Page:February 1916 QST.djvu/3

20  portation, it is necessary that there shall be established routes. If our friend in Portland, Maine wants to send a msg. to Portland, Oregon, it should be understood by everybody connected with the handling of this msg. just how it was to be routed under ordinary circumstances, and just what alternative routes must be taken if the circumstances are extraordinary. Therefore, it becomes essential that the Relay League have at least a few regular established trunk lines. Certainly such would have to be the case if the Relay League were to be called upon by the Government for assistance, as has been suggested in these pages.

In laying out trunk lines, a reasonable point of view should be taken and no elaborate,or unnecessary system be undertaken in the beginning. Only enough should be laid out to handle the regular test msgs. Later, as traffic grows, additional trunk lines, can be established. For the purposes of forming a nucleus, the following trunk lines have been worked out by the writer and they are respectfully recommended for adoption, it being understood that only enough cities are mentioned in each to indicate the general route. tions for the next issue of the List of Stations book.

If it were possible to relay from point to point along these trunk lines, there would be a tractical traffic established to most of the principal points in the country. Msgs. could be routed via AF to go from Boston to San Diego, or via ABF or via ABEF. These Msgs. would be limited strictly to each trunk line. If each trunk line were kept open by daily test, any combination of them is naturally also open.

Supposing, now, that districts were selected as the headquarters for each trunk line and each of these districts organized themselves to run a test msg. out and back every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday, at 9:30 p. m. Central time, and reported by mail each test to headquarters at Hartford. The result would soon be that main headquarters would see just where the weak points in the links were and could take steps to reappoint stations. It would not be long before the better stations would automatically develop themselves on each line and the weak ones would be weeded out. And it is also a safe thing to predict that these better stations would become Star Stations and would quickly be those to receive 

Trunk Line A.

Portland, Me.

Boston, Mass.

Albany, N. Y.

Buffalo, N. Y.

Cleveland, O.

Toledo, O.

Detroit, Mich.

Chicago, Ills.

Minneapolis, Minn.

Fargo. N. D.

Helena, Mont.

Spokane, Wash.

Seattle, Wash.

Trunk Line B.

Chicago, Ills.

Peoria, Ills.

St. Louis, Mo.

Kansas City, Kans.

Omaha, Neb.

Denver, Colo.

Salt Lake City, Utah.

Reno, Nev.

San Francisco, Cal.

Trunk Line C.

Boston, Mass.

Hartford, Conn.

New York, N. Y.

Philadelphia, Pa.

Baltimore, Md.

Washington, D. C.

Richmond, Va.

Raleigh, N. C.

Charleston, S. C.

Savannah, S. C.

Jacksonville, Fla.

Trunk Line D.

Philadelphia, Pa.

Harrisburg, Pa.

Pittsburg, Pa.

Columbus, O.

Cincinnati, O.

Louisville, Ky.

Nashville, Tenn.

Birmingham, Ala.

Montgomery, Ala.

Mobile, Ala.

New Orleans, La.

Trunk Line E.

St. Louis, Mo.

Memphis, Tenn.

Little Rock, Ark.

Guthrie, Okla.

Dallas, Tex.

Houston, Tex.

San Antonio, Tex.

El Paso, Tex.

Globe, Ariz.

Phoenix, Ariz.

Los Angeles, Cal.

Trunk Line F.

Vancouver, Canada.

Seattle, Wash.

Portland, Ore.

Sacramento, Cal.

San Francisco, Cal.

Los Angeles, Cal.

San Diego, Cal. 

 If certain well equipped and regularly operated stations can be appointed along each of these trunk lines, it would be possible to establish regular test signalling and unquestionably materially assist in making long distance relaying possible. Moreover, it would serve as a very good basis for the re-appointment of Star Sta - Special Licenses. To the writer, who has given this subject a great deal of thought and study, it seems that what should be done is for every amateur located along any of the above mentioned trunk lines to send in to main headquarters his name, address, and call letters. Main headquarters would then