New to payphones - need ID and keys

[Bill]

My apologies for asking questions that are probably obvious. This is my first time around this particular track.

I have a chance to buy this phone for what I think is a good price. First question - who made it?

Second question. The owner does not have keys. How do I handle that? I queried Jody H, and he said No, he could not handle it - without explanation. My very uneducated guess is that he would need physical access to the phone, which clearly cannot be shipped from southern Arizona to Pasadena in any practical sense. So what is my next step?

Or is this thing a boat anchor and nothing more?

Sorry I don't have a better picture.

Bill

[Rummaging around payphone.com, it looks kinda like an Elcotel Series 5 in a 104FT enclosure?]

[kleenax]

My apologies for asking questions that are probably obvious. This is my first time around this particular track.

I have a chance to buy this phone for what I think is a good price. First question - who made it?

Second question. The owner does not have keys. How do I handle that? I queried Jody H, and he said No, he could not handle it - without explanation. My very uneducated guess is that he would need physical access to the phone, which clearly cannot be shipped from southern Arizona to Pasadena in any practical sense. So what is my next step?

Or is this thing a boat anchor and nothing more?

Sorry I don't have a better picture.

Bill

[Rummaging around payphone.com, it looks kinda like an Elcotel Series 5 in a 104FT enclosure?]

Boat Anchor Bill.......OR, you can take out the insides and make a nice box for kitty litter ;-)

[rdelius]

The housing on the paystation is based on an AE housing.AE parts might fit.Good luck on keys because this was not likely owned by a telephone co

[ESalter]

Looks like zero chance of ever finding keys.  If it has an Ace type lock(round tube looking key with curved cuts on the end) on the upper housing(unlikely, but possible) if could maybe be picked.  I got a WE 1C2 with one of those locks on the upper housing and we were able to pick it open.  As for the vault, cutting the vault door off would be easiest I'm thinking.  If it was a WE phone and pedestal it would probably be worth the effort, being that it isn't...  not so much.  If you really like it though, give it a try.  ---Eric

[Bill]

Just to end the story - it looks like blind luck has saved me. The owner of this phone apparently sold it out from under me, for $30. But I learned something - that payphone keys are NOT universally available (who knew?) Thanks to all for the lesson.

Bill

[AE_Collector]

Every coin vault is keyed differently and if there isn't a record of the key number it impossible to figure out. Not that it would be easy to locate a key even if the number was known.

The upper keys aremusuallynkeyed alike within one telco,or coin phone operator so maybe a bit easier to locate a key but still far from easy to do. In most cases lock smiths can't do much either.

Terry