Photo's and info submitted by Alan Nadon:

That type of equipment must have been scary for guys with "chubby fingers" LOL.

48 amps, or 48 volts?

Looks like something I have seen in those old Warner Bros / Bugs Bunny cartoons back when I was a kid!

A.D

The label list it as 125 Volt, 48 amps.
How they would use that in a telephone system I don't know. I can only guess that each circuit went to the drive motor of a switching station,i.e. automatic dialer or Stroger switch.
Alan--

I recall seeing similar equipment in older, high value houses on Franklin Rd. in Nashville, TN. back in the 50's. Had nothing to do w/telephone but were circuit protection for lighting/recpts. The ones I saw were behind glass doors and were beautiful pieces of equipment.

AZSam

Ah, now I look again I see "30A 125V" on one of the operating handles.

If this was ever used in a telephone exchange, it would most likely have been for distributing 120V power for lights and other general usage.

The relays and solenoids used to drive Strowger switches were run from the exchange's 48V central battery system (or sometimes lower voltages in very old systems).

An old Baptist church here had a panel somewhat like this for switching on and off the sanctuary lights. What's kinda unusual about this one is that the busses are partially hidden beneath the top insulating surface, instead of being completely out in the open. Love those wonderful old Clearsite fuses!

As AZSam mentioned, it was protected by a beautifully carved wood front, with a glass insert in the door.

Thanks for the pictures!

Mike (mamills)

[This message has been edited by mamills (edited 05-02-2006).]

I've recently removed some similar panels from the old Colt armory in Hartford, Ct....
They use cartridge fuses instead of the screw shell type.

They're up for grabs if anybody wants one....