01-01-2023, 09:16 PM
Brilliant, thank you Hugh. I've never been involved with WW2 comms so my limit is just about being able to recognise a WS 19 . I see there are some differences between the Canadian version in your link and the one in my post. However there is one other pic on the WWW that shows a British version that matches exactly. I expect most showmen modified the wiring on the back so that each switch fed one pair of terminals. If cable size is anything to go by, the one in my pic has the middle terminals as the input. As seen there, 4-core TRS cable was often used on fairs for 110V DC with pairs of cores paralleled, as this was always floating w.r.t. earth.
It will be interesting to investigate the route by which so many Switchboards Charging No.5 reached the fairs. It would only take one surplus dealer with a stock of a few hundred, to advertise them in 'World's Fair' newspaper, and they would be seen by most potential users. The biggest impact of war surplus electrical plant was the availability of redundant searchlight generators. These were exactly right for powering rides and they took over from showmen's steam road locos as the preferred source of mobile power. I have yet to research the main distribution channels for these surplus gensets but I would not be surprised if the switchboards, and possibly other items that I haven't yet identified as war surplus, came via the same route.
Two more pictures of typical applications - one in a cakewalk ride and one on the back of a striker.
It will be interesting to investigate the route by which so many Switchboards Charging No.5 reached the fairs. It would only take one surplus dealer with a stock of a few hundred, to advertise them in 'World's Fair' newspaper, and they would be seen by most potential users. The biggest impact of war surplus electrical plant was the availability of redundant searchlight generators. These were exactly right for powering rides and they took over from showmen's steam road locos as the preferred source of mobile power. I have yet to research the main distribution channels for these surplus gensets but I would not be surprised if the switchboards, and possibly other items that I haven't yet identified as war surplus, came via the same route.
Two more pictures of typical applications - one in a cakewalk ride and one on the back of a striker.
