Part 2

Incredibly good condition for their age - in fact they are still sealed in boxes of five (and I must have found at least five boxes!)  The logo says MidWest Aircraft Parts and from what I can make out its an oil valve check assembly. Still has cardboard protection on the upper left point too.

*****Update***  While searching around on the internet I stumbled across a warplane site which identified these units as Oil Dilution Solenoid Valves. I now have them by M.A.P, Koehler, UAP and Chapin, and I think they all came out of Dayton, Ohio.

Have found at least five boxes of these. On the box it has written Induction Coils - So is it indeed an induction coil or is it a relay??  Guess we can't really tell from the outside!  But its certainly for phones...

This seems to be from a more modern exchange than what I had been looking thru. Dont know much about this at all, other than they all seem to have the letter "B" on them. And theres many of them in the shed too !!!!

Some more militaria items. I have no idea what this may be but on a guess I think its possibly a portable lamp holder, given the screw in nature of the dish and sides, and the button on top pushes down (on). the hook was probably for hanging up in places.   Just guessing mind you, but was suprised to find a number of them....

Wow - some old RAAF fuses from WWII. Part number is G5C/445 and they are a Type A. They have certainly seen better days but its still great to find such things along the way..

From my understanding, these are 4 valve engine cocks for RAAF planes. Why Grandpa had about 40 of them is beyond me but then again, not suprising. Don't know much about them but they are certainly interesting.....

One of the things I love is finding out old instructions inside some of these units. This is an RAAF control box. I still dont really know what it is for, and its pretty old, but the instructions are fascinating !

Anyone identify what this was for?  Its a Satchwell Thermostat, Type O, and thats all I can tell you !!!!

A General Electric Pressure Transmitter. I am assuming its Aircraft? But theres no other info on here other than the letters B.A.F stamped on the silver plate....

Last but not least, a pair of Carpenter Polarized Relays from the UK. *Ahem*, it would seem the one on the left may not be functional as some very helpful person has inscribed their verdict across the face of it - not my grandpas writing either (he wasnt prone to using such language !)

A very good day indeed, with a large number of pieces located. Some has gone up on eBay and some is being advertised in specific newsletters, and I think that there will be more than enough to go around. Ive had people now contact me from the UK, Japan and USA so I'm now believing that this project is more than worthwhile....

Stay tuned, I'm going back in on the weekend !

A new week and more goodies and mysteries

Indeed !

Ive been sidelined for a few days doing some other work but managed a big trip out to the shed today and heres the results :-)

This is a box for the Postmaster General from 1942 - title says it all.....

All I know is that its a fuel filter - anyone able to advise what for?

This is great - I have located two different types, one by Phillips and the other by Kreisler. The unit was designed I think to stop radio interference, hence the name suppresor..

Just what on earth is this for?????  Its a Siemens unit - rest is in German but I think it translates to Reversal Protector. Anyone know if it was trains, trams or other and what did it do????

I am really curious about this - on the box it says Beaufort Lincoln so I am assuming its for the aircraft model - what are these for on the plane???? Theres 250 in the box..

And this is a stop button of some sort for trains I believe, though I could be totally wrong.....

Anyway thats enough for now, I will put up even more tomorrow.And remember, any help you can provide is greatly appreciated

More Goodies and Mysteries

Even though the weather has turned a little and my car did its handbrake I borrowed another vehicle and made my way across town for a little bit today.  Heres the results :

Not your everyday fuse !  Especially when its 200Amps.   Im thinking this is from the railways....

More phone gear - this time its a Model 4012 and Model 4013 Repeating Coil. The 4013 was still in a box but the box fell apart when I picked it up !

A relay that was made for aircraft in the 1940's/ WWII - has the British Military insignia with the part number. Apparently the letter stood for plane type in the UK (Whether this was the case here I dont know) but if so then this would possibly be Cargo plane and the Flame Switch from the previous post would be Fighter..

These are interesting things -sadly their condition is not good, but someone may be able to salvage them. I believe these are called annunciator movements - from a phone switchboard - and Im guessing that this tells the operator what lines are in use.....

