Speedster Progress...

A few days ago, I posted some pictures describing my friend Dan building a Model T Ford speedster with his grandson Daniel.  Today I was at the shop and took a couple progress pictures.  I'll continue to update these as the car takes shape.

Grandpa

Grandson

An Unusual Chief Petty Officer - John F. Morrissey

At the beginning of World War II, it was the practice of the military services to enlist or commission people at a rate or rank that was appropriate to their civilian occupation.  When I served on the USS Maloy (DE-791) in 1964-65, we had a Chief Petty Officer who had never been anything but a CPO!  John F. Morrissey had owned a successful office supply business in the Boston area before the war.  When he volunteered for the Navy immediately after Pearl Harbor, he went through some abbreviated "boot camp" and was granted the rating of Chief Yeoman.  He was around 44 years old when this took place.

The Chief served his country for the duration of the war and stayed in the reserves afterwards.  After a few years, he decided to come back on active duty to finish up twenty years of active duty and earn a normal retirement.  He did this through the so-called "TAR" program, which stood for Temporary Active Reserves.  Because he was over 65 years old when I made his acquaintance, he was actually on some kind of official waiver to be assigned to sea duty.  He loved going to sea on a ship.

During the 1930's, Chief Morrissey had invested some money with a schoolmate of his who was expanding his restaurant business.  That fellow's name was Howard Johnson.  The result was that when I became acquainted with the Chief, he was an extremely wealthy man.  That wealth led to something that seemed fairly bizarre at the time.  We would come into port from a month out at sea.  A long chauffeur-driven limousine would appear at the end of the pier, and Chief Morrissey would be whisked off for his weekend.  His home was in Cohasset, Massachusetts, as I recall. And his wife was bedridden with some long-term debilitating disease, for which she had round-the-clock nurses.  He would spend his weekends with her when we were in port and then he would return to the ship in time for Monday morning muster.

Typical Ship's Office

We decommissioned the Maloy in 1965, after which the Chief was transferred to a shore duty assignment to complete his career.  He was a real gentleman, a good shipmate, and a beloved member of the crew.

A Late Sunday Lunch...



Every once in a while, Mary Ann and I catch an episode of Guy Fieri's TV show, "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."  And more than once we've said, "We ought to try one of those places.  I wonder if there are any close to home."  Well, on Sunday, Mary Ann said, "There's a Greek restaurant in Nashville that was featured on that Food Network show.  What would you think about doing a Sunday excursion?"  Never one to back down from a challenge, I of course said yes.  So after a few minutes of preparation, off we headed for Music City, about 135 miles away.

The object of our quest was the Athens Family Restaurant at 2526 Franklin Pike, Nashville, TN 37204.  It was featured on Fieri's show entitled "Burgers and More."  The object of his feature was described on the Website as "in Nashville, Tennessee, a Greek restaurant serving a bacon burger with a twist - it's made with lamb."

We programmed the address into the GPS and off we went.  It was a simple, straightforward route and we found the restaurant without a hitch.  It's a small but attractive place on a busy city street.

The interior was pleasantly decorated in the mediterranean blue and white that is often used in Greek restaurants, emulating the Greek flag.  Our waitress was pleasant and helpful.  Mary Ann ordered a Rueben sandwich (one of her favorites) while I opted for the bacon trimmed lamb burger signature item.

We were not disappointed in general.  The featured items were exceptional.  Mary Ann said her sandwich was moist and the home-smoked brisket of corned beef was very flavorful.  Likewise my burger was well prepared, juicy, laden with swiss cheese, and wrapped in a belt of hickory smoked bacon.  The bun was oversized to handle the size of the hand-formed lamb patty.

The french fries disappointed.  They were dry and cold, as if they had been prepared well in advance.  They had a sprinkling of feta cheese, but that couldn't salvage them.  After we had finished our meals, our server returned and suggested dessert.  At first we declined, but she informed us that the caramel cheesecake dessert (described in the menu as "caramel cream") was a treat worth waiting for.  We accepted her suggestion.  It turned out to be the highlight of the meal!

