been on the job only a few nights
> > > when. One morning just before daylight, I got mighty sleepy and stretched
> > > out on the freight desk, with an "Official Guide" making a soft pillow
> > > for
> > > my head, and was soon sleeping soundly. I dreamed I was walking along a
> > > street, and as I passed a store I heard a telegraph instrument tapping
> > > out
> > > "BU BU BU BY" which was my office call. I thought, "Gosh! I'd better go
> > > in
> > > there and answer that. It's my call!" The next thing I knew, I was
> > > tumbling
> > > off that desk onto my feet as I realized that the Beliot dispatcher was
> > > hammering out slowly "BU BU BU BU DS."
> > >
> > > I dove for the telegraph desk.
> > >
> > > I have had this same dream, or one very much like it, many times since on
> > > similar occasions. Other old-time ops report having had identical
> > > experience. Seldom would we get deep enough in the hay to fail to
> > > recognize
> > > the familiar sounder call. There's not much excuse for lightening
> > > slingers
> > > to drowse on an eight-hour shift nowadays, but should a man working the
> > > late
> > > night, or third, trick in the heat of Summer, slip off to dreamland
> > > between
> > > trains, the telephone bell is, perhaps, not the equal of the old repeated
> > > Morse call to arouse him from slumber.
> > >
> > > Perhaps you have sat in some wayside depot waiting-room and listened to
> > > the
> > > clatter of the instruments in the telegraph office and wished you could
> > > understand what was passing over the wire. But missing now from the
> > > chorus
> > > of clicking sounders is the loudest one of all, the sounder of the train
> > > dispatcher's wire. What you would hear now, if you could read them, would
> > > be
> > > the message wire and the commercial wire, carrying private telegrams.
> > > Gone
> > > is the hottest and fastest of them all, the sounder with the mysterious
> > > abbreviations and language of its own, which every student aspired to
> > > read.
> > > When a student could read the train wire his education was complete; he
> > > was
> > > a full-fledged op.
> > >
> > > In 1900 I was an apprentice at the CMStP&P depot in Elkhorn, Wis. George
> > > Hayes was the daylight operator there. In addition to his regular duties,
> > > he
> > > had the job of teaching two students, Bill Jones and myself. Both of us
> > > were
> > > green farm hands. I don't know how dumb I was as a ham, but I do remember
> > > that Mr. Hayes was in despair over Bill. We both did learn, however. I
> > > became a boomer op, and the last I heard of Bill Jordan he was the chief
> > > dispatcher for some Western pike.
> > >
> > > I was given night work with the night man, a short, fat little Irish
> > > fellow
> > > named Eddie uinane. Eddie was a prince. He used to send to me faithfully
> > > an
> > > hour or so every night when he wasn't too busy, but he was a rotten
> > > sender.
> > > The boys along the line had a hard time reading him. But I got accustomed
> > > to
> > > the funny twists he put on his Morse, and I had no trouble. Later on,
> > > when I
> > > was working along the line on the extra board, if some op had to copy
> > > Eddie
> > > and I was around he'd make me sit in and take Eddie's dots and dashes.
> > >
> > > Meanwhile, I put in about six months with Eddie, showing up when he did
> > > at
> > > six p.m. and quitting at one a.m. I was beginning to get discouraged. I
> > > could read words off the Western Union commercial wire pretty well, but I
> > > couldn't get used to those "cut" words used by the dispatchers, even
> > > though
> > > I listened faithfully, trying to separate the characters and make sense
> > > of
> > > them.
> > >
> > > I'll never forget that winter night when I opened the waiting room door,
> > > hustled over to the huge coal stove to thaw out, and heard the big
> > > train-wire sounder in the office rattling away. I listened a moment, when
> > > --
> > > just like that-- I could read the language! Boy, was I tickled! What
> > > previously had been a jumble of sounds was now clear to me. When Eddie
> > > came
> > > in a few minutes later, I had the joyous news for him that I could read
> > > the
> > > train wire, and he seemed as pleased as I was.
> > >
> > > After that, I was more anxious than ever to perfect myself. One day
> > > George
> > > Hayes said to me: "Kid, I'm going to give you a note to W.H. Melchoir,
> > > the
> > > chief train dispatcher at Beliot, and send you over to take your
> > > examination. Eddie says you have your block rules learned okay and you
> > > can
> > > read the train wire. They need operators and you are good enough to start
> > > out."
> > >
> > > Next day I rode the morning local passenger train to Beliot. Mr. Melchoir
> > > examined me and sent me to Burlington to work that very night. There was
> > > no
> > > physical or standard rules examination at that time, but you had to know
> > > the
> > > block rules. You had to know how to ask the man east of you for a "47"
> > > before you let an eastbound train into the block, etc. A "block" was the
> > > stretch of track between your office and his, and "47" meant "Will hold
> > > all
> > > westbound trains until your train arrives."
