trainphone

Definition

(Noun) Comunication system used by the Pennsylvania Railroad 1949 to 1955 on tracks powered by overhead electrical wires. The trainphone was an induction phone utilizing the steel tracks as a carrier for communications as radio waves would be disrupted by the current and voltage in the overhead wires. Locomotives and the cabooses having these phones had distinctive piping supported above the car or engine, running the length of the diesel engine, the steam tender or the caboose roof.