52-key Fair Organ, Limonaire-style

What looks like a huge organ is really quite small. It was built to replace the 52-key street organ used under the banner of Watermouth Castle, inside a half-sized Sentinel steam wagon, shown here. The façade was retained, but a glockenspiel was required this time, which would normally necessitate doing away with the large painting in the centre. That was not allowed, so I opted to split the glockenspiel into two halves and give it a limited compass of 16 notes, mounted below the drum openings. Please view the specification. The clarinet rank - mounted at the front - gave it that characteristic "Limonaire" sound. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the new organ with the façade fitted, nor any recordings.

Above: These are the only internal photos I have of this organ. Left, is the reservoir and feeders, and right, the double crank fitted into lignum-vitae bearings. The bearings, (as with the keyframe roller bearings) were soaked in lubricating oil for 24 hours and dried thoroughly before fitting. Although drilled with oiling holes, they should never need lubricating again. The crank itself was custom-made by a local engineering firm.

The organ case is unconventional in that it's essentially a rectangular box with no separate plinth. There was no height to allow for that, so I arranged for the large bass pipes to stand outside the case. They would be hidden from view in the wagon (on the right-hand side. Notice the double-mitred longest pipes.

This organ was sold some years ago to an enthusiast in the Derby area, and mounted into a small converted touring caravan. I have lost track of it since then.