Hi pinball people, .... yes, they're the reproduction woodrails from PBR. They were fantastic. Just add some stain and some wood polish. While I'm mentioning repros, for a restoration like Queen Of Diamonds, these are some of the parts which were repro'd. The front door, the coin plates, the bee-hive shooter part, the backglass, the pop bumper caps, the wooden front bar...(for this part, Lee sent me down the original and I gave it to a wood machine shop to copy. I copied the metal attachment and the thin 'bolts'.) Also, the playfield plastics, the cream (now white) rollover guides on top of playfield. Unbelievably, the bottom playfield red guide lanes were perfect! Also, the legs, the front and rear door locks, the balls ..... And that's before I mention the wooden frame around the head. This had been sawn off on the side, but there was enough info from the top and lower pieces, so that I got more of this shape made, and then made the frame to fit....also, the cigarette holder on left rail.
The coin return metal piece on the front door is an interesting one. The original was rusty, pitted and battered...you can't get this piece at PBR (as far as I know), so in the end, I got it chromed. Also, on the inside sides of the cabinet there's a metal piece (l & r) about one metre long,which would have been shiny when new, but now it was flat, and tired and 'dirty'. These two pieces I sent to the chrome shop too. I figured that once they would have reflected light from the playfield back to the playfield, and they sure do now. It works out great as machines from this period aren't overly lit, and this really helps brighten things up.
I'm sure there's other parts I've forgotten, and I've only mentioned parts on the playfield, ...not underneath. In the end, a pinball machine is worth what someone will pay for it...and Queen Of Diamonds is a good example of why. In this case, I had no choice, but to replace these parts, as the originals had been changed, abused, worn out, rusted, etc. A 'sure 'nuff' never been touched, Class 1, original machine is the BEST ( and practically impossible to find) .... but next to that, I reckon you can't beat a good restored 50's or 60's machine. ...
