American Morse Code

In American (or "railroad") Morse, if the duration of a dot is taken to be one unit then that of a dash is two units (not the three of International Morse). There is then also the long dash of four units (see "L") and the very long dash of five units (see "0"). The space between the components of one character is generally one unit, but there are some character with slightly longer 1.5 unit spaces within them (see "C"). The space between characters is two units (not the three of International Morse) and between words three units (not the seven of International Morse). There was in fact quite some variation in the timing, so this is just one interpretation.

If you click on any of the highlighted letters or symbols the Morse sound will be played. The Morse would have been heard via a "Telegraph sounder" which can be selected in the "Sound Controls" box on this page.