TANGLEY CALLIOPE RESTORATION PROJECT (part 27)
by Dr. Bill BlackINSTALLING THE WINDCHEST
We are now ready to install the windchest. PHOTO A shows the windchest which we restored some months ago. The two large pressure inlets on the windchest are connected to the outlets on the pressure tank by two large hoses. These large hoses have a 3 inch diameter. The original ones were in bad shape so I needed to find new ones. I figured this would be a difficult item to find. We have a farm supply store here in my town which stocks radiator hoses for farm equipment and I thought this might be the best place to start the search. I took the old hose to the store and showed it to the parts man. Surprise..... this diameter hose happens to be a common size hose on old tractor cooling systems. He just happened to have about a 3 foot piece in stock. This hose was the exact same material and appearance as the original.
PHOTO A shows the new hose installed on the windchest. PHOTO B shows the outlets on the top of the windchest. I had these blocked off with duct tape to prevent me from dropping something into the pressure tank while working on the various parts of the calliope.
In PHOTO C the windchest is installed in the calliope. The new hoses are a nice tight fit and require no clamps to keep them in place.
PHOTO D shows a front view of the windchest installed in the machine directly above the stack linkage which we installed last month.... PHOTO E.
PHOTO F shows a closeup view of the mounting arrangement for the windchest. There are square cutout holes in the wooden sides of the case in which the windchest fits. These holes are large enough to allow the windchest to slide into position. Then, small wedges are inserted between the windchest and the case to secure the windchest in the hole. The main support for the windchest is provided by the windchest resting in these rectangular holes in the sides of the case. Two brackets on the ends of the windchest are fastened to a cleat which in turn is mounted to the side of the case. This maintains the position of the windchest in the case. Also visible in PHOTO F is another cleat which provides additional support for the handles on the outside of the case.
Dr. Bill Black is one of the nation's most knowledgeble Wurlitzer band organ experts. He has made recordings of many band organs and other mechanical music machines which are available for purchase in our Carouselstores.com website.
