Marriage made in heaven..

[Retropin]

Some 8 years ago I bought a 1955 GTB SOUTHERN BELLE body.. no head, just the body. I shipped it over from US with a couple of other games I bought. Since then, its been sitting on its back awaiting a head for it. Ive often wondered why I bought the bloody thing but in all honesty, the condition of this 1955 beauty was so nice that it was hard to turn down.
Roll on 8 years and a casual conversation with a pal in US reveals that he had just donated a SB head to Michael Schiess at the Pacific pinball Museum for spares. A bit of negotiation on our parts and Michael was happy to let the head go if it was to complete a game. I had the whole thing wrapped and sent UPS by Wade Kraus for US$70.. the head went into Tony ( ANT68) container and ended up here in Brisbane. The head remained boxed as I really have no room to start a project until the shed gets extended, but Dan ( whos head it was originally) emailed me to ask how the marrying of two machines went. Doesn't take much to get me enthused about doing something, so I rearranged the shed so I could get this machine on some legs - albeit steel and not timber ( where are those longer bolts?) and attached the head. This is what I really like about EM games.. theres not a lot that can go wrong - you can turn on a machine and failing a locked on coil, there is nothing to blow up so experiments like plugging it in just to see what would happen are always possible!

Heres the body.. lovely condition.



And heres the head in its box still..



Head attached to body... im sure you all know where this is going?   





OK.. so all is plugged in, I cant see any issues that maybe life threatening and so I turn on and see what happens?

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I bloody love EMs!!!!

[femto]

That's an awesome story. True love I say!

[ddstoys]

I see why you saved it that Playfield is beautiful nice save ;)

   While your searching for stuff keep an eye open for my 1955 marathon ;)

[oldskool1969]

Mmmmmmmmmm woodrails 

[Strangeways]

Every pinball has a story.

This one is one of the very best - how fortunate !

[Slash]

That playfield looks in great condition.

I've never played a really old game like this, just looking at the flipper configuration how difficult is a game like this to play?  Seems like it would be damn hard just keeping the ball in play and getting a flipper onto it?

[Retropin]

That playfield looks in great condition.

I've never played a really old game like this, just looking at the flipper configuration how difficult is a game like this to play?  Seems like it would be damn hard just keeping the ball in play and getting a flipper onto it?

Playfield has some slight planking.. the white you see is mould!

Woodrails are a different game to play.. you have to remember that flippers didn't come into play until 1947.. this is 8 years after that and although their game play was firmly entrenched by then, many flipperless qualities are still present.
The wide space between them you just would not see these days.. in fact with BTDK im sure that its impossible for the ball to pass between them ( I walked away from a game on this). In many woodrail game strategies, losing the ball can be as important as keeping it.. often its impossible to get a fundamental feature without losing the ball in the right slot.
With this game.. the ball travels down to the 2" flippers.. you don't time it right ( timing is crucial on 2" flippers) and the ball slides to the centre outlanes. Now a modern pinball player would groan and watch the ball go between one of them and rack up a bit more score... a woodrail player would give the machine a bloody good nudge to possibly bounce it off and back onto the flipper for a second chance.. a woodrail player would be nudging the machine to get it into the correct roll over at the top of the PF.. they would also be keeping that ball in between the top 2 white bumpers and the red bumper for as long as possible.
Nudging the machine to maximise every opportunity but just falling short of TILT is all part of a woodrail experience.. these games were designed to  have body play.. the legs flex a little etc.. body is as important as flipper fingers.
If you ever get the chance to play one.. then don't be shy, they require a bit of nudging..

[studley67]

That playfield looks in great condition.

I've never played a really old game like this, just looking at the flipper configuration how difficult is a game like this to play?  Seems like it would be damn hard just keeping the ball in play and getting a flipper onto it?

Playfield has some slight planking.. the white you see is mould!

