atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Relay Frame

Hi All,

Yesterday (1 Aug, 2011) I had the pleasure of driving down south of Pittsburg Kansas, and meeting SC telephone enthusiast, collector and restorer William Whitlow. He has a shop that is awe inspiring!

Anyway, he had a section of SXS relay frame that is now in my garage, and will be sandblasted and painted this week. The dimensions are 5' by 9', and included are the two uprights, two top angle iron peices, and the bottom 4" foot angle iron.

I have two questions about this device. First, what was the 'official' hardware sizes (nuts, bolts, washers) that would have been used in a CO, and second, what kind of 'shelves' would have been used to mount the switches on?

Thanks in advance! And by the way, if anyone gets a chance to meet Bill, he is (like every phone and TTY person that I have met so far, either on line or in real life) a tremendous person of the highest character. A real gentleman!

Best,

Joe Herdler

Joe -

Congratulations on your acquisition.

Usually, at least in my experience, CO frames came 23" wide - at least the miscellaneous relay racks did. Something 5' wide had to be for some special equipment. Being as it's 9' high (a lot of racks came 7' or 8') it might be for power equipment, but who knows? Most racks were 23" wide, though in later years there was a move toward 19" wide stuff and we often ordered "reducers" so 19" equipment would fit in a 23" rack. Shelves also, came 19 & 23.

As far as what hardware, the hole size should tell you what it was designed for. Usually it was 3/8" or 5/16" though a 5' wide rack - who knows? Installation at GTE was always Bolt, washer (rack) washer, lock washer, nut.

If the rack is too big, you could always cut down and redrill the cross pieces to make it a standard 23".

Another thing - if the base is only one small piece, then the rack was probably designed to be supported from above (usually from the ladder rack). If the base was two pieces, one on either side with a wider footprint then it was designed for floor support. In both cases the floor piece was mounted to the deck, but if it was a floor mount, then we usually used a 3/4" anchor (3/8" bolt). If it was a rack designed to be hung from the cable tray then we used a 5/16" redhead or thunderbolt.

Hope this answers some questions.

Sam

Hi Sam,

Thank you for the info! It is actually meant to hold Strowger type SXS switches. (Rotary) It uses two 5 foot sections of foot rail (very heavy) that is "L" shaped in cross section. The two uprights are 9 foot, and are a rectangular "C" shaped in cross section. Long length is (I think) four inches. The top two sections are again "L" shaped in cross section, but much lighter than the foot rail, which is about 4 inches both ways.

I believe that "shelves" were bolted to this to hold the rotary type switches, but I need to know more about those 'shelves'.

Thank you again!

Best,

Joe Herdler

P.S. You wouldn't happen to know the color forumla for WECO grey, would you? I am having this set of ironwork sandblasted, and will be painting it. Thanks again!

J.H.

GTE CO gray was NEMA 61 Gray.

That's the best I can do.

Sam

The ACE hardware store formula that will create one quart of paint is as follows:

B: 35 shots

C: 8 $ 1/2 shots

F: 1/2 shot

Base is Exterior/Alkyd/Gloss

Rust stop oil 325

This will give you WE frame gray. It is not to be confused with telephone -61 gray or -49 light olive gray. Hope this helps.

Arthur, I am convinced you know everything!

Correction:

8 & 1/2 shots (not 8 $ 1/2)

--------------

Rust Stop Oil 225

(not 325)

---------------

I have typeth fasteth syndrome.

Thank you Arthur. Next week, I am getting these frame parts sandblasted, then I will prime and paint them the correct color.

This is the first time since I have decided to build a SXS switch that I feel that I have made some progress. This indeed is a project for the long haul. Compaired to my cordboard project, which is about half way done, this will probably take ten years or so.

I am still looking for more 9'channel iron (the verticals to this frame) some foot rail, top rails (both just simple angle iron, might have to fabricate those), AE switch shelves and then MDF frame parts. Locating these things requires constant snooping, e-mailing and looking. If anyone in the MidWest knows of any of this stuff that is looking for a good home, Please let me know!

Best,

Joe Herdler

Joe, if you plan to build one from the ground up, you will need a lot more time than ten years, just to find the parts. Much of a 701 PBX is comprised of factory-wired shelves, trunks, and line relays. To assemble the whole kit will be a logistical nightmare.

I suggest that you talk to some of us who have working switches and try to find the major parts already built, then find the appropriate power units, trunk units, ringing machines, tone supplies, line finders, selectors and connectors, and then wire them together. It'll take at least a decade just to do that.

The alternative is to buy a complete 200-line switch frame and in a few months you will have noises coming from it. You only need to drive to CT to get it.

I'm not sure who told you that a 9' high frame is what you need, but you have the wrong info for a PBX. Their frames are 7' tall, including the base and top cable rack. Most collectors reduce them to around 6' high to fit into residential areas, by cutting off the top gussets. I had to find surplus channels with gussets, and weld them back on the tops of my frames to get them back to their original height. These frames are not self-supporting, and once they are populated with switches, unless they are fastened to the wall or ceiling with cable racks, they will fall over or collapse.

Hi Arthur,

I am actually trying to build a SXS CO, which I thought used 9' verticals. I could very well be mistaken about that as I know precious little about this pond that I have jumped into.

I have also acquired a 20 Amp, 48 Volt battery charger which I have confirmed works. Weighs more than I can safely lift without a grandchild around.

I am curious about that 200 line switch that you mentioned. Tell me more!

Best,

Joe Herdler