This is an update on the status of the Tilden Park merry-go-round
band organs.  By way of background, my family has built and owned the
Tilden Park Steam Trains (Redwood Valley Railway Co.) for 65 years.

The merry-go-round came to Tilden Park in 1948.  Ross Davis and Harry
Perry ran it for many years, then Harry Perry carried on for many more.
In the nineteen-eighties Perry sold it to the East Bay Regional Park
District then ran it for them for a few more years.

When he retired, the District brought in Terri Oyarzun who ran it for
23 years.  She brought in Dan Horenberger for restorations and tune-ups,
but when the band organs were played, the residents up the canyon from
them would call the police about the noise.

The District recently enclosed the pavilion with glass doors, and did
a pretty nice job, but now the sound level inside is above the legal
decibels limit for the employees.  There is a new operator in the last
few years but they don't seem to be interested in the organs.

Of course, getting money out of the Park District is like pulling
teeth.  I have tried to get the Parks Foundation interested.  They are
a support group that raises funds for projects not on the District
radar, but I had no luck there either.

The people at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Carousel have solved the
same problem by glassing-in their organs and using microphones to
balance the sound levels and they play the organs all the time.

There are a couple of good books out now by Richard Langs, one on the
Tilden Carousel: "Tilden Regional Park Merry-go-round: 100 Years of
Spinning Dreams", and one on the history of Tilden: "Tilden Regional
Park: Queen of the East Bay Regional Parks".

The original paper music rolls for the organs are in the Parks archive,
but their condition is unknown.  I know that there are some original
recordings out there, but the current operators don't use them.

This situation really bugs me because I developed my love of mechanical
music listening to those organs as a kid.  My recent response has been
to acquire a nice little 1907 North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
organ (with a Wurlitzer 125 roll frame) that we can build into a
railroad car so we can play it for the public in our platform area.
Kids need to hear it. It is outdoors, so no one can give us a hard
time.  Stay tuned!

Thanks,
Ellen Thomsen
Berkeley, California

 [ MMD articles about the two band organs at Tilden Park are
 [ indexed at http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/KWIC/T/tilden.html 
 [ A new concessionaire took over the merry-go-round in 2014; see
 [ http://www.berkeleyside.com/2014/03/03/after-21-years-tilden-merry-go-round-to-get-new-operator/ 
 [ -- Robbie