Dear Ben, Greetings from The Bronx! The last time I had seen this
band organ was close to 20 years ago while on a shopping trip to
the mall. I was there with my mother and my sister, with her three
children in tow. Even back then the organ wasn't played very often.
On one of our trips to the mall I got permission to look at the organ.
The concessionaire's main complaint was that it wouldn't play properly
-- the music was jerky, the roll would hesitate constantly.
Upon examination I found that when the organ was either restored or
repaired, the leather tire on the friction drive was replaced with
a rubber tire. Hence, when the organ was not playing, the pressure of
the spring on the of the friction drive was compressing the rubber tire
against the drive platen and it had caused a number of small flat spots
on the tire.
I pointed out the problem to them and gave them the name of a competent
organ technician. The next time I had seen the organ it was silent;
obviously the repair of the organ was not a priority. Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Dale F. Rowe
Bronx, New York
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