WE 293AL

[wds]

Grabbed another phone, this WE 293AL.  I bought it for parts, but now I'm thinking about restoring it.  The wood is in great shape, but missing a lot of parts.  Wrong ringer, and it doesn't work anyhow.  293AL is engraved in a couple places.  It's hard to see, but engraved in the front is "Press to talk", "Release to listen".  Is this box worth restoring? 

[Sargeguy]

bought it for parts, but now I'm thinking about restoring it. 

Story of my life!  Not many useful parts on this sucker, you might as well restore it!  Or at least practice on it.  It might make a nice subset if you pop a 101A network in it.

[Sargeguy]

What's with that back panel?  The grain of the wood is a little odd for a 293.  The pattern of stripes on the front door is also really cool.  This would make a really cool restoration.  Although the finish on this is fairly well preserved you may want to consider stripping it and using a clear shellac or Golden Oak finish to make those stripes really stand out.

[wds]

I'm still not sure whether to restore it or sell the parts off.  The wood box is in great shape - that split in the back board doesn't show from the inside - the split is behind the ringer.  It looks like I can glue and clamp it and make it go away.  The push button looks original.  The main part I need is the hook switch and coil.  I think I have a Cap. and a ringer from another project.  Plus I have lots of those terminal connectors from some old wood ringer boxes.  And I think I even have a WE watch case receiver.  Trouble is there's about 25 phones ahead of this one.

[wds]

What would WE have done to make the wording on the front of the door stand out?  would they have rubbed white or black paint in there so it stood out a little better?

[Sargeguy]

They used white paint I think

[poplar1]

Didn't this start out as a railroad waystation set? Originally with no ringer inside. Similar to this NE:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/301085821440

[G-Man]

RAILWAY TELEPHONES
No. 1293 Type

These are small compact wall telephones not equipped with generators.
No space is provided for batteries, it being assumed that they will be mounted separately in a battery box or on a shelf in some out of the way location. These telephones are equipped with a push button which must be pressed by the user when talking.

The telephones listed below are the same except that the No. 1293AE and AL are equipped with a head banc receiver instead of a standard hand receiver and the No. 1293AK and AL are not equipped with ringers. These telephones are equipped with No. 21AA (1m.f.) condenser, No. 29 induction coil, No. 51 retardation coil, No. 1003A push button, No. 284W transmitter and with receivers and ringers as indicated.

Code No.       Ringers              Receivers                                  List Prices
1293AL         None              No. 156W (head type)                     $25.90

[wds]

Here's a couple pictures of the 293AL.  not very good pictures, but will do for now.  First one is missing the ringer.

[G-Man]

Here's a couple pictures of the 293AL. not very good pictures, but will do for now. First one is missing the ringer.

As shown in the catalog entry below a true 293AL is not supposed to have a ringer.

[Sargeguy]

Here is a pic of the internal wiring to get you started   :