> > >
> > > Because the Morse train dispatcher had to work fast in order to keep his
> > > trains moving, there came into use so many abbreviations that if, as you
> > > sat
> > > in the wayside station waiting-room listening to the sounders, you could
> > > have to read every letter that was passing over the train wire, you still
> > > would have been unable to know what was going on, unless you understood
> > > the
> > > code. You might have heard the dispatcher and the op converse as follows:
> > > "Sa wn x w cmg ma hv 9 r tm." snaps the dispatcher. {Say when extra west
> > > train is coming. I may have orders for them.}
> > >
> > > "Art tnk c tr smk no," returns the op. "Es hr ty cm ty in ste nw."
> > > {All right. I think I see their smoke now. Yes, here they come. They are
> > > in
> > > sight now.}
> > >
> > > "U gt nytng r em." asks the DS. {Have you got anything for them?}
> > >
> > > "Es abt 15 m wk," replies the operator. {Yes, about 15 minutes work.}
> > >
> > > "OK 31 cy 3 r em & let me kw hw mch wk ty gt at DR b4 c clr em ma hv
> > > to chg tt meet wi 42 No 7s ab 20 m1 I'll hnd hm sm ti on tm at DR."
> > > {Okay. Make 3 copies on a 31 order for them and let me know how much
> > > work they've got at Darienbefore you clear them. May have to change that
> > > meet with number 42. Number 7 is about twenty minutes late. I'll hand him
> > > some time on them at Darien.}
> > >
> > > Hour after hour, with occasional periods of rest, twenty-four hours a
> > > day,
> > > the sounder rattled on, Few words were spelled out in train movement
> > > conversation, as this language -- the "cut" language of the old Morse
> > > train
> > > wire -- clicked over the line.
> > >
> > > All railroad offices with telephone dispatcher's wire equipment have a
> > > Morse circuit to fall back on in case of trouble on the phone wire. The
> > > young operators dread this. If they happen to be working with an old
> > > Morse
> > > dispatcher, they are in hot water trying to read his abbreviated
> > > instructions. To a veteran, however, it's the old familiar code.
> > >
> > > Morse men admit that the telephone, like the typewriter, makes for
> > > greater
> > > efficiency. It standardizes operations, saves time and work, and
> > > diminishes
> > > the hazards of the iron trail. But we of the old school miss the romance
> > > of
> > > the earlier days of rugged individualism when you reached for a brass key
> > > instead of a black telephone receiver, and were proud of the bold, rapid,
> > > flowing strokes with which you wrote your train orders by hand.
> > >
> > > And if a tobacco-chewing boomer op were suddenly yanked out of the dim
> > > past
> > > and put to work on a teletype machine, his consternation would be
> > > equalled
> > > only by his profanity. Teletypes are doing their bit to make
> > > Morse a dead language. So far, you'll find 'em on only a few of the big
> > > roads. The latest pike to install this system is the Erie, which is now
> > > using teletype machines for their consist and passing report systems.
> > >
> > > As every rail knows the consist of a freight train includes all of its
> > > car numbers, listed in order, beginning at the head end. For each carload
> > > are shown contents, tons, destination, route (including other roads, if
> > > any
> > > such are needed to take the car to its destination), and sometimes the
> > > name
> > > of the consignee. Ventilation, refrigeration, or heating instructions are
> > > shown for perishable freight, and when livestock was last fed and rested.
> > >
> > > All this information, in the case of the Erie, is transmitted by teletype
> > > to
> > > the company's general offices at Chicago, Cleveland, and New York, and to
> > > the district office at Jersey City, NJ, immediately after hotshot
> > > freights
> > > have left the yards. There, centralized tracking bureaus use the
> > > information
> > > to answer quickly all shipper and receiver inquiries about the movement
> > > of
> > > cars -- inquiries that in days gone by were answered with the aid of
> > > Morse
> > > conversation.
> > >
> > > A friend on the Erie tells me that when his company adopted teletypes for
> > > its consist and passing report systems, last March, it converted 845
> > > miles
> > > of telegraph wire to printer circuits, making a total of 2,320 miles of
> > > these circuits now in operation on the Erie. Of this total, he says,
> > > 2,075
> > > miles are equipped with duplex apparatus over which messages or consists
> > > can
> > > be sent in both directions at the same time.
> > >
> > > Morse experts concede that the telephone, the typewriter and the teletype
> > > seldom fail and, as I pointed out, do the work more easily and more
> > > rapidly.
> > > Few train dispatchers and ops would go back to the obsolete system if
> > > they
> > > could. But now and then you'll run across a mellow old boomer who sighs
> > > for
> > > the snappy Morse dialogue on the dispatcher's wire that is fast becoming
> > > a
> > > lost language.
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
>
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