The Caramel Cream Cheesecake Dessert

We drove up to the Riverview Park after our late lunch to look for the Red Grooms' Tennessee Foxtrot Carousel, but apparently it has been closed.  It was described in one of the on-line tourist guides as, "The joys of childhood come alive in this working carousel created by internationally renowned artist Red Grooms. Grooms carved the 36 riding figures, each representing a famous Tennessean from past and present.

Included are the likes of Andrew Jackson, country music star Kitty Wells, and Tennessee pioneer Davy Crockett. This one-of-a-kind carousel showcases the contributions of famous folks to Nashville's evolution and is a joy to view and ride."  I was disappointed that we were unable to find it, although by this time, our thermometer was indicating an outside temperature of 98 degrees.

We decided to proceed towards Franklin, after which we took the liesurely route down highway 431 to Fayetteville and home.  It was a really delightful day.

A Wonderful Resource for Oddball Music..

The Edison Junior Cylinder Player

Professor Otto Robert Shurig lived on Wendell Avenue in Schenectady in the 1940s and '50s.  His daughter Janet went to school with my sister Ann.  So our families knew each other.  One day Janet informed me that her father wanted to talk to me about doing some work for him.

Somehow, Dr. Shurig had learned that I was skilled at repairing all things mechanical.  In fact, I still love anything mechanical and do have an aptitude for dismantling and reassembling even the most complex mechanical devices.  Dr. Shurig asked if I would be willing to work on one of the antique phonographs in his collection.  This was to be my introduction to the wonderful world of mechanical devices that produce sound.  Eventually I would work on several such gadgets to include not only cylinder and disk phonographs, but music boxes, player pianos, and organs.

The first item that he asked me to work on was a small Edison cylinder device.  I learned that it was called the Edison Junior model.  I learned that the cylinders used on this player only lasted 2 minutes.  Later devices played cylinders of 4 minutes' duration.  Dr. Shurig provided me with a few cylinders to use in testing the phonograph once I had repaired it.  By the way, after I had completely dismantled this instrument, I realized that all it needed was a thorough cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment to be like new.

I found this machine to be absolutely enchanting.  Even though I was a teenager at the time I worked on it, I would listen to those cylinders and be transported to a much earlier time.  I could imagine a family gathering around the phonograph's horn at the turn of the century and being amazed by the music.  I listened to the cylinders many times over.  The cylinders he had provided were "Molly and the Baby" a prohibition song, "Carry Your Cross With a Smile" sung by Homer Rodeheaver, and "Ain't Dat a Shame?"  Because I heard these songs so many times, I learned them and have sung them occasionally for the past 60 years.

The other day I ran across a remarkable asset on the Internet.  It's called the Library of Congress' National Jukebox.  According to the Web site, "At launch, the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925."  So even though it doesn't currently include any Edison cylinder recordings, I found the following versions of some of my "old favorites."

A Fortunate Young Man and His Fortunate Family...

There's a Web site called the "Ford Barn" that serves as a gathering place for early Ford lovers.  It's the electronic equivalent of a pot-bellied stove around which the old-timers would gather to swap ideas and tell stories.  It's a busy site and a source of valuable information and parts sources for thousands of Ford restorers.

A few days ago when I went to the Ford Barn site (www.fordbarn.com), I was greeted with the following image:

I instantly recognized young Daniel, grandson of the very same Dan Shady and son of Deron Shady, who are working on my hot rod roadster.  It turns out that Deron had posted a new thread on the Ford Barn forum describing Daniel's first car.  Ryan Cochrane, the proprietor of the Web site, picked up on the idea of this young man wanting to build his own first car, and a Model T Ford at that!  Ryan decided to feature Daniel and his car on the site's home page.

Last Summer, Daniel worked in the shop with his father and grandfather, so he has learned a fair amount about the process of restoring an antique vehicle.  This year, he wanted to start building his own first car, and after discussing it with Deron, he decided on a Model T Ford speedster.  They could probably find a Model T chassis at a reasonable price, parts are relatively easy to find (There were 15 million Model T's built!), and they are simple mechanically.  They started "the Hunt" about a year ago.  As furtune would have it, Deron was in a conversation with a client who lives in south central Tennessee.  The topic of conversation was Model A Ford parts, but as the discussion was concluding, the friend said, "Oh, by the way, I've got a pretty decent '26 chassis if you know anyone who might be interested."  Needless to say, it's the very same chassis that accompanies Daniel in the picture.

