On the Go

Last week TV was busy traveling by rail, highway and air. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, on a run from Washington to Jersey City, took along an observation carload of reporters to witness the first use of a TV set on a train. The receiver was specially built by Bendix engineers to eliminate such bugs as landscape blocks, high speed (the train hit 80 m.p.h.), and static caused by passing trains. Biggest problem was the antenna. Because of the low clearances allowed by trestles, tunnels and overpasses, the antenna could rise only 15 3/4 inches above the top of the car.

The pictures were up to those on home receivers, except for "snow" in the Washington station and for brief blankouts on stretches of track beyond the range of transmitters. Reporters appeared less interested in the experiment than in the televised World Series game. A.P.'s Arthur Edson noted that, technically, reception "was surprisingly good," but complained that he had missed most of an inning because FCCommissioner Frieda Hennock was posing for news pictures in front of the screen. The New York Star's Ernest Barcella was chiefly concerned about what had happened to Warren Spahn: "He was pitching for the Braves when we entered a tunnel. When we picked up the game again Spahn was missing for good. It developed he had been batted from the box."

Passengers on a Capital Airlines flagship bound from Washington to Chicago also watched the series on an airborne TV set. Whenever the airliner got beyond station range, it simply climbed 1,000 feet and picked up the signal again. When the plane was equidistant from two stations in different cities, but on the same channel, the result was not a double image. The stronger station won out.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, ingenious Robert Wright installed a TV set below the dashboard of his automobile, reported excellent results. Captain John Schoenecker of Milwaukee's police traffic bureau grumbled ominously: "It's the first I've heard of it, and it doesn't sound good."

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