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Another Dead Street PayPhone

Started by Fabius, August 03, 2017, 08:39:50 PM

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Payphone installer

The PTC company was Peoples Telephone Company out of Florida at one point in time they were the largest private payphone company in the country. They are long gone over 10 years I believe. Just drive up and unbolt it, nobody cares.

Fabius

Quote from: AL_as_needed on August 06, 2017, 10:50:45 AM
Fabius; If it works out (or not), please keep us posted on your steps taken. I have been teasing the idea of getting a payphone for some time, but if i can get a NYTele complete and with cards caught in the wild, that's a huge bonus in my book. This is something I would love to take a crack at if it shows even a little promise.

You are only about a 12 hour drive from me. Come on out here and help me save these poor orphans and I'll splite the take with you.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

Fabius

#17
Quote from: Payphone installer on August 13, 2017, 01:36:44 PM
The PTC company was Peoples Telephone Company out of Florida at one point in time they were the largest private payphone company in the country. They are long gone over 10 years I believe. Just drive up and unbolt it, nobody cares.

Next time I'm by one I'll take a look and see how they are mounted.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

TelePlay

Quote from: Fabius on August 13, 2017, 01:49:27 PM
Nest time I'm by one I'll take a look and see how they are mounted.

Wear a hard hat, tool belt and darker coveralls and you should be good to go, especially if you are pretending to be talking to someone one your cell phone will inspecting the phone. A white colored van would help.  ;)

Alex G. Bell

Quote from: TelePlay on August 13, 2017, 01:52:19 PM
Wear a hard hat, tool belt and darker coveralls and you should be good to go, especially if you are pretending to be talking to someone one your cell phone will inspecting the phone. A white colored van would help.  ;)
A buttinsky on the belt is a sure fire "get out of jail free" (or never get challenged) card.

AL_as_needed

Quote from: TelePlay on August 13, 2017, 01:52:19 PM
Wear a hard hat, tool belt and darker coveralls and you should be good to go, especially if you are pretending to be talking to someone one your cell phone will inspecting the phone. A white colored van would help.  ;)

This actually works well. I have used the old "hard hat, hi-vis vest, and work clothes" trick to snoop around larger construction sites. If anyone asked who I was or what was going on, just said something like "oh yeah, John (or mike) said to check things over"...always a John or Mike on a site.  ;D
TWinbrook7

AL_as_needed

Quote from: Fabius on August 13, 2017, 01:48:09 PM
You are only about a 12 hour drive from me. Come on out here and help me save these poor orphans and I'll splite the take with you.

If the rear end in my truck wasn't howling at me.....
TWinbrook7

tallrick

I have removed a few of those "abandoned" payphones and the property owners not only let me do it but thanked me for the great work and leaving no trace of the phone! One had been in a legal battle to have a phone removed then the company went bankrupt leaving a mess for him. They had mounted the phone in the right of way on the sidewalk and when the company abandoned it the county came knocking. I agreed to remove the phone and found it was simply bolted to the sidewalk then filled with concrete. Removing the foot cover exposed the concrete which was chiseled away to reveal the four nuts. While the huts were able to be rotated they were seized to the anchors and turned in the concrete. Bolt cutters easily removed the nuts and a hammer loosened them enough to be puled out. Mortar mix plugged the holes and I even pressure cleaned the sidewalk so no trace remained. Another one attached to a building required a matching paint to look nice. That was just me mixing paints I had laying around but the result was so good the restaurant it was attached to gave me a free dinner.

Fabius

Quote from: tallrick on December 18, 2017, 12:08:04 PM
I have removed a few of those "abandoned" payphones and the property owners not only let me do it but thanked me for the great work and leaving no trace of the phone!

When can you meet me in beautiful South Bend Indiana and remove about 4 payphnes? Weather is suppose to be in the 40s for a couple of days. We'll splite the take.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

tallrick

Sadly I am in Miami Florida. If I do go visit friends in Minnesota and Ohio I would gladly help pull a few abandoned phones. Are they complete or stripped put inside?

Payphone411

Quote from: Fabius on December 18, 2017, 01:13:19 PM
When can you meet me in beautiful South Bend Indiana and remove about 4 payphnes? Weather is suppose to be in the 40s for a couple of days. We'll splite the take.

I just sent you a private message about the payphone removal.

WEBellSystemChristian

Wow, that would be a terrific (albeit short-lived) side business. Get paid to remove payphones and empty kiosks/booths, clean the phone and booth up, and sell them on ebay.

Talk about a quadruple win-win. The city/bankrupt business would be thankful to have someone remove the payphone, and have expenses going towards removal costs only; you would be getting paid twice for one service; the payphone would be going to a good home instead of the dump; and the buyer of the payphone would be getting a fair price for an as-removed-from-service example.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Fabius

Quote from: tallrick on December 18, 2017, 02:50:41 PM
Sadly I am in Miami Florida. If I do go visit friends in Minnesota and Ohio I would gladly help pull a few abandoned phones. Are they complete or stripped put inside?

The ones I've posted seem to be complete.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

tallrick

I will hit a phone with my hand to see if it has a bell like on a Protel 4000 and put a penny in the coin slot to see if it comes back or just drops inside. If the handset is missing check to see if it was removed from inside or just cut off.

AL_as_needed

Quote from: tallrick on December 18, 2017, 05:30:45 PM
I will hit a phone with my hand to see if it has a bell like on a Protel 4000 and put a penny in the coin slot to see if it comes back or just drops inside. If the handset is missing check to see if it was removed from inside or just cut off.

Some simple but neat tricks to test out a phone if its complete. This is only encouraging me to scout out a possible payphone for adoption....I mean removal.
TWinbrook7