This map appeared a hundred years ago, in the February, 1916, issue of QST. It accompanied an article by Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, calling for the establishment of regular “trunk lines” across the United States. He envisioned “a citizen of Portland, Maine, being able to send a message to a citizen in Portland Oregon, by wireless, and without cost” on a reliable basis. As the Washington’s Birthday test illustrated, it was possible for hams to send traffic to every point in the nation extremely rapidly. But what was lacking was the ability to do so on a routine basis.

Maxim envisioned having operators along these trunk lines standing by at a scheduled time on a daily basis to make this kind of traffic routine. At the time, wireless communication by amateurs was limited to a few hundred miles. Therefore, to get messages from one end of the country to the other, these trunk lines would ensure that stations within range would be available at a predictable time.

For example, “Trunk Line A” along the country’s northern tier would include stations in or near the following cities: Portland, ME; Boston, MA; Albany, NY; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; Toledo, OH; Detroit, MI; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Fargo, ND; Helena, MT; Spokane, WA, and Seattle, WA. Each hop was within the capabilities of a well-equipped station of the time, and a message could cross the country in only 12 steps.

This concept was ultimately adopted, and ultimately became a part of the ARRL National Traffic System.

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