1930's Cinema Switchgear

[thermionic]

Yesterday I commenced work on this project, isolating supplies for a major refit and expansion of this venue. Imagine my surprise when I discovered original 1935 vintage switchgear still in situ!

The majority of this building was rewired some 10 -12 years ago, but they omitted to strip out the old switchgear. The picture of the individual switchfuses, used to supply the secondary lighting (at 130 volt DC) , the ventilation intake and exhaust , and ancillary supplies and lighting.

The other picture shows the bank of resistance dimmers which would have controlled the house lights, stage battens and footlights, (as this cinema was also equipped with stage facilities). The large single slider dimmer was for trough lighting.

I think the rewire at 10 years ago was still well overdue!

Does anybody recognise the dimmer bank? It could be Strand Lighting, but I can't find any clues on it.

SimonT.

[OscarFoxtrot]

Work of art, is that!

[Herald1360]

The Strand archive describes something similar- controls through the panel, grouped to coloured wheels....

http://www.strandarchive.co.uk/contr...s.html#ssunset

[mrmagnetophon]

We had big rheostats like those, they would kick when you operated them, can't remember if they kicked for off or kicked for on
Anywho, great stuff thanks for showing.

[Lucien Nunes]

That appears to be a Strand Junior Sunset, although it doesn't have interlocked shafts because it is a small example. The important factor will be what type of resistances it has - former or element type, and if elements how many steps. The basic 'bracket-handle' design, using lever-operated dimmers ganged to separate shafts, survived through to the 1960s in the catalogues of most of the lighting manufacturers.

It is extremely difficult to produce 'artistic' lighting with a control of this nature but they found widespread application for Cine-Variety installations like this. Artists would arrive with a standardised lighting plot of a dozen cues that could be achieved on any small stage with a couple of rows of compartment battens in three colours and a pair of FOH spots, hence there was little need for balancing of levels or smooth crossfades. The latter are troublesome if you have more than one dimmer moving in the opposite direction as you run out of hands!

The individual slider dimmer on the wall looks like a Curtis; some of that switchgear looks interesting too!

Lucien

[radiolot]

Thermionic - please tell us you are going to save this lot?! The yards of cloth covered VR should be well useable still. And I quite fancy one of those big switches for my workshop

[dave walsh]

As everyone is saying this looks like a great unexpected find of real historical value. I wondered at first if you might be in the Acorn at Penzance, which I've visited when my son has put on music events but I see that this was formerly a Chapel and not a Cinema!
Dave W

[thermionic]

Originally Posted by radiolot

Thermionic - please tell us you are going to save this lot?! The yards of cloth covered VR should be well useable still. And I quite fancy one of those big switches for my workshop

Hi Laurence.

The cloth covered VIR is well past its prime, hopefully the switchgear can be preserved. I certainly won't be smashing it up.


SimonT.

[thermionic]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

As everyone is saying this looks like a great unexpected find of real historical value. I wondered at first if you might be in the Acorn at Penzance, which I've visited when my son has put on music events but I see that this was formerly a Chapel and not a Cinema!
Dave W

Hi Dave.
Certainly not the Acorn, but the Regal cinema in Redruth.

SimonT.

[Phil G4SPZ]

Superb conduit work, from the days when craftsmanship mattered. It's a great pity that numerous examples of this sort of workmanship have been ripped apart during the demolition or refurbishment of buildings, to be replaced with inferior quality modern installations for the sake of cheapness. It's a bit like Victorian brick-built drains, viaducts and buildings - or even metal chassis and wooden cabinets in radio sets - they have lasted for years, but we just couldn't afford to build to the same standards on the same scale today.

Environmentalists might argue, in contrast, that such high standards of installation and construction were unnecessary, and wastefully consumed excessive quantities of energy and raw materials, leaving later generations facing shortages.

Either way, there is a very powerful argument for preserving such examples, which so clearly illustrate both viewpoints! As an engineer and an environmentalist, I appreciate both arguments but find them difficult to reconcile at times. Then again, perhaps I'm getting far too philosophical over what was in all honesty a typical industrial electrical installation...

[OscarFoxtrot]

it would be nice if the whole wall-full could be preserved as is, in a museum.

Or even listed, in situ.

[raditechman]

Nice to see an old cinema being well looked after.
A quick search found this.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/regal-...30628916996952

John

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
I wonder if the Amberley Working Museum has any cinema equipment like that?
Someone on that Facebook link commented on 'the dump' in St. Ives with 1940s seating. Maybe there's another historic installation there just waiting to be discovered? Perhaps it's still in use.
I love seeing this old electrical stuff still in situ and I bet there was a mercury arc rectifier in there somewhere originally! I wonder what that motor was for? It looks redundant now.
Cheers, Pete

[broadgage]

The motor might have been for driving a dynamo to produce DC for a carbon arc projector, or follow spots.
Although arcs work on AC or DC, DC was prefered on account of the steadier light, which was also easier to focus as most of the light comes from the Positive carbon.

