Re: (erielack) Re: radio equipped

[Smtimko_@_aol.com]

Radio equipped switch engines saved a lot of time and  trouble.  The Mahoning 
Division mainly had Baldwin and Lima switch  engines.  Some were equipped 
with radios and others were not.  It  allowed the crews to be in touch with the 
operators.  The ground crews did  not have portable radios for the most part on 
yard and local runs.  
 
The road trains had what was known as a walkie-talkie.  It was a  rather 
large unit, powered by two 6-volt lantern batteries and had an antenna  about 18 
inches in length.  When placed on a caboose, the antenna was  removed and a 
cable to the roof antenna was attached.  That allowed the  rear end to talk with 
a) the head end, b) passing trains and c) towers when they  were in visual 
range, so to speak.  Walkie-talkies were very  unreliable.
 
Head-end radios were so-so, and usually at least one unit on a consist had  a 
radio of fair quality or better.  If it was a trailing unit, the head  
brakeman usually rode on that unit.  He could communicate with the lead  unit by 
horn and/or hand signals.  If a train was notified by radio to  pick up orders 
(which was against the rules) the head brakeman would give a few  tugs on the 
horn, when the engineer stuck his head out the window and looked  back, the 
brakeman would stick his arm out like he was picking up orders.
 
When the Rock Island, D&H, CB&Q and other units showed up on  run-through 
trains, the radio packs had to be changed out when they came on  line.  A far cry 
from the clean-cab, multi-channel radios of today.
 
SMT
 
 


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