I was reading one Bedwell’s Eddie Sand stories the other day. Eddy wrote up his reports and put them into the copying press. Does anyone know what a copying press was?
A copying press was a device that was used to make multiple copies of hand written orders. It involved a pressing mechanism along the lines of say a coffee press into which the original order form and blank forms for the number of copies to be made were placed with a damp cloth placed between each form including the original. Apparently the wick action of the damp cloths allowed the ink from the original to bleed through to the other forms giving, what I’d imagine would be somewhat fuzzy copies. The forms were thin tissue paper like sheets so the ink probably was albe to pass through to the other copies fairly easily. I don’t know how many copies could practically be made but I do know that there would usually be a copy to be handed to the engineer and conductor and at least one for the company records. I hope this answers your question.
Years ago when reproducing commercial telegrams we used a press.
but did not use any cloths. The original was typed using an indellible
ribbon and damp tissue like papers for the copies. The indellible ink would come
through the copies, up to about 8 copies. Doubt if using an ordinary
pen, pencil or typewrited ribbon, the copies would be legible. The press
we used was an old washing machine wringer.
If you ever get to the Cal State RR Museum in Sacramento, you can see a copying press in the Wells Fargo office in Old Sacramento.
dd
Thanks for the great replies.