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Episode 216 - Bingo Row York Show 2015 pt. 1

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·19m 26s·held·Oct 13, 2015
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

Baldridge details Bingo Row setup at 2015 York Show: restoration work, transport logistics, and 12-game lineup.

Summary

Nicholas Baldridge recounts his preparation and setup experience for the 2015 York Show's inaugural Bingo Row, detailing his restoration work on multiple collector Jim's bingo machines, the challenges encountered during transport and repair, and the final lineup of 12 bingo games displayed at the event. The episode covers technical restoration work on machines like Dixieland, Nashville, Miss Universe, and the pristine Silver Sails, as well as coordination with other contributors like Jeffrey Lawton and Steve Smith.

Key Claims

  • Silver Sails had never seen location play and appeared as if it just came out of the box, with brand-new woodwork and cabinet paint

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge describing Jim's Silver Sails machine during preparation

  • Big Time was the last Magic Lines bingo that Bally produced

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge identifying Big Time in the Bingo Row lineup

  • Keeney made very few bingo games, primarily six-card models with distinctive 1950s-style cabinets with long legs

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge discussing Jim's Keeney bingo machines

  • Dixieland had been converted to single coin with the back glass taped over with a sticker rather than replaced

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge describing Dixieland's modification during repair work

  • The Bingo Row at York 2015 was the first ever Bingo Row

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge in podcast introduction

Notable Quotes

  • “This machine looked like it had just come out of the box. It was the newest bingo I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~22:00 — Describes the exceptional condition of Silver Sails, which became a highlight of the Bingo Row display

  • “The beautiful silver sails, which had never seen location play... All the woodwork looked brand new. The cabinet paint was beautiful, textured.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~21:30 — Emphasizes the rarity and pristine condition of Silver Sails, a centerpiece of the collection

  • “Keeney only made a small number of bingo games. They were into coin-op amusements, but they didn't make many pin games.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~16:00 — Provides historical context about Keeney's limited bingo production

  • “I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep the night before and went hard all day... it was amazing. And everybody definitely contributed to that success of the setup day.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~27:00 — Reflects on the intense effort and collaboration required for Bingo Row setup

  • “instead of replacing the back glass, they actually left the Dixieland back glass in and taped over the word Dixieland with a sticker that said single coin”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~6:30 — Illustrates common amateur modification practices on EM machines

Entities

Nicholas BaldridgepersonJeffrey LawtonpersonJimpersonSteve SmithpersonPete from MarylandpersonYork Show 2015eventBingo RowproductSilver SailsgameBig Timegame

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: First-ever Bingo Row at 2015 York Show represents organized community effort to showcase dedicated bingo pinball machines as distinct collecting category

    high · Nicholas Baldridge organized inaugural Bingo Row with 12 machines, coordinating with multiple collectors (Jeffrey Lawton, Jim, Steve Smith, Pete) and demonstrating community support for specialized display

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Common EM machine modifications (single-coin conversions, relay hacks, cosmetic cover-ups) require specialized knowledge to reverse; restoration work is labor-intensive and time-sensitive

    high · Baldridge reversed hacks on Dixieland and Nashville, including taped-over back glass, disabled relays, and rewired control units; describes this as standard restoration work requiring knowledge and time

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Magic screen mechanism on bingo machines requires careful alignment and specialized coil replacement; burnout of release coil is failure mode requiring parts sourcing

    high · Roller Derby's magic screen jumped track due to stuck button, burned out release coil; Baldridge retimed the mechanism but lacked replacement coil, suggesting parts availability challenge

  • ?

    historical_signal: Keeney produced limited bingo games compared to Bally/Gottlieb, primarily six-card models; cabinets featured distinctive 1950s design with long legs similar to shuffle alleys

    high · Nicholas Baldridge identifies Keeney as minor bingo producer, notes scarcity of schematics/manuals/parts, describes cabinet design and mechanical similarities to Bally systems