Well I was a bit stumped by this one at first but then looking at it figured it must be from the Vic Railways days - as its an expulsion type primary cutout Im guessing its a surge guard or lightning protector type thing for the electrified overhead lines...and of course I could be totally wrong !

Nearly at the end of the day !  But this is one of two big mysteries. I can see what this says of course, but what would it have come from??  Given its size Im thinking its train related, but could it be plane?

????????????  They are quite light, about 2cm across and I have found about 700 - grandpa has written what looks like the words Prot Blocks on the side but I cant really tell  :-(  Is this graphite maybe?  Whats the significance of the circle in the middle???    Hmmmmmm

******Update 25/2/10 - thanks to the anonymous poster for this info

The Prot Blocks are for lightning/high voltage protection on telephone lines. They went in holders mounted on a frame where the telephone cable came into the building. This protected the equipment from being zapped by a high voltage line or lightning. When a high volatage entered the building, it would arc over to this carbon which was connected to a ground and this diverted the HV away from the equipment.

I think I may have found one of those frames - looks like a big metal flyswat (much bigger gaps in bewteen though) and square shaped. Will go and pick it up asap and put a pic up

Anyway, week one is done, and its been very productive indeed!

Day 2

I only did a little bit of searching around today as there is a more urgent job required - removing the collapsed aisles to stabilise the aisle next door which has all the phone components in it..

But while I was doing that I did find some things.....

Apparently quite collectible if my research is any good. Nice tin and remarkable condition given it was in a crate of rusted bolts and broken glass !

Remarkable things - no idea what they do, but they are different to each other in their ranges. Ediswan Range Block for a Crystal Set. I think there may be a few in the shed but these are the ones I could reach easiest.

So this is a Western Electric 4001A Repeating Coil for a phone system. There is pretty much no info I can find online other than a reference to a test conducted on one in 1910 in the UK (Which is where this unit is from) There is plenty of references to other Repeating coils though, so maybe this one is not so popular, or even rare?  Still boxed up and in remarkable condition given age and storage conditions...

Anyhow thats it for Day 2. I will return to the shed on the weekend as we are now dealing with some pretty severe storms in town and I dont feel like driving through them today !

Can You Identify This?

Ok, so here's where I need your help !  Some stuff I have no idea what it is...could you solve a mystery or six???

So what exactly is a slow pressure oxygen system and what does it fit on??  What is a Valve Check, and why did Grandpa have loads of them????

****Update 25/2/10 - from an anonymous poster - many thanks !  The boxes marked Schrader have WWII US Army Air Force markings on them and probably had something to do with military airplanes. Hamilton Beach made propellers for the planes.

Having not seeing what the part looks like, hard to tell more about it. Schrader made parts for tires. Of course, during WWII, Us companies made parts for all sorts of things for the war that they were not known for making.

And indeed they are for aircraft systems - ties in with the fact he has bucketloads of military aircraft parts...

Yikes !  This looks rather unpleasant !!!!  The glass is quite thick and the length of the tube is about 3 ft.  There must be over 100 in boxes.  Could it be something from chemistry or physics?  Or something else?

This is a strange one. There are numerous wooden crates full of these ceramic pipes. The top part is smooth as is the very bottom but the rest is rough. There would be loads of them but I cannot see any markings to give any clue as to what they are. Possibly electrical, maybe railway related???

***Update 25/2/10 - anon poster says  The ceramic pipes may be for use as insulators when running telephone wires through walls. They made them for that purpose in the early 1900s. The telephone bloke would drill hole in wall, insert one of the insulators and feed the wires through the insulator. Most walls were just thin wood, so the insulators did not have to be long. They did not insulate walls and make them thick back then.

I think this is indeed correct ! Thank you kind person for the info, its much appreciated !

Speaking of rail related

Is it a relay system?  Why is it rail related?  The badge says Victorian Railways Electrical Engineering Branch , Spencer St, Melbourne.  But what did it do??

The case for it is really quite pretty - the unit is quite heavy and the base is wood.

??????????????  Its got to be part of one of the phone exchanges, but what part exactly ?

Thats it for Day One. Stay tuned and please pass this around to anyone you know who may be able to help..