Now it's June.  The frame is cleaned up and inside the shop.  Dan is teaching his grandson how to build a custom speedster body from scratch.  The intent is to have something like this:

The first step is to build a "buck."  This is a wood structure of cross-sectional and longitudinal profiles that define the surface that will eventually be made in sheet metal.  Here's a shot of Daniel having completed his first cross sectional profile.  He's using masking tape to give himself a visual reference for the outer shape.

And as of late June, here's a view of his progress:

Is this not a great project?  I can't imagine a more wonderful way for a young man (He's 12) to spend his summer.  He's had to earn the money to buy the car, so he's learning that reward depends on work.  And he's learning an art that is rare indeed, and learning it from his grandfather.  I'll post periodic updates here.

A Pretty Amazing Coincidence...

The Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) holds regional meets all over the country.  This year, their Southeastern Regional was held in Shelbyville, Tennessee, which is only about 35 miles from home.  In addition, this was the site of the Grand National competition, held only in one location each year, in which only the most perfectly restored cars compete for prizes.  Mary Ann and I went up Friday for the Grand National and yesterday (Saturday) I joined Daniel and Deron Shady to return for a "Boys Day Out."

On Friday, the standards of restoration were beyond description.  Mary Ann's favorite car (She has elegant taste!) was this perfectly gorgeous Jaguar XK-120:

I have to admit that I was partial to a slightly older vehicle, this exquisite 1931 Chrysler Imperial long wheelbase roadster -- basically a 2-seat car on a 145" wheelbase:

Saturday morning, Deron and Daniel picked me up and we headed north again.  We spent quite a bit of time examining muscle cars and subsequently Model "A" Fords, since those are two areas in which Deron does a lot of his restoration business.  As we were having a conversation with a Model A owner whom Deron knew, I happened to look in the distance and thought I spotted a 1932 Plymouth.  Not only did it look like one, but it looked like a roadster!  Just like my current project car!  And it lacked side mount spares!  Just like mine!  And it appeared to be painted Merrimac Beige, just as mine had been originally delivered!!!

I started taking LOTS of pictures, including closeups of details that were unclear or missing on my car.  Soon a lady came over and said that her father, the owner, was sitting nearby.  I went over and introduced myself to Bill Sebastian, who has owned the car for about six years.  He is a delightful fellow, very congenial, and has even been following my Hot Rod Roadster Website!  He lives only a couple hours away, which may prove to be a Godsend if I failed to capture all the photographic information I need.  The remarkable thing is that there are only a handful of these cars left.  Nearly half are business roadsters which lack the rumble seat.  Probably half of the remaining cars have side mounted spare tires rather than rear mounted, and most are painted black or red.  This was really a wild coincidence.  I couldn't have been more amazed...

Daniel (left) and Deron (right) discuss the finer points of the restored "BrownieKar," a car designed for use by children, with its owner, Steve Heald of Sodus, New York.  This was Daniel's favorite car in the show.

A Long Overdue Tale...

The other evening, Mary Ann and I were dining out.  We got into a pleasant conversation with our server who informed us that she was a trained "piano technician" looking for a full-time position.  We discussed the options available to her including working in the pipe organ industry.  When I got home, I sent her the names of a couple of contacts who might be useful in her search.  I also wanted to send her some information on the pipe organ that I restored for a church in Fayetteville, but to my amazement, I have never done a blog entry on the subject.  Here is an attempt to tell this interesting tale.

In 1984, my late wife Margo and I were attending St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Fayetteville.  The parish asked if I would serve as choir director and I accepted.  At that time, the choir (and the congregation, by extension) was being accompanied by a small Hammond electronic device that had seen better days.  Our organist, Mrs. Anne Callahan, was very capable, but the Hammond struggled to produce enough volume to support an ensemble.  I had a crazy notion that I mentioned to Anne one evening after choir practice.  What would she think about the church acquiring and restoring a real pipe organ?  I explained that I had some experience in organ restoration, having assisted in the restoration of a large theater organ while in high school.  I also explained that there was an organization called the Organ Clearing House, run by a fellow named Alan Laufman, that helped churches locate potential candidate organs that were available for restoration.  How hard could it be!?!?

