A fun little whatsit...

[rusty]

Here's a special wrench, with a special purpose....

Painted bright yellow, so you won't lose it....

Because someday, just maybe, you might really really need it...

It's from the 1950's.....

[rusty]

A small hint....

[Lostmind]

looks like a hand crank ?

[Aunt Phil]

Rusty,
Return the elevator repairman's jacking crank to the penthouse immediately.

Hang it back on the black board with the rest of the unique tools and leave it there.

That paint held up well, didn't it.

[rusty]

The paint did hold up well, and the machine is in surprisingly good shape for it's age. but the electrics are old and tired, and getting replaced.

(Yes, it's a jack crank, tho, this one is in the basement)

I had fun talking with the elevator guy about a (different) elevator he was working in built in the late 1800's...

[Aunt Phil]

Should have asked him if he ever worked on one powered by city water pressure.

Cellar equipment room generally indicates original use as a freight elevator.  No idea why, but that design was quite popular around 1900.  Possibly due to heavier equipment and little desire to manhandle it to the roof.

Little known historical fact; When the Cunningham Auto plant was built on University Ave in Rochester the elevator 20 x 30 deck was run with city water.  The reservoir is about a mile away and 400 feet higher.
The elevator continued to run on water till the mid 70s when the City installed a pressure regulator.  RF Harris the owner of the building then opted to install a new oil filled cylinder rather than invest in a booster pump to continue running water.  The brilliant engineers knew there might be a future problem obtaining replacement leather seals when the ones hanging on the wall were used.  The leathers had hung in the same wood box for over 50 years waiting to be used.