Re: 'Button A-B' and grey payphones.
The A/B boxes had armour plated cash boxes from the start. I can't say I ever heard of one being broken into. However when I started work in 1967 these boxes were mainly confined to rural areas and would not have contained so much cash.
I saw one grey mechanism which had been attacked with a cutting torch (gas axe), but the miscreants were obviously amateurs as they burnt open the mechanism and then fled before attacking the cash compartment.
Black A/B boxes were known as pre-payment boxes and grey boxes as post payment boxes. A/B boxes had a special dial which enabled digits 9 and 0 to be dialled without the need to insert coins. This enabled emergency 999 and operator calls to be made. A/B boxes in manual areas had an emergency button to alert the operator to an emergency call.
Happy days.
__________________
Graham. Forum Moderator
Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron.
|