The San Mateo, California, chapter of the Shriners has a Tangley A-43
calliope mounted in the back of an old fire truck.  Over the years it
has gone from good to bad to worse.  I volunteered to take a look at it
this week (though I have no experience with calliopes) and I found the
following.  (It is a bit hard to get to in the truck.)

The pressure and vacuum source is a single pump that generates both
and makes an incredible racket.  The pressure gauge on the side of the
calliope indicates 1-1/4.  I measured the vacuum at the tracker bar and
it is 15 inches.  The vacuum at the pump was 0-40 inches.  (The needle
on the gauge vibrated between 40 and zero.)  The problem is that when
playing a roll (test roll or other), some of the notes [don't] sound
occasionally.

After I got home it occurred to me that one possibility was that the
mechanical linkages between the keys, pneumatics and the valves for
the pipes are sticking.  I played with the keys and pneumatics while
the pumps were running and they weren't as easy to move as the keys and
pneumatics in a player piano but I don't know if this is normal.  I had
to climb over some stuff to get to the front of the calliope and didn't
think to try the keys and pneumatics with the pumps turned off.

I would appreciate any advice, or even hands-on assistance from someone
in the San Francisco Bay Area with knowledge of the Tangley A-43.

Lyle Merithew