Tanforan

Tanforan is an electro-mechanical, one-ball horse-racing pinball machine from Bally, converted from Bally's 1949 'Champion' with its payout mechanism removed. Curiously, it carries the front door from Bally's 1948 'Citation,' game tag included, and bears 1950s coin-operator licenses from Seattle, Washington — though the exact date of the conversion is unknown.

Gameplay centers on passive bumpers (four of them) and an extensive array of 31 trap holes, with a skill lane option available for jurisdictions requiring five-ball play rather than one-ball wagering-style play.

The machine takes its name from the real Tanforan Race Track, built in 1899 in San Bruno, California, where famous horses like Seabiscuit once raced. The track later served as a WWII internment camp for Japanese Americans before returning to racing until it burned down in 1964; the site is now a shopping mall. As a converted, altered machine with an unclear history, Tanforan is a curious artifact bridging Bally's one-ball racing games and the real-world history of the track it's named for.