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.058

0:00
What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only. This is Sleepy Nick Baldrige.
0:18
Tonight I want to start a little recap about the York Show and the first ever Bingo Row. Now, as you can hear, my voice is a little different than normal, and that's because of all the shouting that I had to do to be able to be heard over the various show noise.
0:52
All worth it, though. So, let's start off tonight by talking about Thursday. On Wednesday night, before the show, after work, I went and picked up the rental truck. It was a 16-foot Penske truck. In the back of this, I and a couple of my buddies and my neighbor came over and loaded up all five of my bingos. we also loaded the Gottlieb GG that I had and strapped them in along with a lift that Steve let me borrow that would raise up pretty much to the level of the end of the truck the gate of the truck so that makes it considerably easier to move the bingo heads, which are very, very heavy, in and out of the truck.
2:13
So all that was blanketed and strapped, and the back glasses were facing outwards, you know, away from the wall. The cabinet playfield glass was facing outwards, away from the wall, and this will come into play a little later. But I did not have the heads face-to-face, as all of my heads were pretty much different sizes, except for nightclub in gate time, and nightclub had the glued glass, and I was worried that it was going to come apart, and I didn't want it to damage the gate time. So that's why I had all the glass facing outwards.
3:08
Dixieland
game
Nashvillegame
Miss Universegame
Roller Derbygame
Golden Gategame
Ballycompany
Keeneycompany
Bikinigame
Circus Queengame
D. Gottlieb & Co.game
Bountygame
Double-Upgame
Ticker Tapegame
Nightclubgame
Gay Timegame

collector_signal: Silver Sails represents exceptional rarity as bingo machine that never saw location play; unworn playfield and mint condition drive collector interest and exhibition appeal

high · Baldridge describes Silver Sails as 'newest bingo I've ever had the pleasure of seeing,' with brand-new woodwork, beautiful cabinet paint, and unworn playfield holes; attracted significant play at show

  • ?

    collector_signal: York Show operates as significant acquisition venue for bingo collectors; Jeffrey Lawton functions as key dealer/seller at show, establishing customer relationships with newer collectors

    high · Jim purchased first bingo (Roller Derby) from Jeffrey Lawton at previous York Show, subsequently expanded collection to 10-12 machines; Baldridge helped prepare collection for show display

  • ?

    operational_signal: Moving multiple EM machines requires specialized equipment (lift gates, blankets, strapping) and careful planning to prevent damage; glass orientation and load configuration critical

    high · Baldridge rented 16-foot truck, borrowed lift from Steve Smith, carefully oriented playfield glass outward to prevent damage, coordinated loading with multiple helpers

  • ?

    operational_signal: Show setup requires intensive labor: visiting collectors' locations for repairs, troubleshooting mechanical issues, reverse-engineering amateur modifications, coordination with multiple parties

    high · Baldridge worked on Jim's machines morning of show, traveled 3.5-4 hours, got only couple hours sleep, dealt with work issues remotely, coordinated setup until 8 PM with Jeffrey Lawton and Steve Smith

  • ?

    product_concern: Long-stored machines develop mechanical problems: dirty relays, binding motors, stuck mechanisms; anti-switch components become misaligned from age and dirt

    high · Silver Sails had dirty anti-switch from age causing tilt issues; Dixieland had stuck search disk causing infinite payout; Spottum had mechanically bound motor; Roller Derby's magic screen had track jump

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Obscure manufacturers like Keeney create documentation and parts sourcing challenges; schematics, manuals, and replacement parts are difficult to obtain even for well-preserved machines

    high · Baldridge notes Keeney schematics, manuals, and parts 'really hard to find'; Jim had schematic/manual but lacked replacement parts; machines shelved without show deadline to troubleshoot

  • ?

    community_signal: Specialized EM/bingo restoration expertise concentrated in small community; Jeffrey Lawton and Nicholas Baldridge function as key knowledge holders, providing consultation and parts sourcing advice

    high · Baldridge reverse-engineered modifications, diagnosed failures from memory, advised Jim on parts sourcing from Lawton at show; suggests limited pool of restoration-capable community members

