The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[Yorkshire Dave]

Although invented in the 19th century, it wasn't until after WW1 that dial phones started to be common. Railways were far from the early adopters. My mother worked a GWR plug board in the late 1940s.

A candlestick phone might be appropriate for the period.

I would suspect the increased use and availability dial telephones phones broadly mirrored the conversions from manual to automatic telephone exchanges where you no longer had to ask the operator to connect. If you called from a number serviced by an automatic exchange to a number serviced by a manual exchange the latter's operator would just connect the call without the caller asking to do so..

Railways probably had no need to adopt dial phones quickly as they effectively had their own internal telephone systems and exchanges not connected to the public network. They may have adopted dial phones in offices for their public network connections.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

With regard to your telegraph office it'll be one of these you may need - Phonopore, and if the GER operated the line they may have well installed a telephone connected to their system.

If it was the only phone in the locale the building may have a sign indicating the public can use the telephone.

 

[James Spooner]

I would suspect the increased use and availability dial telephones phones broadly mirrored the conversions from manual to automatic telephone exchanges where you no longer had to ask the operator to connect. If you called from a number serviced by an automatic exchange to a number serviced by a manual exchange the latter's operator would just connect the call without the caller asking to do so..

Railways probably had no need to adopt dial phones quickly as they effectively had their own internal telephone systems and exchanges not connected to the public network. They may have adopted dial phones in offices for their public network connections.

…and even in the 1970’s the Brentwood telephone exchange used operator connection for calls rather than STD.

Nigel

 

[Osgood]

.....
A candlestick phone might be appropriate for the period.

Dave

Cautionary: extended use of such a phone can lead to a build-up of wax in the ear.

 

[Osgood]

Back to the crane - just dug this out, it looks to be yet another 7mm kit of the LNWR? yard crane but I cannot recall the maker (acquired as seen a while back for a future project), thought the dimensions may be of interest to you: