A Great D-96589 Pay Station Find with Surprises

[Gary Z]

It's always nice to get more than you bargained for especially when it comes to a rarer than expected payphone. I thought I was getting a decent deal on a 50 or a 150 payphone for $600 plus shipping. When I finally got it and was able to open it up, I knew there was something different about it. It was all marked with a D-96589 inside the top section, inside the backboard and on the back. Even the relay was only 1 digit later with a D-96590. The wires coming out of the back even look like cloth colored cords. I reached out to Jim the PayStation Yoda to seek some of his infinite wisdom. It indeed is a rare piece...A "Long Loop" set up that was located further from the central station than most others. It needs a special rare "3 spring" relay to assist with the distance and had to be custom made for it's location. It looks like a time capsule in there like the day it was removed from service. It appears to have a anti-theft device or maybe even two of them. One at the top of the inside vault and another on or near the switch hook that  connects to the coin gauge when the top is closed? I would welcome any comments or information to assist in my payphone internship.
Gary Zapparelli

[Doug Rose]

Gary ....great phone and welcome to the Forum.....Doug

[Gary Z]

Thanks Doug... I have been a follower for years but never posted. I am adding a few more pics.

[Gary Z]

The relay

[Stan S]

Gary
   Jim emailed me pictures of the payphone you found. He was curious about the switch mounted above the throat of the hopper. Due to the angle the pictures were taken I never noticed the third contact spring on the coin relay. 
   I don't believe that 'D' number had anything to do with 'long loops'. It was only used to prevent toll fraud. Unless the trigger of the coin relay is in the down position the pulsing contacts of the dial are shorted, disabling the ability to dial.
   The extra spring contact on the coin relay served the same purpose as the dial shorting contacts that were standard (many years later) in all the Automatic Electric LPA, LPB and LPC prepay payphones. This would effectively counter all the toll fraud schemes used back then.
   The purpose of the switch assembly above the coin relay is to bring the extra contact on the coin relay into the payphone's top. The extra spring goes OVER then down above the regular contacts of the coin relay on the right side. 
   The contact point on the switch is labeled 'X' because it makes contact with the plate at the bottom of the coin track that's marked 'X' in the top of the phone. The second screw position on the switch assembly I assume was used to connect 'L1" to the 'X' terminal when the payphone was closed. That would effectively disable the dial until the initial deposit was made.
   This is just a guess because unless you have a diagram in front of you there's no way of knowing what they were trying to accomplish when a payphone is labeled 'D'. There were hundreds of different D numbers.
   If a payphone was modified for long loops the voltage necessary to operate the coin relay was stamped in vermilion on the frame of the relay. The lower the voltage the more sensitive the relay and the better it would work on long loops.
    Very nice find.
Stan S.

[Gary Z]

Thanks for your thoughts on that Stan. I'm still trying to digest all the aspects of these early payphones.

[Payphone installer]

It is nice to finally get a potential correct answer on what the D-number set were for I assumed it was long loops but Stans answer is way better. If anybody ever finds and paper on the D set please post it. I have been curious for years. Stan why the 3 springs on the relay?

[Stan S]

Jim
Two of the 3 springs are the same as used in a standard double coil coin relay. They connect one side of the 2 coils that are in series to L1. Slightly different from the way the standard 2 coil relay would be connected in lets say a 50G. Normally the switch contacts would be on the ground side. The L1 connection would be permanent. See:

http://atcaonline.com/coinrelay.html

The third spring is connected to one of the dial pulsing contacts. It's the one that goes UP and OVER the original two contacts. The  the 'X' contact assembly brings that connection into the top of the payphone and eventually to the dial by making contact with the pad marked 'X' on the bottom of the coin track.

This is exactly the same circuit Automatic Electric used in all the prepay 3-slots manufactured many years later. The coin relays had 3 springs. The dial pulsing contacts were shorted unless an initial deposit was made to prevent toll fraud.

There was a club member who passed away a few years ago. He was friends with Paul Vaverchak. Paul called him Mr. Western Electric. I can't remember his name, you probably do. He had filing cabinets full of information on every 'D' number Western Electric ever issued. He took the information when he retired. Unfortunately that information is now gone. As all of this will be in the not to distant future.

Stan S.