Ken,
A long one for you;
That is the usual player insert found in Canadian made pianos. The identical player mechanism is found in Heintzman products, Doherty, Mason & Risch, and many other Canadian made pianos. Some Canadian piano makers like Evans Bros made their own player mechanism which would have been a close copy of same.
If you left click on this link below that will take you to a photo album of another Canadian made player piano with the identical insert. This is called a Lackner Piano made by the Bell Piano & Organ Co in Guelph.
The first 3 photos will give you a view of the player mechanism. Use the magnifying glass up top to zoom in if you like. Left click on this link and then left click once on the first photo and that will open up the album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/silverwoodpianos/RodneyGrahamPhotoShoot1890SSaloon?authkey=Gv1sRgCOC0_6rB8u-uLQ# This is a Pratt Read style 72 mechanism; the only difference being that the PR had a 3 slide motor and the one you have has 5 which would be more efficient when at work. These player mechanisms were most likely made in Canada by the Otto Higel Co. or perhaps Sterling Action & Key. These were the two largest Canadian player action makers of that day. The metal strip in the back of the spool box where the roll tab hits on rewind should have a maker on it.
Here is the Otto Higel Metalnola player action: This is the one found in Heintzman products.
https://www.player-care.com/system27.htmlAnd here is the same thing as a wooden structure: This is the one found in the Lackner.
https://www.player-care.com/canada-player.htmlExactly the same as you have there. From your photos it looks like you have the solodant feature or auto tracking inside the spool box area; can’t see too well from the photos.
There are basically 3 groups of player pianos; regular, expression and reproducing. Of these, the Reproducing group is sub-divided into three other groups, namely: Duo-Art, AMPICO and Welte-Mignon. Perhaps the easiest way to determine the type of Player Mechanism in any given unit is to look at the fallboard (or key cover) with the keys exposed. Next, look at the rolls (or roll boxes) that are usually played on the unit. Almost all roll makers labeled their boxes for easy identification. If no specific name other than the name of the company, song title and number of the roll are visible, it's a good bet that the player piano is of the Regular variety. Most, if not all, Reproducing rolls were clearly marked with the type of player mechanism they were cut to be used on.
If you do some reading on the John Tuttle site provided at the above links you will find a lot of information about players there.
Also if you email me direct from my web site icon I have some old photos of the Dominion Piano Co band (1884) the Dominion Pavilion at the CNE (1905) and some other interesting history.
Topic: Dominion piano