Anne had her doubts about the parish's ability to take on such a project, but said that she'd love to have a real pipe organ in the church.  She was originally from Meadville, PA, and had studied music at both Villa Maria College, where she studied organ under Sister M. Fabiola and earned a B.S. degree, and the Pennsylvania College of Music.  She had performed on many real pipe organs and had an appreciation of the difference it could make in our worship music.

I first spoke to Father Tom Field, our pastor.  He was very positive in his response.  I have always felt a debt of gratitude for his support, without which the project could not have moved forward.  I then wrote up a proposal for the Parish Council.  I suggested that we have a fund raiser to get parishioners involved in the project and have a separate fund devoted to the "organ project."  I informed them that I had been looking at used organs and was quite certain that we could locate an appropriate sized instrument for our little church for under $2,000.  I volunteered to lead the restoration project, and guessed that if we had even a handful of volunteers, it might be possible to complete the job in a year.

The council members were polite as they informed me that the church had trouble raising enough funds to pay the light bills and mortgage.  They did, however give me a green light to try to raise funds and to start searching for an instrument.  I wrote a letter for distribution at the following Sunday's Mass, and we distributed it.  On Sunday evening, I received a phone call.  One of the couples in the parish who chose to remain anonymous wanted to donate $1,000 and challenged the rest of the parish to match it!  I couldn't believe the generosity!  These folks have now gone on to their eternal reward, so I have no qualms about giving public thanks to Wilfred and Ruby Knies.  Their gift truly enabled the project more than any other single event.  Within a few weeks, we had received pledges and gifts of over $2,000, which was the threshold that I believed was needed to proceed.

In the meantime, I had "spread the word" that we were in the hunt for a suitable instrument.  I spoke with Alan Laufman and he provided a list of organs in the southeastern states that we might want to consider.  Margo and I drove to Chattanooga, Nashville, Atlanta, and Rome, GA to look at instruments, but none were satisfactory.  One was way too large, several were way too damaged or incomplete for a group of amateurs to undertake.  Then one day I received a call from a friend in Huntsville, David Stone, who owned the Booklegger bookstore.  David had seen a strange ad in the classified section of Bookman's Weekly that was intriguing, "Pipe organ, dismantled, Cullman, Alabama, call xxx-xxx-xxxxx."

The following week, Margo and I had planned a trip to Grove Hill, AL, to visit her aunt.  I jotted down the number that David had provided and took it "just in case."  As fortune would have it, I called the number as we were returning home on Sunday. It was the number of a salvage yard.  It seems that a Baptist Church in Cullman had received the gift of a pipe organ from some church in Florida.  It arrived on a truck in "thousands of pieces."  The church in Cullman had no clue how to reassemble such an instrument so they gave it to this salvage dealer to haul off and store.  If we wanted to take a look, the dealer would be glad to meet us at his warehouse.  We agreed on a time, got directions, and met him there late that Sunday afternoon.  We looked over what we could see without lights and I decided to go back with proper flashlights in a few days.  The owner told me he wanted $1,000 for the instrument and wouldn't consider anything less.  He had no idea how old it was or how many ranks of pipes it had.  The console was positioned in such a way that I couldn't get access to the stop tabs, which might have given me a clue as to the size of the instrument.  It was certainly worth another trip.

A week later, I returned to Cullman with Father Tom, our pastor.  We spent a few hours studying the situation.  Our conclusions were that the organ was of the electropneumatic design, and was probably complete except for a set of chimes that had been part of the original installation.  It had a console dating to 1958, when the organ had been "rebuilt by Joseph H. DeWolfe, of Jacksonville" according to an attached engraved plate.  It had suffered some damage in transport, but not anything that couldn't be repaired.  I recommended to Father Tom that we buy the organ and move it into the parish hall in Fayetteville.  A week later, we did that with the help of Richard Paladino, Vic Finch, and a few other volunteers whose names I can't recall.  We rented a moving van to move the console, the several windchests, the blower and blower motor (weighing a couple of hundred pounds!), miscellaneous parts, and 567 pipes, which we very carefully placed in padded boxes.

Typical valve mechanism
 for a single pipe 

Electropneumatic action was introduced in the late 19th century.  When a key is depressed on the console, an electric current is sent to the organ loft where one or more tiny electromagnets are activated that operate leather and wood valves.  These valves admit pressurized air to larger valves that ultimately admit air to the selected pipes, producing sound.  This all occurs in a split second.  This type of action enables the console to be located at a distance from the pipe location.

