Its been a chaotic couple of weeks. The wasp nest has been destroyed (I hope !) and the massive skip bin arrives on Tuesday so we can chuck in all the broken bits of wood and glass - which is stacked up everywhere at the moment and making access to parts of the shed pretty difficult. So it will be nice to have loads of space from Wednesday !
But Grandpa has really outdone himself on a couple of areas. I went around to the other side of the bomb shelter and saw what I thought were doors half buried in dirt and covered with a plastic tarp. Upon lifting them out of the ground I realised I had found four of these beauties !
The fourth one is back at the shed and is a duplicate of the last one. They have suffered a bit of water damage - but I think that makes them look very arty !
What are they? They are train destination boards which I am sure came from Spencer St Station (now Southern Cross) These would have been backlit by flouro lights on the station platforms (I guess). The date of them would be late 60's to late 70's. Whats fascinating is that there are stations listed on these routes (such as White City and Mobiltown) that were closed and demolished in the early 1980's. I've put these on eBay and am keeping the fourth one as a memento....
From talking with a number of people over the last few weeks while researching various things, it has become pretty apparent that Grandpa must have bought a massive amount of RAAF parts in one or two bulk lots at the end of WWII. Even more apparent is the sheer volume of Bristol Beaufort and Beaufighter parts that he purchased, most likely when the aircraft were stripped of the instrumentation etc so as to act as transport for returning troops.
Why do I mention this? Because of THESE !
Well these were also buried in two garbage tins ! They are slow running engine cutoffs for Beaufort / Beaufighter aircraft - and I am going out on a limb here (and half joking) but I reckon the entire production fleet of these is in the shed and garden !!!!! They came in red and green but the red have been painted over green - odd but there you go !
And then there is the case of the aircraft lights! I found one at the entrance to the bomb shelter and was most pleased! It was sitting on some plastic which was half buried so I ripped it up. Underneath was another 150 or so of these lights - most in perfect condition and still wrapped in paper.
They are starboard wingtip lights. Most likely made by Grimes in the USA, there are two types, one fully clear and the other partially blacked out. It has been suggested that the blackout ones were for formation flying but who would know. What is curious is that they are a little higher than the standard ones found on most WWII aircraft. I do wonder (as do a couple of others) as to whether or not these would have in fact been destined for the CAC-11 Woomera aircraft that never went into production.
MYSTERY OBJECT
Anyone have any suggestions ? Its almost certainly to do with the rudder assembly, but what is it? Someone thinks its from a Hawker Demon....
Phone time !
So an earlier blog entry referred to this part but I had only located the cover. Now I have found the main parts - and also more complete units ! They are Western Electric Intercoms - unsure as to the age but they will be old for sure!
Curious as to this one - its more modern I would think - maybe late 40's to mid 50's? No markings on it and a lot heavier than some of the other annunicator boards I have found.
What a lovely set of boards ! Anyone know what the Ascot dropdown would refer to? I'm thinking suburb but really don't know. But they look great !
This is a smaller grouping - almost like a module - again in pretty good condition given they would be incredibly old!
This unit I believe (as do others) to be from radio from many years ago. Turning the dial would complete a circuit to allow for tuning (I think thats it !) This unit comes from Burndept in the UK. I have also come across just the dials and turning blocks on their own.
Lastly !
This is a Morris Calormeter, froum around the late 20's/early 30's. It had fallen behind a row of shelves and I rescued it accordingly. Its like a more modern thermo, put it into the radiator to get temp readings. Some of these could be quite amazing designs, including wings on either side etc. This one I think needs to be calibrated as the temp doesnt seem to respond
Whew ! Another week down, what will I find next ????
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