

No immediate single idea.
I want to say a sleuce/overflow gate or valve of some sort.
Remote control and actuator in the top (or the control is in the separate cabinet you mention, and the modot is on top), with the vertical shaft down to the gate (or a protective cover around the shaft, cause that vertical pipe is massive if that is actually the shaft).
It does look like it has welded diagonal bracing between the pipe and the structure (as opposed to the u-bolt clamping that seems the initially intended methods), as if some rotational force has previously caused misalignment.
Might be some sort of sensor tube, and the “high voltage box” is just an enclosure for the control systems. Doesn’t explain the added welded braces tho.
Any more pictures?

Yeh, same. I have no interest in minis or minis painting. I think I’ll have to paint this one tho