The first job was to clean and inventory the pipes.  We wiped them down to remove years of accumulated grime.  I built shallow storage boxes that are about 6 feet long and 18 inches wide and only a few inches deep.  These are stackable, and were used to store the medium and smaller pipes.  The largest pipes are up to 8 feet in length and were simply stacked against a wall.  Some pipes are of metal construction while others are wood.  While doing this inventory, we confirmed that there were no missing pipes.  Based on the stop tabs on the console, we could tell that as of 1958 the organ was supposed to have a certain configuration. It was divided into three so-called "divisions," each associated with one of the two keyboards or with the foot-operated pedals.  These were identified as follows:

Great Division:	Swell Division:	Pedal Division:
Open Diapason - 8'	Viola - 8'	Bourdon - 16'
Melodia - 8'	Stopped Diapason - 8'
Dulciana - 8'	Vox Celeste - 8'
Octave - 4'	Aeoline - 8'
	Flute Harmonic - 8'

We were able to relate this list to individual windchests and sets of similar-looking pipes to determine that everything was present and accounted for.  The 4', 8', and 16' notations indicate which octave the rank is rooted in.  An 8' rank of pipes plays in unison with a piano, whereas the 4' rank sounds an octave higher and the 16' rank plays an octave lower.

The blower was
old but usable

I had to determine exactly how we were going to fit this instrument into the available space. Father Tom had made it clear that the so-called facade pipes would be acceptable on display in the sanctuary but he wanted all the other components hidden.  We had a couple of attic spaces that adjoined the sanctuary, so I made scale models of those spaces and modeled the windchests and air reservoirs and pipes.  I then played with these, shuffling and rearranging components to determine how we might install the whole arrangement and still be able to access every pipe for tuning and servicing.  My conclusion was that certain pipes would have to be mounted on the underside of the roof!

An inspection of the windchests revealed that rodents had feasted on the leather that made up the shell of each valve.  They would all have to be rebuilt.  Some pipes have as many as three individual valves, so we were facing literally hundreds of rebuilds.  I moved the windchests to our house, converted the great room into an organ shop, and I contacted Dennis Milnar of the Milnar Organ Company in Eagleville, TN.  He graciously offered to help us.  The agreement was simple - We would buy our supplies from him and he would train and coach us in the processes we wanted to perform ourselves.  In fact, without the help of Dennis and his lovely wife Connie, this organ would never have gotten restored.

Margo and I spent a Saturday at the Milnars' and were trained in the rebuilding of damaged and aged primary and secondary valves.  We learned that the delicate paper-thin leather on the valves comes from Germany and is made from the skin of the bellies of lambs.  We also learned how to strip the old valve and prepare it for gluing, how to cut the replacement leather, and of course, proper gluing techniques.  For the next 18 months (complicated by a long-term job assignment to California) every time I was home I rebuilt organ valves.  After about the first 500, it feels repetitive!

In the meantime, along with volunteers at the church, we opened up the interior walls and installed fabric sound curtains.  We constructed a "dog house" outside to house the blower, and we designed and built the structure needed to support the windchests and pipes.  And then one of many little coincidences (miracles in which God chooses to remain anonymous) occurred.  It had to do with the restoration of the console.

One Sunday, Father Tom called me over after Mass to introduce me to a new parishioner.  He knew I had been looking for someone willing to tackle the rewiring of the console while I was finishing up the mountain of valves.  "I'd like you to meet Dietmar Berngruber," he said. "Dietmar was born and raised in Germany, and as a young man he wanted to be an organ builder.  He'd like to be given the chance to rebuild the console."  I was speechless.  Needless to say, the offer was gratefully accepted and a week later the console resided in Dietmar's garage.  He worked for an electronics firm.  The reconstructed console is absolutely inspiring - every wire color coded and arrayed in bound groups.  It looks like the kind of wiring you'd expect to see in a space craft.

