Hello MMD.  This afternoon I called into the only piano shop in town
that still does work on players and found the technician, Jim, busy
on a Solo Carola upright.  What is surprising about it is that the
extra mechanism above the hammer rest rail -- the device that allows
the player to accent individual notes when playing a Solo Carola roll
-- hadn't been thrown away long ago.  Equally surprising is the fact
that the lady who owns the piano wants Jim to rebuild all of it.
Between us Jim and I have found her four Solo Carola rolls.  However,
this is not a request for more of these rolls; Jim has a different
problem.

Because of the lack of information about these players (well, I've
found just one useful section in Harvey Roehl's "Player Piano Treasury",
and that's it) Jim is mainly using his brain and experience to sort out
what how some of the specifically Solo Carola parts of the action are
supposed to operate.  Here is his current pressing problem:

On the extreme bass and treble ends of the tracker bar, there are
two ports whose function is not clear.  Of course there are matching
perforations on the edges of Solo Carola rolls, too.  Does anybody know
what they are supposed to do?

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania