Posts Tagged ‘Project FIrebox’
Project Firebox 55
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– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is fairly sure that this particular sentinel of the realm has been presented before, but I just like the shot. This scarlet centurion exists at the periphery of the Degnon Terminal and Sunnyside Yards A on Skillman Avenue, in the glorious industrial zone of the City of Long Island.
Project Firebox 54
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Cruelly grafiti’d, the sentinel stands on the corner of Van Dam and Hunters Point in Queens. It witnesses thousands passing by daily in motor vehicular transit. How many in turn acknowledge it?
Project Firebox 53
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Rounding out the distinctly New Jersey oriented series of posts this week, captured during a day trip which ended in Bayonne, is a Project Firebox. Kevin Walsh and I both spotted this alarm box at the same time, which evinced an “oooohh” from your humble narrator and a sharp intake of breath from the webmaster of Forgotten-NY. This is a fairly early Gamewell Telegraph Alarm Box, which still seems to be employed.
from wikipedia
In 1855, John Gamewell of South Carolina purchased regional rights to market the fire alarm telegraph, later obtaining the patents and full rights to the system in 1859. John F. Kennard bought the patents from the government after they were seized after the Civil War, returned them to Gamewell, and formed a partnership, Kennard and Co., in 1867 to manufacture the alarm systems. The Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Co. was later formed in 1879. Gamewell systems were installed in 250 cities by 1886 and 500 cities in 1890. By 1910, Gamewell had gained a 95% market share.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying that you’ve seen a Gamewell is a bit like saying that you’ve seen a Ford or a Chevy, of course, as the Massachusetts Company has dominated the market for well more than a century. Still, running across one of these on the street in such a totally random manner is what this blog is all about. Our little party began to madly photograph the thing, which no doubt caused the local Bayonnicans no small amount of puzzlement.
from 1914’s Report on the city of Bayonne, N.J., By National Board of Fire Underwriters. Committee on Fire Prevention and Engineering Standards. -courtesy google books
Of automatic type and Gamewell make, installed in 1907, and includes the following: An 18-circuit protector-board, arranged for 10 fire alarm circuits and 8 police signaling circuits; a 10-circuit battery charging board for the police system; a 10-circuit fire alarm battery charging board, with the usual testing and charging devices; a 7-circuit non-interfering automatic repeater; a punch register for registering all alarms, connected to a box circuit; a stop clock; a non-interfering break-wheel transmitter with a wheel for each box number and each assigned number, and a J4-K. W. motor-generator for charging storage batteries. A motor-generator is held in reserve in the storeroom. Switchboards are marble on wooden mountings. A gong and pen register on a direct line from the A. D. T. office in Jersey City is located in the hall adjoining the operating room. The department telephone switchboard is in the operating room.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Apparently, there is a large collectors market for this sort of device, largely driven by former firefighters who wish to preserve them as historical artifacts.
from backtaps.com
In today’s world, the only company still manufacturing telegraph fire alarm boxes is the Gamewell Company, owned by Honeywell, Inc. While no one is purchasing new complete telegraph fire alarm systems, there are some towns that still add to their existing systems. Thus, there is still a need for Gamewell to produce these boxes.
Project Firebox 52
– photo by Mitch Waxman
They don’t play the bagpipes for Fireboxes, nor do the fellows in the kilts and sporrans muster with flags and march. Gaze upon the ignominious end of a scarlet centurion, shattered by probable vehicular assault, its very innards picked at and eaten away by the scourge of those metal collecting “Crows of Queens”. Amazing Grace, indeed.
Project Firebox 51
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spotted this one on Russell street in Greenpoint, a hard to find H.P. TEL Firebox, hidden in plain sight.
The last time I saw one of these models was in Bushwick way back in 2010. Check out the post here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Quoting from the post mentioned above:
It seems that when the fire system, pipe and pump wise, was first laid down in the early 20th century, technological infancy limited the number of streets that could be served by high pressure lines. Reserved for high rises, factories, and high density tenement blocks- the high pressure water common today was only available in certain areas. However, should the need arise, a fire chief carried a key that would access one of these “H.P. TEL” fireboxes which would send a command back to the firehouse to throw open the valves that would pressurize the lines flowing through its district.
The TEL stands for telegraph, apparently, and the whole scheme ceased to be necessary sometime in the 1950′s.
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