Quite a lot of Bally System 11 games have dented side rails.  It’s almost an epidemic.  Read any For Sale description of an Elvira and the Party Monsters, and more often than not, you’ll get a mention of damaged side rails from an errant backbox drop.  They seem be dented and left unfixed in high numbers due of the lack of new (or NOS) replacement rails available in the marketplace.  The rails are an oddball size and only appeared on a handful of games, so parts manufacturers have neglected making them.  Drop the backbox and dent the rails on your WPC machine and it’s a $50 mistake that is easily remedied with an order through Pinball Life.  Dent the rails on your Mousin’ Around? You’re pretty much screwed.  The dents will be a constant reminder of your stupidity.  Might as well get out the hammer and try to bang out the damage, because these rails are pretty hard to source.

The games bearing these rare rails are Truck Stop, Atlantis, Transporter: The Rescue, Elvira and the Party Monsters and Mousin’ Around, and the reference number for the elusive part is A-12359-1 (the parts catalogue mentions that Bally Game Show may also use these rails, however, I cannot find definitive photographic evidence of this–Game Show was the first Bally game to employ the external rounded hinge, which leads me to believe a different shorter rail was used.  If you have leads, or photos, please let me know.)  All of the above mentioned games were manufactured under the “Midway” banner (despite bearing the “Bally” name on the backbox) during a time when Williams had just absorbed the struggling Bally/Midway brand.  The rail length for these games, from end to end, for a System 11 Bally Rail runs 51.5 inches, making it nearly 5 inches longer than the identical looking in every other way WPC side rail (A-12359-3).

The reason for the extra length is that the backbox on these five Bally games sits on a built-up pedestal of sorts, and the side rails run underneath the backbox to the backside of the cabinet.  The hinges on the backboxes are not external, but rather contained within the backbox pedestal, allowing the rail to run undisturbed to the rear of the cabinet.  Bally games that followed Mousin’ Around had their backboxes sit flush with the cabinet and employ a set of external rounded hinges (similar to other late model Williams System 11 games), thus the side rails had to terminate at the backbox.  (It is interesting to note that Bally Midway’s  March ’88 release Blackwater 100, pre-Williams takeover, appears to be the first “modern game” with the thinner and longer 51.5 inch rail incorporated into the design, however, this version of the rail is affixed to the cabinet with a series of nails running its  length, whereas the later version of the rail we are speaking about here is affixed to the cabinet with double-sided tape, a Torx screw on the back end and a bolt on the front near the flipper button.)  To complicate matters more, rails on the games from the same era bearing the Williams logo, such as Fire!, Earthshaker, Jokerz! and Black Knight 2000 to name a few, were wider in height and incorporated the flipper button right into the rail itself.  You could almost cut two thin Bally rails out of the metal used on one of the Williams games.  Less metal meant cost savings: thus, it should come as no surprise that Williams adopted the thinner Bally-style rail when a standard design for all pinball machines was adopted for the WPC platform in the 1990s.

A quick search shows that Bay Area Amusements has the A-12359-1 rail advertised on their page for purchase; however, like many other desperately needed niche parts listed on their site, they are currently out of stock.  I have checked the page for the last five months, and I have never been lucky enough to find the item available for immediate purchase (if in stock, retail price would be $59.00USD+shipping).  The Ministry of Pinball, the Netherlands-based pin retailer, also lists the rails for purchase (retail price: 29.95 Euro), which remains an option for our Euro friends, but those stateside would pay dearly for shipping due to the awkward size of the parts (you’d have to add another 35.00 Euro for shipping to the US or Canada…it gets cost ineffective pretty quick).

In some rare instances, the rails do pop up for sale.  Not two months ago, a set was offered, and quickly purchased, on Pinside for $125USD (shipping included).  A search of the rec.games.pinball newsgroup shows that a few sets have sold over the years with the asking price ranging between $150USD-$200USD.  RGP also mentions the existence of a user named “Timathie” who manufactured the rails for the RGP community years ago.  As per a post from 2011, it appears that the user is no longer making them.

I bought an Elvira and the Party Monsters game late last summer, and wouldn’t you know it, it had dented side rails from an errant backbox drop.  It was disclosed to me in the original description and photos of the game, so I knew I would be (possibly) snookered if I ever wanted to replace them.  The ingenuity of the pinball collector took over.  I was able to locate a set of new, uninstalled Williams System 11 side rails within the community marketplace at a very reasonable price (the wide ones that incorporated the flipper buttons, which turned out to be a set of these: Pinball Life’s Williams Stainless Steel Side Rail Set – Circa 1989-90, pictured right).  I bought them hoping that they could be precision cut to fit my needs.  Unlike the other Williams System 11 wide rails, this 1989-90 version has no extra nail or screw holes that would be left behind once the excess was trimmed off, and they met the length requirements of 51.5 inches.  I contacted a nearby metal fabrication outfit (CIM Metals Inc. , of Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and for $45CDN they were able to cut both rails, using laser technology to replicate the look of a thin Bally rail for my game.  I pulled off an original dented rail for them to use as a template (they only needed one, each Bally rail is interchangeable with no characteristics or markings that require specific left or right side installation).  They were able to match the original tapering and square screw holes faithfully, which made installation a breeze.   For about $85CDN, all told, I had a new set of undented rails on my EATPM, which was a bit cheaper than finding a NOS set, and a bit less frustrating than waiting around for a North American company to stock them.  I had to jump through a few hoops to get it done, but I’m happy with the results.  I’m not one for total perfection on my games but when an opportunity presents itself, I can’t pass it up.  Here’s hoping someone takes the lead on this and starts producing the Bally rails for the community, in sustainable quantities, as they are sorely needed.  Until then, keep those backbox bolts nice and tight…

Further Reading:

Pinside – For Sale: 51-1/2″ side rails (EatPM, Atlantis, Mousin’) – SOLD
Pinside – WTB- set of Side Rails for Eatpm
Bay Area Amusements – Metal Side Rails (pair) – System 11, etc
Ministry of Pinball – Elvira and the Party Monster Side Rails
rec.games.pinball – EATPM side rails