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Show APR 1992 - WARMING TIMES - 3 The Early Castle Valley Telephone System In 1974, on the original telephone system, there were Castleton, Seventh Day Institute, McGinty Ranch, and Pace Ranch. It was built as a private telephone system by the Corbins, and the line came from Moab using basically the same route as the UPL line of today. This two-line system was strung on poles, trees, and rocks! The steel wire was on glass insulators, and many were cracked or actually missing. Hunters found them to be excellent targets. (A note of clarification: The line did run up to the White Ranch before 1974, but the Whites needed better communication, so they converted to radio telephone. I believe some of that line still exists in the canyon just west of the Town of Castle Valley. Earl Hotz took much of the system down in his salvage operations. In fact, most of the wire was used in the current grape vine trellises here in the valley.) How did the system work in 1974? There were 17 phones on two wires. Only one party could talk outside of the system at a time. Fortunately, there was a relay set-up, which put eight homes on one side and nine on the other side of the ringer circuit. That meant you only heard half of the rings for incoming calls. When the phone was being used by anyone on the system, you could eaves—drop to get the latest rumor—and people did! At ammo cans. Everybody knows that channel locks, ammo cans, and baling wire are the only supplies you really need to solve problems. You guessed it! We put the phone in an ammo can and wired it to a cedar post. People driving by would hear the phone ring and wonder where that sound was coming from. You had to be nearby to answer the phone, so you had to prearrange a time and hope no one else would be using the phone. Our ring was two shorts and one long. Every lot of long—distance revenue from calls made to home. Then came the new system which was, during its time, the state of the art. CONTEL wrote that up too. Much of the funding came from the Federal REA, now threatened by budget cuts. And now under GTE, the system is growing again. ——Joe Kingsley Thank you Thank you Joanna for responding home had a code so you would know so quickly and thoughtfully to my which call was yours. Of course, some people didn’t care, they w0uld answer it anyway. We had several meetings to resolve the privacy problem but never succeeded. recent requests re. your outdoor light Early residents of Castle Valley and the ATV use along Carlsberg Lane. Changing the direction of the light brought out the stars again. Stopping the recreational use of the 4-wheeler kept me from pulling my hair. The used this system for over three years. If you wanted to make a local call to process of living together can some- Moab, it cost 10¢. If you made a long- we have such varying needs. I greatly distance call, you signed the ledger with the time and date, and when the bill came we settled up with DMA. appreciate having you as my neighbor. A thanks also to Wilma Welch for Visitors would put the charges in a butter dish. As the number of users increased, this became more difficult. The butter dish became a small—change times be a tricky one, particularly when volunteering to help with the Easter Celebration. It’s great to have the help of a “pro” and to have someone respond to my request for help so quickly. —Joan Sangree bank, and the IOUs grew. The honor system did work, but the bookkeeping was a problem. The Castle Valley Community We’ll print your thank yous too, ifyou will write them up. Phone made a feature story in CONTEL’s internal magazine. It was voted the most unusual phone installation of the time. Emmett was actually proud of our funky phone. It earned a pre—agreed times Castleton residents would actually visit by picking up the phone. Of course, no incoming or outgoing calls could be made during this time. The Pace Ranch phone was in the old ranch house and was owned by Carlsberg and used by Earl Hotz and the developer. After DMA International gtainglaSS T5 ~nics purchased half of the Castle Valley River Ranchos it became apparent that another phone was necessary. Emmett . CHIS? Mays was able to get CONTEL to engineer the system to add one more phone—nine on each leg of the ringer relays. There were some restrictions; the phone had to be within 300 feet of the line and pole which went to the old ranch house. The only place near that pole was a fence (Brady’s grapes next to Castle Valley Drive finally replaced it). At that time Bob Degles was very active running rivers and had some extra TRANSFORMATIONAL BODYWORK Swedish, Deep Tissue, Lymphatic MASSAGE O — panels —— lamps — etched glass — 3D repairs free estimates (801) 259—6382 PO. Box 1908 CVSR MOAB UTAH 84532 ENERGY BALANCING RADIANCE BREATHWORK LAURA MACERSKY, Ms.T. CVSR Box 1705 MOAB, UTAH 84532 801-259-8702 |
