TRAIN TELEPHONE

Hokitika Guardian, 11 December 1930, Page 7

TRAIN TELEPHONE

CANADIAN SERVICE! A SUCCESS. OTTAWA, November 1. Canada’s first commercial two-way telephone service lor passengers on. moving trains, first installation of its' kind in the world, has proved eminently successful after live months’ service, during which there has been no interruptions to calls or curcuit time loss due to failure of any of the train telephone equipment. The telephones are being used daily for business purposes on the speeding. Canadian National Railway trains between Toronto and Montreal.

During the first' six weeks of operation about 60 per cent of the calls handled were curiosity calls, 20 per cent social, and 20 per cent business conversations. Business calls now constitute about 65 per cent of the total, according to Mr J. O. Burkholder, chief engineer of the Canadian National’s telegraph and telephone department, the official who was responsible for the development of the train telephone system. Mr Bark holder states that curiosity calls have been reduced to 10 per cent and social calls have increased to 25 per cent. The initial installation of the train telephone system has been operating daily since April 28, 1930, on one train each way between Toronto and Montreal, “The Maple Leaf” and “International Limited.” The quality of transmission has been rated 95 per cent perfect by the Bell Telephone Company and on one cal) placed by a passenger to London, England, the perfect score of 100 per cent was attained, Many calls from outside points to passengers on the trains originate as far away ns Chicago, The number of calls handled varies greatly from day to day and lately there has been a steady increase, Mr Burkholder states, both in calls to passengers on the trains and in those from the trains to 'outside points. On a number of occasions a. train has bandied as high as twentyone calls on <y single trip, though the total was only 813 in the, past five months 'of -operation. ' "'V,*' '

: This- marvel, of telephony*’ pbrought about after several years of tation by-Mr Burkholder makes use of the telegraph wires paralleling .the railway over which impulses are'giirried to the ■ train pick-up stations; at 'Morrisbury and Cobourg, Ontario towns ‘ along the'line, and thence to Kingston and ■connection with the system'.jf ,the Bell Telephone Company of Canada. Calls can be placed for anywhere .reached by telephone, including the wifeless links across the Atlantic, as is-indicated m the case with which London,;[England, can he called, an ordinary proceeding now on these Canadian National trams.