  • $

    market_signal: Big Time identified as final Magic Lines bingo produced by Bally; represents end of significant product line and notable collector milestone

    medium · Nicholas Baldridge identifies Big Time as 'the last Magic Lines bingo that Bally produced,' though no production date or context provided

    • Well, I went to bed about 11 o'clock, got up sometime between 3 and 4, took a shower, packed, you know, all that stuff. and hopped in the car, the car, the truck, at 5 a.m. and drove the three and a half, 3.5, four hours, somewhere in that neighborhood, to Abbottstown.
    3:47
    Abbottstown is outside of York. by about a half an hour. And there I met up with a local collector named Jim. Now Jim bought his first bingo at the last York show from Jeffrey Lawton. He bought a roller derby. Roller derby is an okay game, a magic screen. And since that time, he had bought like 10 or 12 different bingos. And I had been helping him throughout the year, attempt to get these going. And I had gotten him all hyped up about the show and what we were going to do. And because he lived so close, I offered to come and work on his machines, you know, get him show ready. then help him load and do the same in reverse Well I got there and took a look at he had a Dixieland and a Nashville. Dixieland and Nashville both really needed to be shopped. They were just dirty. On top of that, Dixieland had been converted to a single coin. Now when they did this, instead of replacing the back glass, they actually left the Dixieland back glass in and taped over the word Dixieland with a sticker that said single coin. So that's pretty easy to reverse. Inside, they had disabled and tied together various relays in interesting ways to always award features, disable the magic number from showing you the little spin as it spots,
    5:48
    and certain other things. I reversed the hacks that I could in order to get this thing going, and then found out that on card number four there was an issue because the second search disk, which releases and allows for searching on cards four, five, and six would get mechanically stuck at a certain position. And so if you had a winner, it would get stuck at that position and just continue to pay out forever. And that's because the disc would not rotate.
    6:26
    So there's some kind of mechanical or physical problem with that particular portion of his game. and we didn't have time to disassemble and clean all of that right then.
    6:41
    So we moved on to the next one. We just called that a lost cause. The next one was a Nashville. Now Nashville also had a whole lot of hackage going on, and I was able to reverse the vast majority of it.
    6:56
    That said, a good portion of the control unit had been rewired, and that always makes me nervous. Um, I did, uh, fix a couple of issues and played through a game, got it to score appropriately on several different cards and, uh, fixed various minor, minor issues. Um, and said, okay, let's bundle that one up and, and we'll take that one. He had a Miss Universe that was fully working And so we took that one too And then took a look at his roller derby Now roller derby, he had brought it home and just played the heck out of it And one day the magic screen jumped the track Now I believe what happened is his left button got stuck. And so the screen tried to back up and hadn't figured out it was at the end because it had jumped the track. And so it ended up burning up the magic screen release coil. Now I didn't know any of that. But what I did know is that the screen was on the track, but it didn't realize what position it was in. Well, what this means is that you have to re-time the magic screen unit.
    8:29
    So I went ahead and lined that all up, you know, disassembled the thing and then lined that all up, reassembled it, tested, and it worked eventually. You know, I had to try it two or three times. Didn't have the manual there and had to go off of memory, which is always tricky.
    8:57
    So got that going and got it scoring, more importantly, in the default position. Got the Magic Screen Award and the screen didn't move. and that's because the coil was burned down.
    9:15
    There's a central coil which releases a latch that prevents the magic screen motor from actually moving the screen. Now, I could hear the motor turning and knew everything was good there. So it's just the coil that needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, I didn't have any parts with me and we didn have any more time to mess with that He didn have a coil either So we bundled that one up and I suggested that he might be able to buy one from Jeffrey Lawden at the show and if not, he could buy one later on, once he referenced the part in the manual.
    9:53
    So we moved on from there, and he had a variety of bingos which were folded up and not really workable. He had a spottum, which has another mechanical problem, where the motor gets physically bound after a certain amount of turning.
    10:21
    And that needs to be disassembled and fixed. So that one was out. Then we took a look at... Oh, I forgot to mention. He has a couple of Keeney bingos. Keeney only made a small number of bingo games. They were into coin-op amusements, but they didn't make many pin games.
