•Although the first patented steam calliope was a self-playing barrel operated instrument, little has been printed in automatic musical instrument publications on this subject. Lee Munsick's article was very interesting and welcome. Here are a few more notes on this complex and much neglected subjec...

•I'm looking for information as to how the keyboard cover on a Tangley calliope fits against the back panel. My cover is not original so I can't tell from that. Could someone who has a Tangley please either send me a close-up digital picture of this area or a description of it? I'm wondering if the ...

•The announcement of a soon-to-be-published book on steam whistles and calliopes and the exchange of Mechanical Music Digest and e-mail material and messages indicate that there is quite a bit of interest in calliopes. Compared to player pianos, nickelodeons, orchestrions and band organs, the instru...

•[ Jim Lynch wrote in 020629 MMDigest: ] > The calliope musician continually checks the boiler water level and > operates his water pump and steam injector as needed, knowing that any > overheated steel will quickly soften and may bulge and tear a hole. > If this simply permitted all the steam to ru...

•In regards to the steam tractor explosion, I read the boiler inspector's report in "Live Steam" magazine. I think the operator error was in running it at all. There were pictures in the magazine of the firebox stay bolts and they showed very little distortion, which meant that the firebox crown she...

•In reference to the Medina steam tractor explosion, Ohio already inspects boilers. It's just that, years ago, the antique threshers managed to have these engines exempted. I remember vividly the state certificate framed in the cabs of the locomotives at Cedar Point, and this was thirty years ago. B...

•A visitor to the AMICA web site is seeking a calliope or band organ for an event in New York City. Can anyone suggest contacts for him? Meta Brown AMICA Webmaster

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hello, I am urgently looking to rent a calliope/band organ for a recording session in New York City. I would be greatly indebted if you could reply with any recommendations as to who I might try in the area. Also, please feel free to forward this...

•Does anyone know of a calliope in the Pittsburgh area that can be rented for an event? I'd appreciate any leads you may have. Sarah Beyer sbeyer@paconserve.org

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I am looking for a calliope or band organ in the New Hampshire and Massachusetts area to haul or tow with my Model A Ford pickup truck in parades and special town events this year. Can anyone offer some assistance? Thank you. Scott Grib ...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- There will be an auction Sunday, August 24th, in Cicero, New York, and in the advertisement is listed an "antique horse-drawn calliope with 1929 Calaphone, mounted on restored circus band wagon". I know nothing more about it, but assume they mean...

•Anyone interested in Tangley Calliope player parts? I am thinking about having the castings made for the player valve units. Don Teach - Shreveport Music Co. Shreveport, LA 71105

•Yes, I would be interested. I just purchased 43 whistles from a fellow who started the Stanoszek plans and then got bored with the project. Marc Kaufman

•We are still investigating the possibility of making the Tangley Calliaphone valve units. Please let me know if you are interested. The minimum run for these is 2,000. The cost is expected to be under $5.00 each. These units will be zinc die cast like the originals (however of better white metal th...

•The Tangley valve unit we are casting is the one for the original Tangley calliope made in the 1920's and not the valve unit for the Miner Tangley. I only need 14 more people to join in with me to have these made. Don Teach Shreveport Music Co. 1815 E. 70th Street Shreveport, LA 71105 ...

•We are still working on having patterns made for zinc die-cast Tangley valves. So far the response from MMDers has been dismal. Please ask around and see if any of your friends might want a few spares for the tool box. The original valves were a soft pot-metal material. I am hoping to make these in...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hello, I just noticed a calliope, mentioned in the Model Engineer Magazine in October 1959, owned and operated by L. S. Burr of Tracy, California. I've been a member of the Golden Gate Live Steamers for 30+ years And I've never seen or heard of t...

•Gordon, I knew Lloyd Burr and once fired the boiler for him in a St. Patrick's Day parade in San Francisco. They put us right behind the Spanish riding group, and when the calliope cut loose there were panicked horses all over Market Street. Several riders were bucked off their horses, which were t...

•Gordon, I'm not certain, but is this the one that Hal Wilmunder had? I don't know where it is now, since Hal fell off his steamboat [the "Elizabeth Louise"] and drowned last year. I also remember a calliope on the tender of McCloud's 25 back in 1970; I think it came from the S.F. Bay Area. I've alw...

•> I have the Stanoszek plans for a calliope and have often wondered > about making the pipes out of plastic (pipe), for convenience. > The referenced web site also states that the polymer pipes are more > temperature stable. Well, standard plumbing pipe would be interesting if you were going to use...