23 Responses to “Guess what these are”

1. Liz Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 8:34am

   Can you give us a clue?

2. Will Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 8:52am

   Microfiche readers?

3. Philip Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 8:52am

   Are they lights from an old dot-matrix-style digital billboard of some sort?

4. Aaron Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 9:15am

   They look like those monitors at the end of train stations so the drivers can see the little old ladies getting stuck in closing doors. Why should the passengers be getting all of the fun?

5. Toria Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 9:57am

   Old cathode ray tube monitors in China creating toxic waste?

6. Daniel Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 11:12am

   Clue: I took the picture on my way to work the other day. Aaron may be onto something.

7. Paul Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 11:46am

   My first inclination was that an ATM burial ground had been desecrated. Then I saw the handtruck in the background so scrap that idea. Are they Myki terminals?

8. Philip Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 11:46am

   They look too shallow to be CRT screens, but could they be autocue devices for TV cameras? The mirror there reflects an image upwards and a corresponding piece of transparent glass in front of the camera’s lens then bounces the image forwards to the person at whom the camera is pointed. Because of the two mirrors, the image appears the right way around for the newsreader. Because the glass in front of the camera lens is reflecting the image away from the camera, the camera only sees the newsreader (and any dirt on the glass).

   I thought they’d use a CRT pointing a backwards image upwards and just use the piece of glass, instead of an extra mirror, but perhaps I was wrong and these could be what they use.

   Why they’d be thrown out, I don’t know. Perhaps new cameras required new autocues.

9. Nathan Says:
   July 5th, 2007 at 12:01pm

   Is it those things from the top of the comeng trains that lets them see if the pento is up or down?

10. Tom Reynolds Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 12:16pm

    They are the old moniors that tell that your non existent train is running late.

    They are all being replaced with new LCD 42″ jobbies.

    “Nice monitor- where’s my fricking train?”

    What do I win for being right?

    Tom

11. Daniel Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 12:18pm

    NATHAN WINS THE POINTS! They’re periscopes that have been removed from Comeng trains at Brighton Beach, formerly used by guards to look on the roof, including for train surfers. (Guards don’t exist anymore.) Pic of an old train with its periscope still in place here.

12. Philip Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 12:38pm

    Can anyone find a photo showing us one of these in place? They look like parts of periscopes, but not whole periscopes.

13. Philip Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 12:42pm

    Ah. Found one! At vicsig.

14. Nathan Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 12:42pm

    Why thankyou people, thankyou, I’d like to thank my parents, my tin dog, and most importantly my inane trivial side for always thinking they were the coolest part of the comeng trains

    Where do I collect my ten points?

15. Josh Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 12:54pm

    With them new plasma screens, how come they don’t put a clock on ‘em down the bottom? Why are there separate clocks, so I’ve got to look in two places - what’s the time, what’s the next train?

16. Philip Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 1:37pm

    Because logical thought didn’t enter into it, Josh. If it had, there’d be a huge clock hanging over the whole place, with a face pointing in each of the four directions, just like a European station.

17. Nathan Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 3:19pm

    I believe the wiring you can see goes to an inbuilt windscreen wiper. I can’t believe the periscope had a windscreen wiper.

18. Shell Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 10:14pm

    Ummmm, in post 11 Daniel says that the pic of the burnt out Comeng shows the periscope still in place. Is it just me that cant see it in that photo??

    Good job, nathan!

19. Daniel Says:
    July 5th, 2007 at 10:41pm

    Try these pictures, they show them a bit more clearly:
    http://vicsig.net/photo.php?filename=444m-371m-mixed.jpg
    http://vicsig.net/photo.php?filename=connex-fss-180900-4.jpg

    This picture shows the periscope from a completely different angle…
    http://vicsig.net/photo.php?filename=20030204-sss-394m-n463-2.jpg

    Those in my picture are all sitting upside down, so you’re seeing the inside of it.

20. Leonie Says:
    July 6th, 2007 at 4:07pm

    Speed Camera Boxes!

21. Peter Says:
    July 6th, 2007 at 4:40pm

    The screen bits inside the old Space Invaders games!

22. Andrew Says:
    July 6th, 2007 at 6:42pm

    I never knew about them. The last pic shows one that is badly adjusted. http://vicsig.net/photo.php?filename=20030204-sss-394m-n463-2.jpg

23. Konrad Talmont Says:
    July 10th, 2007 at 3:22am

    I also thought they were the screens from old acrade game machines - they were put facing up with a mirror to make them look like they were in front of you.