Running Trains by Telegraph

Continuing on with our recent series of posts on Operator/Agents duties and procedures here is a excerpt from the wonderful "Tales of the Telegraph" by Jasper Ewing Brady published in 1899.

This chapter is entitled "Running Trains by Telegraph - How It is Done" and covers the way a dispatcher worked and the environment he worked in back in 1899.
The entire book is a wonderful read highly recommended but this chapter is a great look at how the Dispatcher kept (or at least tried to keep) everything running smoothly and most importantly safely!
Enjoy
73
KJ

Continued below.

Hooping in 1960

 Once the operator got his orders he had to get them to the train crew.
This great photo by R. Sandusky taken at Morley Alberta on August 16 1960 shows the C.P. Agent Vic Burton hooping orders to the Eastbound "Mountaineer".
You can also see the second shorter hoop he is holding to give to the conductor in the caboose.
This is an original photo currently hanging on the wall of the station at the Alberta Central Railway Museum near Wetaskiwin Alberta.
Worth a closer look!