Re: Great Link!

The railroad telegraph line between Antonito and Chama (and Durango)in the last years consisted of four No. 8 BWG galvanized iron wires. Two wires, originally W.U. No. 9 and RR No. 3 Morse wires, were paired and transposed for voice frequency operation (late 1930's) and used as the Dispatcher's telephone, with local battery telephones in several booths and buildings along the line (Lava, Big Horn, Sublette, Toltec, Cumbres Section House, Cresco, and the train order office at Chama. There were no voice or telegraph repeaters of any kind anywhere on these lines.
The Morse circuits worked fine over the long distances in the normally dry arid climate, as did the telephone line, as long as they weren't on the ground somewhere.
The other two wires on the Chama-Durango line were Morse telegraph wires, No. 108 (Western Union) and No. 1 (railroad wire).
No. 1 wire was used by the DS as a train wire until the dispatchers were moved out of Alamosa, then it became just a general purpose railroad message wire if the phone circuit went out.
Telegraphones (basically a "Crank & Holler magneto line) were connected (bridged) on the Morse wire No. 1 in local areas where they found use by the section forces for communication. Western Union maintained it's Morse connections in the Alamosa W.U. relay office until the railroad abandoned it in 1969, but telegrams were few and far between.
No. 1 RR and No. 108 Western Union wires originally went all the way to Silverton, but were abandoned west of Durango in the 1950's after snowslides wrecked the line badly south of Silverton. It was never rebuilt.
There was a single iron wire (No.01) that went from Alamosa to Santa Fe, terminating in SantaFe
W.U. office until the Chili line was torn up in 1940.
There were two Morse wires on the Creede Branch, No. 1 (RR wire) and No. 118 (Western Union). These wires terminated at Del Norte after operations were largely curtailed west of South Fork on that branch, and the pole line abandoned into Creede.
The Farmington Branch had two Morse wires, No. 1 and No. 2 from Durango, cut in at Aztec and Farmington, terminating at W.U. Farmington. These were abandoned some time'in the 1950's as well.
The pole lines all were originally built, owned and maintained by the Western Union. The dedicated railroad DS and message Morse wires were part of the right of way agreement for the pole lines. The W.U. got out of the business and "sold" the whole physical outside/inside plant to to the D&RGW Railroad (estimated late 1950's...for a dollar!). D&RGW Tel&Tel maintainers & the section lineman from Pueblo then traveled into the SLV and Durango areas priodically to maintain them.
Needless to say, maintenance suffered badly, and the lines were in really bad shape at the end.