# Slate backed panel exposed buss



## erics37

Very cool.

A few years back someone here found a very similar panelboard but with a marble backer.


----------



## FlyingSparks

That's amazing.


----------



## chicken steve

There's one downtown, saved and framed after a reno job

It's really something to consider our roots in the presence of antiquity jmho

~CS~


----------



## Rollie73

That's so many levels of awesomeness.


----------



## zac

denny3992 said:


> Buddy found this beaut!
> 
> View attachment 36613


I ran into something like that too.


----------



## FlyingSparks

So there is no slapping in another branch circuit here haha better have planned accordingly, yes?


----------



## pete87

denny3992 said:


> Buddy found this beaut!
> 
> View attachment 36613





I want that for my cabin .






Pete


----------



## pete87

zac said:


> I ran into something like that too.






Great Stuff .





Pete


----------



## Big John

Was this de-energized and they kept it for display?


----------



## zac

Big John said:


> Was this de-energized and they kept it for display?


No it's hot and locked behind a cabinet. The maintenance guy new I would be in awe so he gave me a look see


----------



## jza

I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast type place that had a very similar one, decommissioned and framed. They're awesome.


----------



## jmellc

I have seen various old Trumbull equipment but not that piece. One customer wanted to keep old Trumbull panel & disconnects on his porch. Inspector allowed it but had us label it "Not In Use". 

Did Trumbull shut down altogether or were they absorbed into another company? 

I think I have read that in the very earliest days of electric power, open switches on walls were the norm, not enclosed at all. By that measure, the equipment pictured would have been considered extremely safe simply for the enclosure.


----------



## fdew

jmellc said:


> I think I have read that in the very earliest days of electric power, open switches on walls were the norm, not enclosed at all. By that measure, the equipment pictured would have been considered extremely safe simply for the enclosure.


I collect old light fixtures and switches. (I don't know why) what I have found is that light sockets hanging from the ceiling or mounted to the ceiling came first. Often there was a pull string switch. I have even seen books that illustrated running the string across the ceiling and down the wall for convenience. 

These sockets often had exposed terminals at the ceiling level. 

I have never seen a exposed contact wall switch or pictures of one.


----------



## jmellc

fdew said:


> I collect old light fixtures and switches. (I don't know why) what I have found is that light sockets hanging from the ceiling or mounted to the ceiling came first. Often there was a pull string switch. I have even seen books that illustrated running the string across the ceiling and down the wall for convenience.
> 
> These sockets often had exposed terminals at the ceiling level.
> 
> I have never seen a exposed contact wall switch or pictures of one.


Sorry, I was unclear. I think the wall switches for lights were always enclosed and plated in the wall. I think factories & utility rooms, etc. sometimes had open knife blade switches to turn machines off & on. I may have seen that in some Square D materials (will check further). I saw 1 factory a few years ago that had open 480v bus bars along the ceiling. I forget how they tapped into them. They may not have been in use at the time. I was careful of them when going around in a lift, just in case.


----------



## jmellc

jmellc said:


> Sorry, I was unclear. I think the wall switches for lights were always enclosed and plated in the wall. I think factories & utility rooms, etc. sometimes had open knife blade switches to turn machines off & on. I may have seen that in some Square D materials (will check further). I saw 1 factory a few years ago that had open 480v bus bars along the ceiling. I forget how they tapped into them. They may not have been in use at the time. I was careful of them when going around in a lift, just in case.


I recall now where I read that. It was in a Square D pamphlet from a supply house, telling about open blade switches in factories in the early 1900's & that Detroit Fuse began making enclosed switches in cast iron boxes, then later in sheet metal boxes. Their website does not cover this though. It should. Is good reading/learning.


----------



## Jack Legg

I thought this was too cool to toss. I put it I my gazebo and made a shelf out of the cover


----------

