The railways were the first to adopt the fledgling telegraph in the last century. Throughout their history they have adopted new technology in telecomms as a means of improving their business operations and, most importantly, increasing the safety of the running of trains.
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The first section is about railway telecomms hardware, starting with an article about a subject that has kept me employed for the past thirty years -
Signal Post TelephonesWhy are telephones needed at signals? What are the safety requirements? How are these achieved? Leading on to: |
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The STC Selective SystemA simple, yet ingenious method of implementing the requirements for a signal post telephone. The system handbook is available in PDF format. |
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Level Crossing TelephonesA series of articles about another subject that has kept me employed for over thiry years. The first part is a short history of the need for a telephone system at autmoatic crossings. The second part is a more detailed description of the Plessey post-Hixon system. Still to come is a description of the Whiteley PETS developed about 1990 to replace the Plessey system. |
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The Single Needle Telegraph and Block TelephoneA simple and reliable telegraph using a variation on the Morse code, but with the resilience of double current working. The block telephone is a means of piggy-backing a telephone circuit on a simple earth-return bell connection between signalboxes. |
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Railway Telephone SignsWhat do they mean? |
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And now some
Railway Telephone Advertisements |
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Kent & East Sussex Railway PhonesVintage telephones actually in use on the K&ESR. |
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Kidderminster Railway Museumhas some fine examples of railway telephones on display. |
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BRT LocosFinally, a brief account of the equally brief lives of the BR Telecomms locomotive fleet. Cooke & Wheatstone naming ceremony on NY Moors Railway Marconi honoured. Princess Elettra names loco in honour of her father. |
Railway DocumentsThe next section contains extracts from historic books, courtesy of Mike Tyrrell and telephone directories, courtesy of Andy Emmerson |
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Control on the RailwayMy colleague, Mike Tyrrell, has passed on to me a book published in 1926 about control on the Railway. There is an explanation of what the Controller does, compared with a signaller and there are photographs of some vintage telephones from the period in their original settings. |
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London & Northwestern Railway, Telephone Directory 1915These quotes are priceless:
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Great Northern Railway, Telephone Directory 1916Some useful definitions include:
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More Railway Related Documents |