On Monday, January 29, 2018 at 3:24:35 PM UTC-5, danny burstein wrote:   
      
   > While normally there was a hefty surcharge for   
   > using the phones, The Phone Company didn't add them   
   > in when using an "800" nnumber. So... I called   
   > some companies and chatted away.   
   >   
   > Misc side note: this was back in the days when   
   > 800 numbers were often goegraphically delineated.   
   > (they still can be, but generally companies just   
   > get a national one). So the operator intercepted   
   > the call and asked what are code I was calling   
   > from. I guessed at the reply of "215" (Philly)   
   > and it worked.   
      
   The Metroliner telephone service was based in Philadelphia,   
   so using 215 was the correct choice.   
      
   Are you saying you made the call for free--no airtime charge?   
   That's certainly plausible in those days, when the charge rules   
   were different than now.  A free call or a call for assistance   
   was a free call.   
      
   I was surprised when I dialed the operator from my early cell phone   
   and was billed airtime for it.  Further, the operator was unable   
   to help me--she was not the mobile specialty operator (which I   
   guess were gone by that point).   
      
   Nowadays a live operator is very hard to find, and probably will   
   cost you.  Lots of inquiries that used to be free are now a charge   
   and some support services have been discontinued.   
      
   Likewise at companies with an automated PBX.  Originally, there was   
   a human backup if you needed assistance or had a rotary phone.   
   Today, many times you might ask for a human, but you aren't gonna   
   get one.   
      
   Surprisingly, my current telephone directory still lists services   
   such as collect or person-to-person ($5 fee) even though even   
   a la carte customers pay only 12c/minute for long distance, and most   
   people have a free package.   
      
      
   The Metroliner train phones didn't last too long because Amtrak   
   had to take the trainsets out of service for rehab (poor reliability),   
   and then reassigned them to other routes, with the phone disconnected.   
      
   Eventually the White House took back the bandwidth assigned to that   
   service.   
      
   I have no idea how popular the service was, including how many people   
   made inward calls to the train (the lounge attendant, across from   
   the phone booth, would page the desired passenger).   
      
   On the old trains, one could also call inbound, too.  The 1950 toll   
   must have been steep.   
      
   As an aside, in 1950, sending a brief long distance message   
   by telegram was cheaper than a voice call.  But by 1960, the   
   situation was reversed, and now a long distance voice call was   
   cheaper than a telegram.  Western Union recognized this and   
   focused on computer communications at that point, though AT&T   
   obtained most of the nascent data comm market.  Western Union   
   sought to be a player in the early ARPANET but it didn't work out.   
      
   The film Executive Suite has a good opening scene of a man   
   sending a telegram in the 1950s.  That was a good movie--they   
   should modernize it and run it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)