27A 32A Snatch locks also 14A Difference

[Payphone installer]

The 27A lock was a 10G lock with a snatch feature. It was used to recover a 10G upper housing key that had gained access to the public,meaning it had been lost by a coin collector or a installer/repairman. When the key was lost a person or persons went out into the immediate area that the key was lost and installed the 27A snatch in every telephone in that area. The hope was that whoever found the key would approach one of the phones in the area and attempt to open it. When the key was inserted and turned it would turn half way,just enough to not allow the key to be removed. Hence the term snatched. Security would then check the phones periodically to see if the key was in the lock. Once the key was found in the lock security retrieved the money box key to the phone with the snatched key and removed the vault door and money box. There is a small hole in the W/E lower housing that allowed you to insert a tool that hooked a lever on the back of the lock and allowed you to unlock the snatch by pulling down on the lever. At that point you could open the phone retrieve the key in the lock then remove the snatch lock. What is really amazing is the design of the payphone always included all of the problems that could arise and methods of dealing with said problem. That is why the design of the W/E payphones is so amazing and so collectable. I have as far as I know the only existing 27A locks that ever escaped the Bell System and have sold a few over the years. I saved them from being destroyed many years ago. What is out there probably came from me so it helps with the history of the locks out there. The 32A snatch was the 29A equivalent of the 27A it worked the same but had a lever system that mounted on the housing that connected to the snatch lever because on the single slot W/E was in a new location on the upper housing. I only have seen one 32A lock ever in my 23 years at bell. They are extremely rare. I would love to have one with the mechanism. As for a 14A it has a snatch feature but no lever to release it. So if you insert the wrong key it turns half way and you are done. Key is never coming out and lock and key were destroyed. I do not know if all 14A had that feature but I would not test it unless you are willing to ruin a lock and key. Jim

[MacGnG]

Awesome info, thanks for the explain action of these different series... More stuff to add to the wish list!

[paul-f]

Interesting, Jim!

It's great to have the history.

The 27A is covered in BSP 506-110-103.

Steve Schack and Bruce Crawford also commented on it in Singing Wires -- 12/1999, 6/2007, 10/1993 and 12/1993.

[rdelius]

i have a 27a lock but found it on a non-Bell paystation.A Rochestor Telephone 150GJ55B.Grey-WE 50 series converted to a handset type with AE,SC parts

[Payphone installer]

I was looking at my locks and found a 14B with a round key also so it is possible it had the snatch feature also.

[Payphone installer]

Picture of 27A snatch lock.

[AE_Collector]

Thanks for all the detail. I knew of the concept long ago but not all the details.

We had upper housing keys stolen from an installers van and it wasn't long before AE120B's were being opened up, upper housing parts removed and the coin boxes bailed empty through the hole that coins drop through from the hopper into the coin box, presumably using a magnet on a piece of wire. The person was considerate, usually leaving all the parts piled up right beside the phone and the upper housing locked back in place. We could usually put the phone back together in less than 10 minutes. He hit a lot of phones and many of them multiple times in a certain area.

Having heard of the concept of a lock that grabs the key I suggested this to a manger in the department and didn't get any feedback on the idea at all until one afternoon when he called me to say that they rigged this up on about 10 phones in the area keeping it very quiet until the day that they found the key broken off in a lock in one of the payphones. I don't think they had any sort of special lock but rather had our shops modify locks or add something to prevent they key from opening the phone and not allowing the key to be removed again. He also instructed me to take my wife out for a real nice dinner on the company credit card.

Terry

[MacGnG]

Look what I picked up from ebay!! THREE 14A locks.

One of them is a lil busted up so I was going to try and see if I could take it apart and see the insides for easy resetting.

Again Thanks for the info

[Payphone installer]

Call Jody he will rekey your locks for you and he is cheal. 6262194006.

[MacGnG]

Thanks!


I haven't had a chance to fiddle with them, so I will call jody before I mess them up