In 1851, Samuel Morse's code was accepted around the world. In Britain the railways were already using other forms of signaling. Devices for sending and receiving dot and dash information were needed to implement the new Morse Code. One such piece of apparatus was the Single Needle Telegraph devised by Charles Wheatstone. Dots and dashes could be signalled by moving the needle to the left or right. Such ideas were not new but the railways needed a single accepted method to be agreed upon. This unit was the answer and would be used in signal boxes around the World for the next 100 years.

In the early days of Morse all railway stations were equipped with the new morse code technology. Hearing the clatter of a Morse receiver, known as a sounder, could be a problem in a noisy environment. A gentleman called Charles Bright invented 'Bright's Bells' in 1855, a crude version of this same equipment. The double plate sounder has two solenoids and clappers hitting two plates of differing tones. By placing it in a hood the audibility of the dots and dashes would be greatly improved. Also provided is a relay which enables the unit to be powered locally, removing the problem of the loss of power over long telegraph wires. Charles Tilson Bright (later Sir Charles Bright) was to become one of Britain's foremost telegraph engineers in the nineteenth century, responsible for major advances in submarine cable technology.

Receiving instrument for Morse code, invented by CC Vyle in the late 1800’s and in use until the 1960’s. A bar (armature) is moved between two stops, pulled down by a permanent magnet positioned underneath the cores of two coils; offsetting this force is an adjustable spring pulling the armature upwards. If the coils are energised by a positive current it assists the magnet and pulls the armature down. A reverse current defeats the magnetic force and allows the armature to rise. The same principal is used in polarised relays. The device can be adjusted such that the tension will allow the bar to stick on the bottom stop until a reverse current is applied. Adjusting the spring can also vary the current needed to operate the armature, this is useful in certain applications. The sounder's advantage lies in its sensitivity, requiring very low current to move the bar (armature), normally a positive current would give a dot or a dash and a negative current a space. Non Polarised Sounders do not have a magnet.

A simple Morse Sounder used for receiving Morse. It may have been made by Gamage who specialized in telegraphy equipment in the 1920's. Non polarized unit similar to a design used by the Post Office and purchased by those who wished to learn the 'Art' of Morse telegraphy. And indeed it was an art. Morse code requires very high skills, strange that when it became adopted as a standard for communication by Samuel Morse in 1844 many other simpler forms of sending characters by wire were being developed, and yet Morse surpassed them all, probably because of the desire to improve or own a skill that others could not achieve, in today’s world skills are avoided by modern computing. It was possible for the operator to distinguish whether the arm of the unit was up or down, by the different sound as the spaces between the dot or dash identified the end of a character, spaces between words could also be given as larger gaps, but most skilled operators omit this and join all the words up, making it important to write down what is heard immediately to avoid confusion.

Inkers were used to print dots and dashes on to a strip of paper to enable easier reading; known also as a Direct Writer. This item uses a clockwork motor to drive the paper forward.

The printer used Baudot's 5 bit code, using five telephone lines, to receive a signal that could be printed on a strip of paper. It was all driven by an electric motor. On receipt of a start signal the five bit code would latch five solenoids that would enable the mechanism to print a character by turning the wheel and engaging the correct letter. After printing a character the solenoids released ready for the next one.

Frederick George Creed was born in Canada and spent the early part of his life working on Morse equipment. He was convinced he could do better. He then moved to Scotland and developed a method of sending messages by text. Later he formed Creed and Company Ltd, and in 1921 they were at Telegraph House East Croydon. The 7E series of machines used a code based on the Murray code; they were very successful and were used throughout the war at places like Bletchley Park. Creed died in 1957. The 7 series finished in 1958 and this unit was converted to 240 volts AC in 1962.

The ABC telegraph was an early form of communication where an arm was turned to a letter sometimes by a pulse, and sometimes by buttons opposite each letter, the arm being held by a return spring and latched on the letter required, a button was pressed releasing the arm which returned back to the beginning sending a number of pulses relating to the letter chosen i.e. the letter C would give 3 pulses the letter B would produce 2 pulses. The receiving unit would be driven by an internal solenoid counting the arm up to the required letter, after each letter was sent it was necessary to reset the unit and start again, sometimes this was achieved automatically. Such units were used while Morse code was been devised, around the 1840's, and continued in some countries long afterwards. This unit was simply a testing device for checking received signals only.