[GreenKeys] Re: Model 15s with holding magnets...AND cable stories

[kf9nz at juno.com]

        The 15 printers and 14 reperf' we used on the RR were all holding
magnet machines.  I recall the letters HM were stamped into the
rangefinder plate.  I never saw a pulling magnet machine when I was
working for the RR.   We used DC loop circuits in cable pairs for stuff
up to about 5 miles.  I had one system that was a nightmare to keep
running.  It had a hub repeater in the office at Grand Central Station,
Harrison &  Wells, Chicago that had legs to 5 yard offices.   Two legs in
our own  cable to 13th and Damen, another to 13th and Homan, and then
three Telco leased DC loops to 79th and Western, Riverdale and East
Chicago Ind.   Every time I got a trouble report on that circuit I felt
Ill because I knew it was going to be long and frustrating to tinker with
the bias adjustments on the repeater, and trying to get a clerk at the
different offices on the phone to tell you if he was getting good print,
or even worse, get him to send RY's.

        The cable we had was mostly buried lead.  It was Western Union
type cable with 9 gauge (yes, B&S 9 ga.) quads and 16 gauge pairs.   We
didn't have equipment to shoot trouble or repair them, and had to get a
WU city cable crew to help.  They had a breakdown set which would put
about 600 V on a wire that showed a ground or cross.  This would
-hopefully- create a solid ground or cross that would "hold tone"   The
tone set would put a pulsing tone on the wire that could be heard with an
induction coil on the cable sheath up to the trouble, but not beyond. 
Then we would try to find the manholes - usually covered pretty well with
track ballast - open them up and see if we were past the trouble or not. 
Once it was located between manholes, the splicer would chop the sleeve
open in the manhole and if the trouble wasn't right there, use a
wheatstone bridge to measure the distance to the trouble.  Then we would
dig up the conduit - often wooden trunking - cut it open and open the
cable.  Hopefully, we would find a wet mess of paper pulp and green
copper.   Location where the RR tracks crossed above city streets where
streetcars had run were suspect because of the electrolysis currents
which would eat holes in the lead.

        One of the great things about the RR Communications job was that
one day I would be working on teletype machines and the next I would be
digging up buried cable, or climbing poles, or some other kind of work.  
I was a jack-of-all-commncations trades, and master of none.

Frank


On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:54:05 -0600 Don Robert House <drhouse at dls.net>
writes:
> A COUPLE OF TYPOS....  I am getting old....
> 
> On 21 Nov 2007, at 12:45 PM, Don Robert House wrote:
> 
> Harvey,
> 
> The only time we used 260 volts was for a temporary turn up until 
> the  
> circuit could be redesigned.  No other pairs in that binder group  
> would be used for anything.  I should have explained that better.  
> In  
> Chicago we had special cables used only for high voltage circuits. 
> It  
> was all 19 AWG specially designed for telegraph, metering,  and 
> alarm  
> types of circuits.
> 
> Yes older PIC cable (paper insulated conductors) were and still are 
> a  
> big problem.  Some of the cable in the close areas surrounding 
> Chicago  
> have had this cable buried in lead sheathing since 1918.  You can  
> imagine what happens when too much power is applied to these  
> conductors...
> It is a nightmare.
> 
> First a lot of customers are out of service.  Next permits must be  
> 
> paid for to dig up roadway or land or both. Next the exact portion 
> of  
> the old cable that has the fault must be determined.  The the cable 
> is  
> opened up back in both directions until individual conductors can be 
>  
> tested with the central office, one conductor at a time.  Then the 
> out  
> pairs have to be tested one conductor at a time. Each conductor  
> labeled because the paper no longer has any color coding.  Then 
> comes  
> the careful splicing in of new cable, careful wrapping of each 
> binder  
> group and then sealing everything back in lead after each circuit is 
>  
> tested.  Then putting the land and road back together.
> 
> This happened in Evanston,  Illinois about 7 years ago.  Two 
> apartment  
> buildings were out of service for about 5 days while cable splicers  
> 
> worked around the clock in shifts to restore the cable.  In today's  
> 
> world a couple of good circuits would be identified and loop  
> electronics would be set up at both ends and the rest of the cable  
> except for a few spare pairs would be abandoned.
> 
> If access is available in conduit and or aerial the whole area can 
> be  
> converted to fiber optic technology.  We NOW have the technology to  
> 
> recreate telegraph and alarm services over fiber and loop  
> electronics.  In some areas access makes this almost impossible.
> 
> 73
> 
> Don K9TTY
> Bell System Network Systems Engineer - Retired
> 
> 
> On 21 Nov 2007, at 9:43 AM, KC0NNC at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Apparently the WE supplied multi-pair long haul cable (that was used 
>  
> by the
> regional systems) was insulated well enough to keep the 260 volts  
> captive.
> 
> Worst case, the 260 volts carried could have been laid against 
> another
> similar circuit and we could have possibly see 2x260 = 520 volts.
> 
> 
> I wonder just what this primitive wire was good for ... prior to the 
>  
> plastic
> insulated wire, I assume the wire was wax impregnated wound cotton.  
> I
> remember this wire as hand me downs when I was a kid experimenting  
> 
> with ham radio in
> the early 50's.
> 
> It was nice copper wire, but the insulation unwound easily.  I would 
>  
> assume
> the long haul stuff was sheathed in lead, probably 500 pair 
> bundles...
> 
> I can imagine in central offices like Chicago and Los Angeles, you  
> 
> could see
> the full 21,000 ft. Paid out in the run.  and I can also imagine 
> that  
> with TTY
> circuits, when you ran into the 21k distance problem, you would also 
>  
> hit a
> repeater at that CO, and then the circuit was regenerated and sent  
> 
> along another
> 21k ft.
> 
> Any observations as to the accuracy of my guess work, as I never had 
> the
> pleasure of collecting a paycheck from the bell system.
> 
> Thanks for starting this thread, it appears some of us can pick up 
> some
> knowledge we have always wondered about.
> 
> Harvey E. Smith
> 2020 Baculite Mesa Road
> Pueblo, CO., 81001-2456
> 719 406 9735
> 
> fka WA0BBG
> nka KC0NNC
> 
> HarveyEsmith at aol.com
> 
> KC0NNC at aol.com
> 
> 
> 73's
> 
> 
> 
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