Astounding & Rare KNOX & SHAIN Reading Railroad Telegraph Register – c. 1860’s
$4,475.00
A phenomenal example in untouched original condition retaining its original winding key. Made by Knox & Shain of Philadelphia, PA and marked “R.R.R.Co.” for Reading Railroad Company. A very showy and special piece of American history.
Information from the Smithsonian Institute website describing their on-loan example:
“This telegraph register, typical of those in service during the U. S. Civil War, used a weight to drive the tape mechanism. The register was made by Knox & Shain, a noted Philadelphia maker of telegraph equipment. Telegraph registers are electrically-activated printers that receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The pulses energize the register’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm holding a pen or stylus. A clockwork mechanism pulls a strip of paper across the pen or stylus, recording the message. Short pulses draw or emboss a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers.”
In stock