Woodrails are a different game to play.. you have to remember that flippers didn't come into play until 1947.. this is 8 years after that and although their game play was firmly entrenched by then, many flipperless qualities are still present.
The wide space between them you just would not see these days.. in fact with BTDK im sure that its impossible for the ball to pass between them ( I walked away from a game on this). In many woodrail game strategies, losing the ball can be as important as keeping it.. often its impossible to get a fundamental feature without losing the ball in the right slot.
With this game.. the ball travels down to the 2" flippers.. you don't time it right ( timing is crucial on 2" flippers) and the ball slides to the centre outlanes. Now a modern pinball player would groan and watch the ball go between one of them and rack up a bit more score... a woodrail player would give the machine a bloody good nudge to possibly bounce it off and back onto the flipper for a second chance.. a woodrail player would be nudging the machine to get it into the correct roll over at the top of the PF.. they would also be keeping that ball in between the top 2 white bumpers and the red bumper for as long as possible.
Nudging the machine to maximise every opportunity but just falling short of TILT is all part of a woodrail experience.. these games were designed to  have body play.. the legs flex a little etc.. body is as important as flipper fingers.
If you ever get the chance to play one.. then don't be shy, they require a bit of nudging..

i would be afraid of braking something.lol.so old

[Strangeways]

i would be afraid of braking something.lol.so old

These games were made in different times. They were only meant to last 10 years maximum, but some have lasted 60-70 years and they still work, and they will still last a lot longer. There's no way a late model Stern would last HALF a lifetime of a woodrail or EM, and most late model games are HUO but still won't last !

Every serious collection MUST have a woodrail. It is only my opinion of course, but I would love a GTB Rocket Ship to sit with my Bally games and my CV.

[dealers choice]

That looks greart Gav. i sure cant wait to see it when youve finished restoring it. i love your description of game play and would love to own a wood rail one day. thanks for sharing

[Retropin]

i would be afraid of braking something.lol.so old

These games were made in different times. They were only meant to last 10 years maximum, but some have lasted 60-70 years and they still work, and they will still last a lot longer. There's no way a late model Stern would last HALF a lifetime of a woodrail or EM, and most late model games are HUO but still won't last !

Every serious collection MUST have a woodrail. It is only my opinion of course, but I would love a GTB Rocket Ship to sit with my Bally games and my CV.

ROCKET SHIP.. a rare 4 flipper game for this era... 2 bottom of PF and 2 mid PF to shoot upper targets.. plus Roto target with a whopping 1 Million point target!
 Bottom flippers are closer together on this game and slings come into play pretty much how they would on much later games.. not so easy to lose the ball on this cracking game... so long as you avoid the Gobble holes!

[studley67]

nice.now find the rest of it.

[Retropin]

nice.now find the rest of it.

Too funny.. but.. with this machine, I bought it knowing that the base needed replacing. I had the machine on its back and pulled the glass out then the PF and stood back as the whole cabinet turned to a rhombus shape.. then a triangle as the front fell through.. then a flat heap as it all collapsed on top of itself... base looked like a banana!

Shes got a new base.. PF is back in as is the glass and machine is once again sat on its back.. but now secure!

[ddstoys]

Great description of how to play a woodrail Gav I love watching people play mine and hardly even get a flip.  After owning my first woodrail I began to understand why the older guy bump the crap out of pin because they had to.  I play pinball like a corpse. 

   I'm looking forward to getting my captain kidd going and see how much bumping that needs considering it has no flippers

[Freiherr]

Great de******ion of how to play a woodrail Gav I love watching people play mine and hardly even get a flip.  After owning my first woodrail I began to understand why the older guy bump the crap out of pin because they had to.  I play pinball like a corpse. 

   I'm looking forward to getting my captain kidd going and see how much bumping that needs considering it has no flippers

Yes, definitely agree. Gav describes so well.  Even some of the 60/70s EMs especially Gottliebs had to be bumped a lot to get decent scores ans specs. Older guys continued that style of play from woodrails. Younger guys who grew up with SS and DMD machines tend to be more reserved in style.