Hi,  I am trying to pull together some loose ends of a long story.
The subject of the story is a three-manual Kimball player pipe organ,
initially located in Oklahoma City, Okla.  That instrument was the
reason I am interested in mechanical musical instruments today.

That instrument had a player mechanism built into the three manual
console, behind the music rack.  The console had stop tabs for the
four divisions, plus a few tabs that appeared to relate to the player
mechanism.  The roll transport and tracker bar were apparently supposed
to be pressurized with organ wind.  The door of the roll box was clear
glass, so the roll could be seen while the door was closed and sealed.
However that player was not connected when we found the instrument, no
music rolls were included, and consequently we never heard it play any
music rolls.

We were told that the instrument had been purchased for the wedding
of a wealthy oil man's daughter.  It was installed under the staircase
of his mansion.  After a few years it was donated to a nearby Catholic
youth retreat, and was subsequently moved to the Bishop's residence
adjacent to St. Francis Church.  Eventually, the instrument was
installed in the rear balcony of the St. Francis of Assisi Church,
1901 NW 18th St, Oklahoma City, OK.

About 30 years ago, I was one of a crew that moved the Kimball pipe
organ to the chapel of Calvary Bible College, in Kansas City, Missouri,
where the organ pipes and windchests were installed.  Sorry to say, the
winding and relay installation were problematic, beyond the capability
of the student crew.  The Swell chamber was over the heating plant
for the campus and was a tuners nightmare.  It was never totally
satisfactory.  For a few semesters it was played for daily chapel
services by the head of the Music Department, Dr. Paul Wagner.

At about that time, I was assigned to an engineering project out of
town.  Dr. Wagner and his wife took up teaching positions at a school
in India.  I have not seen Dr. Wagner since.

While I was out of the area, the instrument was sold to Mr. Bob Maes,
an organ parting jobber, along with many other pipe organ components
that were in storage at Calvary Bible School.  He subsequently sold it
to Mr. James Weisenborne, who was a librarian at a college in Michigan
and a mechanical musical instrument buff.

Mr. Weisenborne contacted me by email several years later, while I was
on assignment overseas.  He told me that he was looking for the paper
rolls that went with the Kimball organ.  I gave him the information
from memory.  He made a special trip to Oklahoma City but, as far as
I know, he never did find the rolls that were playable on the organ.

It was my understanding that he was determined to collect all the
different player instruments he could find, and develop a common
recording system so that rolls from one instrument could be played on
the others.  I do not know how successful his efforts were.  I have
not heard from him in over 10 years.

I am interested to know the current whereabouts of the Kimball pipe
organ and console.  If any of the subscribers to this list can fill
in any details, I would be most appreciative.  If any of the above
time frame or names are incorrect it is because of my own bad memory.
I apologize in advance for my errors.

Thanks for your help.
Doug Dexheimer
Overland Park, Kansas