    10:49
    And out of those, they made very few bingos. Now, the bingos that they did make were primarily six-card, from what I understand. and the cabinets that they used were really cool, very 1950s looking. You know, when you see them, they have the long legs like a shuffle alley or like a Williams game with the step. So they're, you know, interesting cabinets.
    11:25
    Inside, mechanically, they're very similar to a Bally. they're a little simpler actually than a bally but they have three buttons on the foot rail now he was missing the foot rail for both of the machines that he had one of which had a coil which had caught fire and had burned some of the wiring the other one worked pretty well but it had been converted to single coin and whenever they do that, they hack up the wiring and do funky things, and this was no exception. Now, unfortunately, schematics, manuals, and parts for these games are really hard to find. Now, luckily for Jim, he had, I believe, the schematic and manual for this game. So I told him, you know, we can get that going, but not for the show. So, those were shelved, and then we came to the crown of his collection.
    12:33
    The beautiful silver sails, which had never seen location play. This machine looked like it had just come out of the box. It was the newest bingo I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.
    12:59
    All the woodwork looked brand new. The cabinet paint was beautiful, textured. the play field still had you know a couple of rough spots in the holes where they were rounded out all of that is worn away by hours and hours and hours of play so this was quite a treat and the only problem he was having was that the machine would go into tilt.
    13:44
    And I suggested that it could be one of a couple different things. And because the machine had sat for so long,
    13:56
    it could have been one of the tilts had become dirty or managed to move and was touching when it shouldn't, or, as I suggested, it could be that he was holding the coin switch down too far when he was testing it, caused it to fail.
    14:23
    Well, it turned out to be the latter. and there an anti switch which is located on the control unit in later bingos which prevents you from just holding a nickel on the coin switch and getting an advance in odds or features And this was activating because of dirt and age. It was just too close to the switch stack on the control unit. So I bent it up a little bit and it was better.
    14:55
    And then got it to the show, put it on free play. and it was fine. And that game saw a lot of play. And for good reason. I mean, it was most people's only chance to play what was essentially a new bingo.
    15:16
    It's very cool. And I'm very grateful that he allowed us to bring that. So, Jim and I got the Nashville, the Miss Universe and the Silver Sails loaded, and we put two in my truck and one in his pickup, and then we drove to the show. Now, we got there about 4 p.m., somewhere in that neighborhood, and I started unloading, and Jeffrey Lawton was there, along with his son, and Steve Smith, myself.
    15:58
    And between us, we got all the games unloaded and set up inside the hall right as the hall closed at 8 p.m.
    16:10
    So, again, I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep the night before and went hard all day. There was an issue at work somewhere in the middle there that I had to correct remotely.
    16:27
    And everything worked out, though. I mean, it was amazing. And everybody definitely contributed to that success of the setup day.
    16:41
    So that was exciting. All the machines survived the move, no problem Got them all set up and turned on Everything worked Got them all strapped for free play The ones that I had not previously done And then found out that There was a listener Who had a friend Who brought a big time this is the last Magic Lines bingo that Bally produced so the big time was in the row there was a circus queen in the row that was brought by Pete from Maryland and there was a bikini which was brought by a guy who sells the pins and those were all in the bingo row on that first day it was really cool So, I was pretty excited. So, the game titles we had were Big Time, Bikini, Nashville, Miss Universe, Silver Sails, Golden Gate from Steve Smith, Bounty, Double Up, Ticker Tape, Nightclub, Gay Time, and Circus Queen. So I was pretty pleased with the turnout there. There were 12.
    18:19
    The bikini needed some work. The guy who brought it didn't work on EMs. And I told him I'd take a look. He initially wanted to just put it in the flea market, but I suggested I could take a look and see what I could do with no guarantee that I could get it working. So I didn't have a chance to look at it on Thursday night But that leads us to the next day So that's all for tonight My name again is Nick Baldridge You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com Or you can call me on the bingos line That's 724-BINGOS1 724-246-4671 you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, VRSS on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast you can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge or you can listen to us on our website which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time