I began a quest to find the multi-conductor wire needed to connect the console with the switchgear in the so-called "loft" where the pipes are located.  I decided to visit the company in Huntsville that had installed the office phone system at my place of employment.  I was told by the front office to proceed back to a certain warehouse and talk to the foreman.  I approached the elderly gentleman and told him I needed 58 feet of 60-pair cable and explained what it was to be used for.  "Ah," he replied.  "It's fo' de work of de Lawd!"  He then produced a partial reel and said we should lay it out in the parking lot to measure it.  If there was enough, it was ours.  There were two extra feet of this very expensive cable.

Gradually everything came together.  We paid the Milnar firm to repair some damaged pipes and check our work as we completed each windchest.  They were wonderful to work with and extremely supportive of this ambitious undertaking.

As all this was taking place, I had been on a personal quest to learn the origin of this instrument.  What was the mysterious "church in Florida" that had donated it to a Baptist Church in Cullman?  I had a couple of clues.  On the middle C of the diapason rank of pipes was engraved "Op. 984."  And that number was stamped into many of the wooden parts as well.  That led me to believe that this organ was Opus 984 of some organ builder, but which one, and when was it built?  Then, in one of the windchests, I found a receipt for a bill paid by the Centenary Methodist Church of Quincy, Florida.  I contacted the historian of the Organ Historical Society, Mr. Stephen Pinel.  I explained the information that I had available and within minutes he called me back.  "Opus 984 of the Louisville firm, Henry Pilchers Sons, was installed in June, 1918 at the Centenary Methodist Church.  The original cost was $2,500."  Mystery solved.  By the way, after this restoration was completed, the insurance company estimated the replacement value of the instrument to be $52,000!

Amazingly (another one of those coincidences), I knew of someone from Quincy, Florida.  A few weeks before this conversation, I had heard a piece on National Public Radio while driving to work.  It was an interesting piece on women in ministry, and it featured a segment on Rev. Birdie Pittman, a native of Quincy, who was serving at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Huntsville, Alabama, only a couple of blocks from where I worked.  I contacted Rev. Pittman and asked if she knew anyone associated with the Centenary Methodist Church.  She graciously introduced me to her friend, the choir director, who introduced me to the previous choir director.  I was provided a picture of the choir and organ as it appeared in 1939.

Assembly proceeded slowly as components were completed.  Finally, enough of the organ was assembled and hooked up so we could start tuning and voicing the pipes.  We had the console in place but had not yet installed the pedals or the bench.  Anne Callahan arrived for choir practice, saw the console, and rushed over to hear her first chords on the "new" instrument.  She stood playing with the biggest smile ever and tears in her eyes.  And there were plenty of other tears, too.

The organ as it appeared in 1939, with the Centenary Methodist Church choir

Finally, it was time for an inaugural concert.  On March 26, 1988, nearly 4 years after this crazy project had started, we could celebrate its completion.  We printed a four-page program describing the instrument and a little bit of its history.  The church was packed.  Father Tom offered words of thanks and prayed that the instrument would serve to enhance our worship. Then, it was time for an evening of music:

Dona Nobis Pacem (with the choir)...................arr. by Mark G. Rachelski



Marche Romaine .........................................................................C. Gounod

Meditation from Thais ..............................................................J. Massenet

Toccata and Fugue in D minor .....................................................J.S. Bach

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (with the choir)................................J.S. Bach



The Palms (with soloist R. Mead).................................................J.B. Faure

Canon in D .................................................................................J. Pachelbel

Humoreske ....................................................................................A. Dvorak

Phantasie (K. 608) ....................................................................W.A. Mozart

Hallelujah Chorus ......................................................................G.F. Handel

By the time the last echo had faded, we knew we had done a good thing.  And to this day, the organ comes to life each Sunday to aid this congregation in making "a joyous noise unto the Lord."

The engraved plate that now adorns the front of the console sums up the story, 

"This organ, Opus #984 of Henry Pilcher's Sons, Louisville, Kentucky, was originally installed in Centenary Methodist Church, Quincy, Florida, in June, 1918.

Alterations were made and a new console added in February, 1958, by Joseph H. DeWolfe of Jacksonville.

The organ has been lovingly restored and installed in the Catholic Church of St. Anthony, Fayetteville, Tennessee, by the Milnar Organ Company, Eagleville, Tennessee, and the members of the church.  March, 1988

To the Greater Glory of God"

You Gotta Love It!