The player action is Broadwood's own, made to designs by Peter Welin
using separate unitary valve/pneumatics.  I've written about them
elsewhere on MMD and in the Player Piano Group Bulletin.

These actions surface occasionally here in the UK, so quite a number
must have been made.  They were only ever foot-impelled.  They were
fitted from about 1907 until perhaps 1913.  They were available in
both Broadwood's superb Barless and excellent conventionally scaled
instruments.  The grand for sale is not a Barless.

In upright pianos the valve/pneumatics were sited horizontally in a
stack beneath the keyboard; in grands they were vertical in a great
nest under the soundboard with long wire pushrods to cranks and pitmans
to work the rear ends of the keys.  The grand units were configured
differently from the upright so that the valves in both cases operate
vertically.  Both the pneumatic span and limit can be very easily
adjusted.

The units were very cleverly designed for mass machine production and
easy assembly.  I have one here which is over a century old and still
works perfectly.  They were pressed by metal crossbars and threaded
rods onto manifolds with skived leather gaskets.  As the gaskets
compressed the actions became leaky and unreliable, and needed frequent
attention by Broadwood's tuner/technicians.  This may have been one
factor in Broadwoods moving to Hupfeld actions in about 1912.  Today's
leather seems no better for gaskets, but closed cell neoprene sheet
allows these actions to work well.

The 88-note tracker bar has two tracking ports, a sustaining pedal port
and two ports for Themodist-type accenting, with graduated levers
rather than push buttons.  The tracker tubes connect with the action
via a manifold outside each end of the piano action, like late Duo-Art
grands, making servicing very easy.  The clever lyre/pedal unit is slim
and neat and extremely robust.  These actions are very powerful and
responsive.

An upright with this action was given by Broadwoods to Captain Scott's
1912 Antarctic expedition.  It survived appalling conditions at sea
and on the ice -- and was eventually brought back to London.  In 2012
some spare disassembled unitary valve/pneumatics were discovered left
in the Antarctic base-camp hut, and caused much speculation among the
archaeological "experts" as to what they were -- camera or telephone
equipment -- until they were enlightened!

Patrick Handscombe
Wivenhoe, Essex, UK