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Old 20th Nov 2009, 4:54 pm   #11
Station X
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Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4, UK.
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Default 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.
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