A steam calliope was spotted last week at "RailFair 99", the
festival of the California Railway Museum in Sacramento, CA.
The calliope was playing on the wharf in Old Town Sacramento,
a short walk from the museum.  The hand-lettered sign said:

 "The Wilde steam calliope (32 whistles)

 "Built by Mr. Wilde in the mid 1930's, Cincinnati, Ohio.
  After Mr. Wilde had died, it was sold to B & B Riverboat in
  Cincinnati.  Then in 1996 [?] it was sold to Hal Wilmunder
  in the Sacramento area."

The calliope is on a trailer for parade use.  I don't think it was
running at full pressure, because wasn't in very good tune, and you
could stand next to it while it was playing (it's hand played only).
I have attached a couple of pictures for the MMD web site.

Marc Kaufman

 [ Travis Vasconcelos, who keeps track of riverboat calliopes, says
 [ that hobbyist Ernest J. Wilde built at least three similar calliopes
 [ before his death in the 1960s.  His widow kept one instrument (which
 [ may be the one seen in Sacramento), and one is now owned by Capt.
 [ Gabriel Chengary, of the steamer Delta Queen out of New Orleans.
 [ The whereabouts of the other instrument(s) is unknown.  Watch for
 [ Marc's photos at the MMD Calliope web site,
 [
 [    http://mmd.foxtail.com/Calliope/
 [
 [ -- Robbie