C&O Railroad Crank Field Telephone from early 1900s

Here we have a really cool old telephone. It is a model GB 301A field telephone from C&O Railroad. The railroad linemen, inspectors, etc would have used this to communicate back to the home office. By tapping into the lines with the internal leads, and cranking the magneto, they could ring the operator. It was made by Leich Electric, probably in the early 1900s. This type of unit was also used by the military in WWI and WWII.

The carry strap has been cut (which looks like it was a replacement anyway). Other than that, the unit looks complete, right down to the schematics in the lid. The leather cover is stained and has a crack in the bottom from age and use. It would probably clean up nicely, but we don't do that here. I like it to show signs of the stories it could tell. The magneto doesn't turn, but you might be able to open it up and get it working.

Cool piece of telephone and railroad history.