All the talk about stealing payphones brings back a fond memory...
Near where I lived when going to high school was a little country store... kind of in the middle of nowhere but also at the intersection of 5 roads with homes at each corner and a church behind it. The store was far enough from the main highway to not worry about a lot of traffic and due to the intersection the way it was gave plenty of option if a hasty retreat became necessary. Our target was a little payphone bolted to the cinder block wall on an unlit corner of the store. This phone was one of those that were in the metal shell to protect it from the weather. There was a top piece that had the ma bell logo and a light behind illuminating it. Our initial survey was to examine the key locks to see how hard it would be able to make a master and/or pick the lock. We had heard that sometimes these phones could hold hundreds of dollars and that was more than enough motivation for two unemployed tween-agers.
My friend was more adventurous than technical minded (altho I did later teach him a lot about the local slick stations, how to get inside, and what was possible once we were in) and I was the hacker/phreak/idea man - so together we were trouble waiting to happen.
With the help of my dad we made a key for the front plate that covers the hole where the money box is located. We could see that this plate locked in all four directions and we thought this would be all that we needed. (Later we learned that there is another key on the bottom left side that must be turned first before the front plate can be removed. This other key was set on an electromagnetic (floating) pin set making it essentially pick-proof) So after learning that our make shift key would not do the job alone we decided best to take the entire phone, and then, while in the safety of our home (and daylight) examine the keyway again and try to forge a key.
We came up with a plan. I knew the phone was held to the wall with at least 4 bolts, but since we couldn't find their heads we would have to cut them. My friend's step dad was somehow into pest control and had all kinds of interesting chemicals at his disposal - one in particular being HCL (hydro-chloric acid). The idea? Pour the HCL behind the phone use it to cut the bolts. We had a crow-bar to pry the phone free in case it became stuck and a 3-Wheeler was our getaway vehicle.
If anyone knows chemistry, you immediately see my number on mistake... HCL is used to *CLEAN* metal, Sulfuric Acid would be needed to cut it. The second mistake: since the HCL was in a plastic bottle we thought it must be weak - only later did we notice the walls of the bottle were over an inch thick all the way around. So here we find ourselves cautiously pouring HCL behind a payphone attached to a cinder block wall in what was basically a country subdivision. We poured a little... no reaction. This convinced us that the contents really were weak so we poured*A LOT*.
Thirty seconds later we have run from the store, gasping for our breath in which a mushroom cloud of acidic reaction had stolen as it enveloped the store. A few minutes pass as the wind blows the cloud away, our breath and our confidence return and we push the 3-wheeler up near the phone. Taking the crow bar, I wedge it between the phone and the wall and push with all my might... it gives easily?!? But the phone didn't move at all?!? I take stock of the crow-bar and freak! It bent! It bent my dad's crow-bar! He is going to kill me! Damn! Then my friend says, "Hey aren't crow-bars bent like that from the factory?" I look again. What I had bent was the wall. The HCL had dissolved the cinder block wall - that is what had made the gas-cloud and stolen our breath.
Our excitement renewed we worked with the crow-bar pulling and twisting on the phone getting it closer and closer to being free (the bolts to the wall are obscenely long - at least they seemed that way, shining like brand new) We had a chain with us, looped it over the phone and attached to the 3-wheeler. One quick tug *BAM* phone hits the ground 3-wheeler dies. We have made a lot of noise and it is nearing 5 to 5:30 am so we know we need to get out of there ASAP. We wrap the phone in our shirts so as not to burn ourselves or the seat with any remaining HCL. I start the 3-wheeler... ... ... it was still in gear, it rares up *BAM* knocks the phone off, dies again. DAMN! Reload the phone, put it in neutral, start up, and haul ass back to my house.
*Ticka, Ticka, Ticka* What is that sound?
*Ticka, Ticka, Ticka* *Honk, Honk*
A car passes us. We look back. The receiver has fallen, dragging on the concrete and shooting sparks. We quickly pull over, my friend throws the handset around his neck like a scarf and we quickly make our way home.
Fun facts later learned:
(1) You can't get rich when the money box held only $5 in silver...
(2) Electromagnetic floating pins lock? Beyond my ability to hack...
(3) They call them 'Fortress Phones' for a reason - the black metal alloy dispels heat unbelievably so! Holding a hot acetylene torch on the corner for 3 minutes and as soon as I remove the flame, I can safely place my hand on the phone?!?! Alien metal?!?! The way we finally got inside the thing was to use tools to bend the metal while we heated it and eventually (after a half tank of acetylene) we were able to separate it and get inside... to our reward of $5 dollars in (black-smut covered) silver... which i placed in a sink of cold water because the change *DID* hold the heat and burnt me ever so slightly!
(4) It's fun to steal a payphone
(5) No matter how hard you think you plan, there will always be surprises...
