(erielack) Towers and telegraphers

["MDelvec952_@_aol.com"]

In a message dated 5/14/99 11:16:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
"TrainGG1_@_aol.com" writes:

>  I don't know how the Erie or the DL&W did it, 
>  but usually the two-letter designation was an abbreviation of the junction 
...  It would be  interesting if someone could shed some addiional light on 
this.<<


I didn't read all of these posts, so I hope I didn't duplicate anything, but 
the two letter code for towers began with the telegraphers, on the Erie by 
Minot himself, I'm pretty sure.   The letters often had something to do with 
the location, but not always.  Telegraphers developed two letter codes for 
junctions, and almost any other word that a telegrapher had to send.  While I 
don't know exactly how each tower got its symbol, I do know that the symbols 
didn't have to agree with anything.  An old Canadian telegrapher told me that 
the originators tried to develop codes that were clear and different, to help 
reduce missinterpretations.   The early telegraphers came up with two-letter 
codes for most of the words they had to normally use.  This cut down on time 
and characters that had to be sent.  Since each knew their lingo, when 
writing down messages received via the key, they wrote the entire word.

At Steamtown, there is an excellent display explaining early railroad 
telegraphy in bottom floor of the technology museum.  It also describe the 
two-letter system for most of the words on a train order.  Also, at the 
Canadian Railway Museum railfan weekends each year, two CPR telegraphers sit 
in the two depots at opposite ends of the museum, and they transmit morse 
code messages between each other, and the patrons ride the trolley or train 
to the other depot to pick it up.  I stood there once for quite a while 
watching this living artifact send and receive code, both on a Morse key, and 
on the newer electric keys that send dots and dashes simply by moving the key 
horizontally.  It's sort of like the electric typewriter of telegraph keys.

                                    ....Mike

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