Our organ is a 1850 George Stevens tracker organ, the only one like it in Virginia. We are fortunate to have Mark Thompson as our "organ mechanic." He was here on May 22 to rebuild the pedal board trackers. Many of the trackers were original with the 1850 organ.
Trackers are connected to the pedal. When the pedal goes down, the tracker goes down . That action pulls another tracker connected pipe to force the pipe to open to receive air.
John Sours and Mark Thompson of Thompson Pipe Organ Company prepared new tracker action pieces .
They had to deal with original trackers, trackers that had been repaired in the organ’s history. They carefully wrapped and dated the original pieces and placed them in the organ for historical purposes. In the pictures the new trackers are white (right). The originals in clump to the left. On the far left are trackers repaired during the organ’s history.
These represent trackers repaired over St. Peter’s history.
The new tracker is on the far right which offers a more balanced design
This picture shows the trackers off in preparation of adding the new trackers. Mark also wrapped the base in felt which would improve the sound.
Picture with the original trackers
Picture with the new trackers
The repair cost $3,400 and was a gift from a parishioner. It should lessen the sound from the pedals in the gallery.
The following is from Brad’s report to the parish in January, 2013 at the Parish meeting. "This represents a continuation of work to not only repair but improve the organ. Mark made several major improvements to the organ in 2012, not the least of which was bringing the blower motor down from the attic and encasing it in a custom-made, soundproofed baffle (box) with micro-filters. This undertaking resulted in a much quieter pipe organ. This fine work not only enhanced the sound of our organ by increasing the wind pressure to the level it should be but also by protecting the organ from mold spores and other impurities that would otherwise enter the instrument and shorten its life. Mark also re-shaped, rebuilt and re-voiced much of the pipework, greatly improving the tonal quality of the organ. "