Short-waves on Trains

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 31, 12 February 1932, Page 21

Short-waves on Trains

Canadian Experiment FXPERIMENTS have been carried out by the radio department of the Canadian National Railways with a device which enables the engine-driver of one of the mile-long goods trains, which convey wheat from the Canadian prairie provinces to the ports of shipment, to enter into radio communication with the guard’s van at the rear of the train. These experiments have lasted for nearly two years and have resulted in a practicable form of voice transmission by shortwaves on a moving train between engine and guard’s van. The data obtained have been placed at the disposal of the signal committee of the American Railroad Association, an organisation embracing all the important railways on the North American continent and Mexico, and this committee has issued a tentative report on the subject. However, much more research work requires to be done. Goods trains on the North American continent are composed of cars which have a capacity of from forty to sixty

tons each, and are consequentiy much larger than the goods cars in use on the English railways. In some instances, trains number as many as 125 of these cars, and it will be appreciated that the inordinate length of the train which sometimes extends to more than a mile, makes a special means of communication between engine-driver and guard almost a necessity.