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London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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Railophone
Railophone
Telephone communication with moving trains goes back further
than most people might imagine, as this extract from Arthur Jordan's history of
the line illustrates:
The SMJ had shown an interest in technological progress as
early as 1912, when in July of that year the following message was transmitted
from a train travelling between Ettington and Stratford-upon-Avon, picked up in
the signal box and conveyed to His Majesty the King, then on a visit to
Bristol: 'Representatives of railway companies, universities and scientific
bodies are today inspecting the Von Kramer wireless inductive railophone system
for signalling to and from trains to stations. With this system it is possible
to stop trains in motion by pressing a button in the signal-box. This telegram
was dispatched wirelessly from a moving train by the inventor'.
Professor Silvanus Thompson, presiding over the gathering
of some 120 guests in a marquee behind Stratford-upon-Avon station, thought
that there was great scope for this invention whilst the Stratford Herald
expressed the following opinion: '. . . it is possible in the future that our
borough will attain considerable importance in the eyes of the scientific world
as the birthplace of a system which may play a prominent part in the railway
kingdom, inasmuch as it claims to ensure safe travelling by rendering collision
impossible, and repairing (also recording) mistakes made by careless signalmen.
We refer to the Railophone double-automatic signalling apparatus.'
Von Kramer had conducted his first experiments as far back
as 1910 at Three Bridges, Sussex, on the London, Brighton & South Coast
Railway when he had succeeded in establishing a telephonic link between an
express train and a signal box. In April 1911 a public demonstration of this
system for a 'phone link between train and signal box had been given on the SMJ
at Stratford-upon-Avon when Miss Made Corelli, authoress, performed the
inaugural ceremony. Since then, making use of a coach loaned by the Great
Central Railway, the inventor had perfected his system so that it could be used
for controlling trains as well as for communication. These proceedings were
reported in the local newspaper thus: 'Very interesting were the trials
devoted to distress signalling, a powerful hooter on a moving train sounding by
the simple closing of a switch in the signal cabin, and then the mere pressure
of a button by Professor Silvanus Thompson automatically pulled up the train
passing at a good speed into the station. The train ran from the old carriage
shed through the station against the railophone signal, which was at danger,
and directly the Professor touched the button the hooter on the train showed
that the contact had been made, and the screeching wheels and dense smoke from
the engine proved that the train was slowing up under compulsion. The driver
and guard were powerless to do anything until the pressure was released and the
train was permitted to resume its journey'.
Shortly afterwards Von Kramer was answering questions when
he accidentally leant on the train-stopping button bringing to an unexpected
halt the trial train which was backing into the platform!
To end the day, the assembled visitors were conveyed by
train to Clifford Siding where they alighted and climbed on to a bridge to
witness 'possibly the most realistic tests of the day'. Two trains raced
towards each other on the single line and use of the Railophone system averted
a head-on collision. Perhaps this was not quite so exciting as it sounds
because the Herald told its readers, 'A liberal margin was allowed for
safety, and so there were no thrills'. At the luncheon provided for the
visitors Von Kramer related that during the months in which he had been
carrying out tests along the SMJ line a shunter had one day commented to [the
railway's general manager] Willmott, 'Don't you think that Railophone chap
is a bit dotty? He does nothing at all except run backwards and forwards'
(laughter). More recently, that shunter had expressed the opinion that Von
Kramer had 'got a snip this time' (laughter and applause). However,
despite the encouraging results of the tests, nothing further was heard of the
Railophone.
A later description is found in My Magazine, a publication
for children, in volume 9 dated 1915. In an article on 'What Wireless has Done
and What It Will Do', the unsigned author (probably Arthur Mee) writes:
Wireless communication with a moving train
Stopping a Train
The automatic signalling of trains has made great strides
during the last few years, and already wireless telegraphy has been employed
for their control. Some striking tests were carried out recently by Professor
Wirth at Nürnberg, in which trains several miles away were brought to a
standstill within a few seconds by wireless signals from a signal-box. Once
again it is the coherer¹ which is employed to actuate the mechanism. An
aerial wire stretched over the train collects wireless energy sent out into
space by means of the telegraph wires, which act as radiators. The wireless
transmitter at the signalling cabin is attached to the wires, and when a signal
is sent it is caught by the aerial on the train and makes the coherer a good
conductor of electricity, so that a current can pass. through it to a "relay,"
which closes another electric circuit operating the electric brake on the
train. A relay is an instrument which, affected by a very minute current, can
in turn "switch on" a much heavier current. Wireless train control has also
been tried with quite satisfactory results in England, and its application on a
wider scale is more than likely in the future.
¹. A primitive form of radio signal detector used in
the first radio receivers during the wireless telegraphy era at the beginning
of the 20th century.
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