Transcontinental

The Transcontinental, manufactured by the Royal Novelty Company of Baltimore in July 1935 and designed by Harry Allen, is an early electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine from a lesser-known manufacturer active in the early 1930s. It represents part of the industry's move from purely mechanical bagatelle-style games toward EM designs that used electrical relays and solenoids for scoring and effects — a shift already underway by the mid-1930s, following earlier EM games such as Bally's Contact (1933).

Specific details of Transcontinental's ruleset are not well documented, but as an EM machine of its era it likely used bells or other electrically triggered effects to signal scoring, in keeping with EM games being introduced by manufacturers across the industry at the time. Gameplay would have predated the flipper by more than a decade, relying instead on gravity, pins, and lanes to determine where the ball landed.

Little else is known about the Transcontinental's theme or artwork. Designer Harry Allen's connection to the game is documented, though little else is recorded about his broader body of work. Despite the scarcity of surviving information, the Transcontinental remains a notable example of Royal Novelty Company's output during pinball's early electro-mechanical era.