Ericsson N2907B1 Wall Set

[b3tamax11]

This is a cool Ericsson N2907 wall set that was originally from Alberta. I believe these were called "Alberta Specials". It is stamped "Beeston-Notts England" on the side, which I think was a telephone factory in the UK where these sets were made. It has a hole on the side where a crank would go for simplex use, but the internals seem to be only set up for dial service. I have the handset for it as well but it is in very rough shape. I neglected to take a picture of the set before I cleaned it, but I used a good amount of cleaner and a few magic erasers to get rid of the grime that was on it. There was a very large amount of smoke grime and dirt, it looked like it was stored away for a long time before I got it. Both cords are cut, but fortunately I have the ends of each so I can start hunting for replacements.

[Jack Ryan]

I do like the simplex dialling telephones. There are several models made by a few manufacturers including British Ericsson, Northern Electric and Automatic Electric. New Zealand used Ericsson telephones but they also converted obsolete telephones such as the "Commonwealth Ericsson" for simplex service.

Bob Freshwater used the phrase "Alberta Special" but he didn't mean that they were called that - the version sent to Alberta was special because it had a high impedance ringer.

The phone you have has an N2122 case and an N2907 circuit diagram. In either case, the circuit would have to be changed for the phone to operate on a standard telephone line. They are local battery (just add a battery) and the dial uses a common battery ground loop for signalling (ie simplex).

I would return it to its original form but that decision is up to you.

Nice find.

Jack

[andy1702]

That's definitely a phone from Ericsson's Beeston works, which is a suburb of Nottingham.