Episode 1 of 2
Decision to Replace Optical Telegraph
- When
- 1846
- Where
- trial on the Rouen line
In 1846, French authorities decided to replace the optical telegraph with the Foy–Breguet electrical telegraph after a successful trial on the Rouen line.
The decision followed a successful trial on the Rouen line. This marked the beginning of the supersession process, although the actual conversion was slower and more difficult than in other countries. As a general matter, electrical telegraphy was cheaper, faster, and more private than optical semaphore lines.
Sources
- Optical telegraph Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.