1947 Train Phone service

Pac Man

It appears that as the Bell System introduced mobile telephone service in the late 1940s railroads decided to put phones on their trains as well. As mentioned, the railroad phones were mostly the same as automobile phones. It would appear the Boston-NYC corridor would be a good candidate for mobile phone service, although rural intermediate points may have had dead spots.

It's been hard for me to find out anything about pre-cellular mobile telephone service. At some point in the 1960s they upgraded the system with dial phones; I knew someone who worked as a chauffeur and he said using the mobile phone was no different than a home phone; just dial the number. I also know they had a very long waiting list for mobile service they couldn't meet until cellular came out and the govt was very slow in approving cellular plans.

We forget that early modern cellular service was still only auto based and required a shop installation of a box in addition to the handset. Later on they came out with portable units, first the "bag phone", then the "brick" phone.

BTW, they're pulling the plug on analog cell phones. One company is adding a steep surcharge to its existing customers to push them to switch. In a few years it will be cut out.

They make fun of business people always wanting to stay in touch, but they did so even back then. They welcomed the use of phones on trains and the ability to send and receive telegrams while en route. Communications was rather expensive in 1947 (telegrams were cheaper than long distance) but business people were willing to spend the money.