On Apr 2, 8:51*pm, bobharvey wrote:

I recall a trip to Scotland in the 1950s where a payphone was wheeled
into the restaurant car whilst at Waverley, much as we used to drop
one into ships arriving at Boston Docks.

These were merely tied in by extension cords to a landline, right?

The US used to do that with premium trains when at major stations or
terminals.

Also, on premium trains there was a train secretary who would take
telegrams from passengers and send them off at the next station, and
also receive telegrams for passengers on the train. In the US, until
about 1960, brief messages were cheaper by telegram than by long
distance telephone. After roughly 1960 telephone rates continued
downward while telegraph rates went up.

In the 1990s long distance telephone rates made it cheaper to phone
than mail someone a letter.