MMD > Archives > January 2026 > 2026.01.17 > 01Prev  Next


Tangley STA-58 58-whistle Calliope
By Terry Bender

In the most recent MBSI Journal, Matt Jaro reprints an interview
with Fred Dahlinger. Fred at one time( mid-1980s) rebuilt a Tangley
STA-58 calliope. In 2002 Dave Miner built for us a Tangley Calliaphone
58 whistle calliope.

At the time he did not know of the existence of an existing Tangley
58 whistle version. We had only seen magazine photos of a proposed
instrument meant for indoor playing but had seen no evidence that
Normal Baker ever built one.

Our calliope is different from the one Fred had in that we added
a Lexan hood to allow for indoor playing. Our calliope also has a
keyboard which Fred's may not have had. It also has a quarter sawn
oak case with custom arts and crafts stained glass doors.

We have long thought that our calliope was nearly one of a kind.
We had heard that Dave (or possibly Dan Dohman who bought Dave's
business) might have built a second one.

In any case, does anyone know whether Fred is still active or where
that STA-58 now is?

Thanks,

Terry Bender
Great Falls, Virginia
https://bendermelodies.com/ 


(Message sent Sat 17 Jan 2026, 17:14:05 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

Key Words in Subject:  58-whistle, Calliope, STA-58, Tangley
Enter text below to search the MMD Website with Google

Please Support Publication of the MMD with your Generous Donation
No PayPal account required
SSL Certificate
by
Let's Encrypt