(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649) in a Lyon & Healy Company Washburn branded coin piano case, which was also used for the Solo Expression Twin Tracker Empress piano. In a red mahogany case, this late (circa 1923 or later) instrument (which is equivalent to a late Coinola Style X with xylophone) plays the standard type "O" music roll. The upper front framework with single lyre themed art glass panel is of the "drop down" type so as to allow for easy access to the roll mechanism (for changing music rolls) and the vacuum pump. In the bottom part of the piano is the 24 note reiterating xylophone, bass drum and cymbal, tympani effect, snare drum with both single and roll beaters, Indian block, and an added tambourine.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Top interior of the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649) with a red mahogany case. At left is a box type vacuum pump, with the electric motor in the middle, and a 10-tune rewind type roll mechanism at far right.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Instrument on-off controls in the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649) with a red mahogany case. The typical Operators Piano Company control valves are located above the roll mechanism. The on-off knobs are labeled (from left to right) Tympani, Bass Drum and Cymbal, Tympani, Indian Block, Snare Drum Single, Snare Drum Roll, Triangle, Mandolin, and Xylophone.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Washburn logo on the cast iron piano plate in the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649).

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Lyon and Healy Decal for the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649) applied to the red mahogany piano fallboard.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Distributor's brass tag on the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649) tacked onto the right hand side of the red mahogany piano fallboard.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Coin entry slot on the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649). The coin slot has been crudely modified to accommodate 5 Centavos Pieces.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Coin drop chute in the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649). The coin drop chute guides the coin down through the piano and into the locked coin receiver box. The two loose, free-swinging weights are supposed to "kick out" undersized coins as they pass by on opening slightly smaller than the desired coin--in this case a 5 Centavos coin.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Coin ratchet type accumulator and electric switch unit in the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649). The ratchet type coin accumulator is toward the top of the picture and to the side of the xylophone. When a coin is dropped it trips a lever that allows the ratchet wheel to increment forward one notch, and it will do so for a total of approximately twenty coins. When the ratchet wheel rotates forward from its full back stopped position it allows the electrical switch to make contact. At the end of each tune a perforation in the music roll causes the little pneumatic in the coin magazine to pull the ratchet wheel back one notch, until the ratchet wheel is returned to its full back position, whereby the electrical current is switched off. The coin receiver box is at picture bottom.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Bass drum and cymbal in the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649). The bass drum has three beaters, with the two on the left for the tympani effect. Each tympani beater is operated by two separate perforations in the music roll. The actual bass drum beater is at the right and has a side striker that taps the cymbal. This bass drum beater pivots on a shaft supported by two metal brackets, which is in turn connected to a large pneumatic lying flat on the drum shelf by means of a rod extending at a 90 degree angle from the aforementioned shaft. This leveraged arrangement provides the necessary power to the beater to emphasize the rhythm.

In the center of the cymbal is an attachment point that supports the triangle, which is struck from below by a metal striker attached to a small pneumatic. The tambourine has been added and is not original to the piano.

(Photograph courtesy of John Motto-Ros.)

Snare drum and wood block in the Empress Electric Orchestrion (serial number 32649). The snare drum has two beaters, one is for single tap and the other is of the reiterating type for drum rolls. Each beater has its own perforation on the music roll. The wood block is to the right of the snare drum but partially obscured by it. The wood block is secured to the xylophone valve chest, with a beater consisting of a wooden ball on a wire attached to an actuating pneumatic.