Telegraph Register

This incomplete telegraph register is missing the electromagnets, embossing lever and other parts. Serial number 214 is stamped on the piece and a faint maker's mark appears on the brass base plate: "J. N. ...". The register came to the Smithsonian in 1904 from the Delaware & Hudson Company so we presume it saw service in their railroad system.

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.

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