Darling Harbour Carousel, Heritage carousel in Darling Harbour, Australia.
The Darling Harbour Carousel is a heritage carousel with thirty wooden horses and two replica vintage cars sheltered beneath a protective pavilion on Sydney's waterfront. The structure features an original steam boiler and engine system alongside a Gebruder Bruder pneumatic band organ with two drums.
The carousel arrived in Australia in 1894, imported by Thomas Kale, and was modified in 1910 to allow the horses to perform galloping motions. These mechanical improvements made it a notable attraction during its years at the Royal Easter Show.
The painted panels carry scenes redone in the 1920s by local artist Paddy Murray, among them Venetian gondolas, Aboriginal Australians hunting kangaroos, Native Americans pursuing a covered wagon, a lighthouse and a Manly ferry steamship. The horses are arranged three abreast across ten of the platform's twelve segments, the remaining two holding replica vintage cars.
The carousel sits beneath the Western Distributor concourse and operates on weekends and during school holiday periods. The location can be tricky to find, so arriving from the harbour side helps with orientation.
The carousel keeps its complete steam boiler and engine, but the boiler is out of commission; an electric motor drives it today. Its Gebruder Bruder band organ is a 52-key stop pipe organ with two drums, one fitted with a cymbal, played from a perforated paper roll.
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