Batteries + Pine = Porter Call

Now you can press the Porter Call buttons in the Towering Pine and hear the familiar sound of the Porter Call bell that once brought assistance to passengers day or night!  The system was activated in September and visitors to the Towering Pine can press a Porter Call button and hear the chimes ring exactly as in the past.

"Installing new batteries to get the system operational was the easy part," according to Kevin Bailey of Batteries Plus,   "...locating the replacements for the 1950's vintage dry cells though took some coordination with our sister stores and a little coercing to get them."  The original battery paper labels were preserved so that when the head end power system is restored the new batteries can be wrapped to depict the original image.

"It's really neat to hear the bell and see the enunciator panel illuminate when one of the buttons is pressed.  Having never ridden in a Pullman sleeper, I can almost feel what it was like hearing and seeing this car come alive," Bailey exclaimed.

As he tested the call buttons, Bailey joked, "looks like we have everyone in the car needing assistance.  A Pullman porter probably saw the panel completely lit when the power went out or the air conditioning wasn't working properly." 

The Porter call system operates off battery power so when the car's regular power went out, passengers could summon the Porter for help.

Batteries Plus donated the batteries and their time to make the Pine Porter Call system active again.  Thanks to Steve Sheldon and Kevin Bailey of Batteries Plus for helping to energize the Towering Pine!