Comments on: A photo pop quiz to get the gears moving

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:24:57 +0000

Back in the late '70s my older brother actually decoded the punch-hole scheme used to record the date and time on the the bus transfers. I don't remember the details but it turned out that the days wrapped around fairly quickly, so he kept a stack of them handy and managed to ride the metro for free often enough to significantly augment his lunch money. Not very surprisingly he grew up to be a major computer nerd as an adult.

By: Pascal

Pascal — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:21:21 +0000

Old metro turnstiles open to be gutted?

By: Kate M.

Kate M. — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:07:45 +0000

Has to be an old ticker-tape machine.

By: Clement Côté

Clement Côté — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:32:45 +0000

My last guess: It's the mechanism used to shift one of three images on these giant billboards, like the VW one on 15 south.

By: Fagstein

Fagstein — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:41:21 +0000

"Plausible", perhaps, but not true. The metro has less destructive ways of regulating its trains.

By: mare

mare — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:27:32 +0000

These are metro tire cutters at the end of the track (tracks in this case) so the train sinks with the rims onto the track and thus brakes (violently) before it hits the end barrier.

(I totally make this up, but it sounds plausible, doesn't it?)

By: Clement Côté

Clement Côté — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:55:13 +0000

Ok then, more guessing.

It's part of some engine, specifically either an injection mechanism or an exhaust?

By: J. Ryan

J. Ryan — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:29:06 +0000

Knowing you, something to do with printing presses?

By: JoLalo

JoLalo — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:06:21 +0000

Industrial newspaper printers at The Gazette?

By: MiKe rivest

MiKe rivest — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:37:04 +0000

Looks like data proceessing mechanery

By: Circeus

Circeus — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Escalator underside?

By: Clement Côté

Clement Côté — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:46:36 +0000

Hmmm,

The shape above the main gear is some kind of driver. As the gear turn, it makes the arm on the right oscillate according to a repeating pattern. Household sewing machines have similar mechanisms.

So, a complete random guess: An industrial sewing machine?

By: Franco

Franco — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:13:42 +0000

the things that make the Metro doors open/close ???

By: COOL FAT MICHAEL 1999 FROM DIRTY JERZY

COOL FAT MICHAEL 1999 FROM DIRTY JERZY — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:03:12 +0000

One of the many broken escalators in the metro?