[Brigham]

Originally Posted by raditechman

Nice to see an old cinema being well looked after.
A quick search found this.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/regal-...30628916996952

John

Not a restoration, then. Just an old exterior being turned into something else.

Is there a restored (or, better still, untouched) cinema from the Great Age anywhere? I'd love to see one again.

[newlite4]

Yes, the Curzon Cinema at Clevedon, North Somerset dates from 1912 and is relatively unspoiled except for a suspended ceiling added in the mid '70s to reduce heat loss which covers the lower level of the auditorium. The interior walls of the building are lined with decorative metal panels imported from the USA to minimise fire risk. There is an exhibition of vintage cinema equipment upstairs, part of a free tour of the building, visit at any time.

http://www.curzon.org.uk/

Neil

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
I'm still kicking myself because some years ago a local nightclub burnt down. It was originally a cinema and we managed to (legally) gain access - and there was all the equipment from 1933 - Western Electric, last used in 1977 but all there having avoided the fire, probably because of the fireproof booth. Despite efforts we couldn't get permissions from the demolition firm to liberate it - hopefully it made its way to a deserving cause. Hopefully.
Not exactly OT, but there are some big white vans outside the local multiplex at the moment getting rid of all that obsolete 35mm equipment (10 years old) and replacing it with the new-fangled NEC electronic cinema - films are downloaded onto a hard drive via dedicated link and played out. So 35mm is virtually consigned to history being replaced with an inferior but more convenient format. Sound familiar?
Glyn
PS Of course I popped in to see what was going on and the equipment's being sent to a firm who refurbish old 35mm equipment. Glad really - it was a bit big for my shed!

[Lucien Nunes]

Phil I am glad you have voiced those conflicting views, I also wrestle with this subject regularly, including in the electrical installation context that you describe. Mineral insulated ('Pyro') cable work is my speciality, which in the 21st century is just as expensive and labour-intensive as ever. It is the nearest I will ever get to creating anything artistic, but when it's finished not only does it look nice, you can switch it on and use it. Then I see other, cheaper work using fire-rated thermoset cable, thrown up in a fraction of the time, that looks like a 2 year-old's impression of spaghetti, but which does the job. Very frustrating.

it would be nice if the whole wall-full could be preserved as is, in a museum

I'm working on a project like this, aiming to conserve / reconstruct a comprehensive switchroom display from each decade of the 20th century. Some decades are well underway, others barely started (as you might expect). We plan to have all exhibits powered at low voltage feeding some of the displays of fittings etc. We've had some disappointing near misses, for example at a site where we carried out major electrical modifications, I tried to recover a splendid 1950s switchroom with over 30 separate switchfuses from 15 to 160A neatly laid out to textbook standard. After long negotiations the chain of communication got broken and it all went for scrap.

Is there a restored (or, better still, untouched) cinema from the Great Age anywhere? I'd love to see one again.

Don't hold your breath, but in the long-term (i.e. 10-20 years away) plans for Electrokinetica there is the possibility of re-equipping an old cinema with fully functional 1930s gear throughout. It's a bit of a pipe dream and a massive technical and logistical challenge, however I have done some of the homework already. The biggest problem is the number of zeros on the end of the bottom line. If the cash was there, I would be onto this project before you could say 'Sturtevant central vacuum plant. ' But I digress.

Lucien

[Stuart R]

This reminds me of the demise of the Priory in Royston. Projection box was last to go and the demolition team let us take a look round before it went. They kindly donated the rectifiers to the Projected Picture Trust's Cinema at Duxford, nothing else useful was left, local people were buying up the old seats!

Hope it's OK to give these societies a mention here....

If the old projection technology is your thing, visit the Projected Picture Trust's working exhibit at Bletchley Park (and other locations) http://wordpress.ppttrust.org/

For anyone who enjoys the architecture of old cinemas, I'd suggest joining the Cinema Theatre Association. http://www.cinema-theatre.org.uk/ I've been along to a couple of their organised tours; one at the Electric Palace Harwich and another at the Phoenix in East Finchley.

Sorry these are a bit far south from Co Durham!

SR

[Brigham]

Thanks, I'll put them high on my list.

Don't worry about the travelling distance. There's something we developed up here in the 1820s lets us travel all over very quickly!