Telephone No. 41

A Phonopore-style telephone made by the Victorian Workshops at some time before 1914. It was a composite of spare parts, and the example shown uses an Ericsson handset and switchhook, and an Ericsson earpiece to produce a ring signal through the trumpet at the front. A Collier-Marr "howler" (a modified receiver) was usually used on Phonopores, but Ericssons produced their own Phonopore equivalent phone using an earpiece as a howler. The Workshops apparently followed this practice.

The phone was designed to provide voice communication over telegraph lines without interfering with the Morse signal. This idea was quickly dropped by the APO in favor of dedicated phone lines. The type of phone was kept in use by the various Railways administrations, using Phonopores usually supplied by Sterling Telephone & Electric.

This phone is extremely rare, only a few examples being known in Victoria.

Photos courtesy Marco Laudani

Left: Alternate version using more of the original Phonopore / Kellogg parts

Circuit from "Connections of Telephonic Apparatus and Circuits", PMG, 1914.

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