Back in the days when so many work cars and business cars were equipped with "Pony Sets" (portable telegraph), they could cut in on any telegraph wire (if there was an operator on board). IF, as I state earlier a wire was available BUT again there were long sections where the line diverged to cross canyons or such as a matter of economy. Of course, if by chance the cut in was to be made near a phone booth it would be convenient to do so in order to cut in without having to put the long pole together to reach a wire - and in the winter much more comfortable. For years, on the Narrow Gauge, I was the only supervisor who could telegraph, plus more numerous telegraphones. When I used a portable telegraph the one winter in clearing slides on the Silverton Branch it was the first time in a long time, and that didn't last long because slides wiped out our poles and wires, and the wire line was never restored.
When box telegraph kits were on wrecker or other work equipment, an operator was called off the Extra Board (if available), or one was pulled off assignment to go along as a travelling point of communication. On the Narrow Gauge frequently an operator would transfer to train or engine service, but if one such happened to be called for the work train it would have been expedient for him to take over the telegraphing as an aside of his regular service. Only in emergency was this done because following the big railroad strike of 1923, each craft's duties and guarantee of all work in each category was established. Any infringements were penalized by paying the "first out" employee of the infringed craft the same pay given the other employee.
We called these "box telegraph, kits" - Pony Sets, God knows why. By the time I was promoted to Trainmaster there were only two men who were telegraphers- myself and an Eddie Oliver, on the Standard Gauge and on that territory there were so many wayside REAL telephones the thought of carrying or using a Pony Box was ridiculous. As a matter of fact all of the earlier supply had either been junked; taken as collector's items, or donated to one of the Telegraphers' Clubs. (There were a number of these that once a year cut in on commercial wires for a day of satisfying the nostalgia of the Old Timers, railroad and commercial. Some ship operators using the International code belonged and took part.)
I had a kit available at Alamosa headquarters complete with telegraph instruments (a relay was used instead of a sounder), long jointed pole to cut into a convenient wire, a key and two sets of dry cells. I checked often to be sure they were good. The only time I ever used it was the snowslide blockade of the winter of 1951-1952 on the Silverton Branch when Colorado P.U.C. ordered us to open it regardless of cost. It took 97 days to do so because that year the slides just kept running. Each day when the engines were being watered from Elk Creek by a pump we had with us, I hooked on a wire close to the crummy's window and sent a report. About 30 days into the job a slide wiped out the line. With the line wiped out I snowshoed into Silverton each third day (Elk Park to Silverton, 6.23 miles) and reported by commercial phone.
Another reason Pony Sets were not always useful was that for economical structure, lines did not always parallel the tracks - especially between Antonito and Chama. When a line wire broke in any of these sections the Western Union lineman (WU had contract to maintain) had his work cut out.
Tapping the telegraph Lines: The pole actually was used only for the purpose of lifting the grapnel up to the wire when it was higher than we could reach, although my first use of a "Pony" set was on the Silverton Branch in 1952 and to save the effort after done to relock onto the grapnel I just left it attached and hanging. Maybe not a bad idea at that - the weight of the pole probably made a better contact between grapnel and line wire. There was a coil of wire ran from grapnel to the Pony set. The last move to complete setting up the circuit was to insert wire tips in posts and tighten nuts.