Abstract: A carousel provides a plurality of standard tape cartridges on demand at a tape loading station. At the tape loading station a transfer mechanism grasps the cartridge and pulls it forwardly into a freely movable play position. In the play position a standard pinch roller is swung into the play position holding the tape against a capstan. A unique feature of the transfer mechanism is that the cartridge is moved by a roller carriage in such a manner that the cartridge travels a much greater distance than the roller carriage to accellerate the speed of travel for rapid insertion and retraction of cartridges and more importantly to minimize the travel of the transfer mechanism while gaining substantial travel of the cartridge.