a fairground life (river fest)

The river festival was the main topic of last weeks activities. I started on the Sunday prior by erecting signs in the carpark. These were to inform the drivers that the area would be closed on Thursday night from 7pm and vehicles left on site after that time would be crushed!(well not exactly those terms, but indicating that some difficulties may arise if the cars were not timely removed). It did seem to help and 75% of the carpark was clear on pulling in night. There were two rouge cars that hindered the setting of the twist until noon the next day. Apart from that everyone was onsite, set ready for building up by 9:30pm. We only had one major hiccup, the Energystorm broke a kerbstone pulling in. "r" and I returned early the next morning and repaired the damage by forming the shape with timber and pouring concrete into the mould. The repair is almost invisible to the eye, but I would not recommend driving over that one again. The event was popular as ever and at our end of the site (under the Finnieston crane) the fair looked inviting. I met with building control for an on site meeting for the funfair area license handover. Then we were joined by the Environmental Officer and finally by the Legal Dept Agent. After everyone was in agreement that the fair was good to go, I was presented with the License. How easy the showmen in England have it, not needing to have a license for a fair south of the border. It has taken since April this year to start the licensing procedure. I had to attend the licensing court, supply all safety certs , insurance docs , a scale plan and finally a police background check of all the showmen attending. We had to supply names, DOBs and addresses. Let nobody say that showmen are here today and gone tomorrow! The weather was glorious on Saturday and an estimated 50,000 flocked to the Clyde side. I assume this was because they knew of the bad forecast for Sunday. At the main pinch point of the event(along side the new BBC Scotland building), mounted Police had to control the crowds. By 4:30pm it had started to slow down. No doubt many people left early due to the congestion.

Sunday.

The rain fell into early afternoon and deterred many folk from the final day of the river festival. It was dry from 1 pm but too late as the main part of the day was over. At 6pm the fair was pulling down. I headed over to the mall to pull down there. At 7:15pm I was headed out to BOA with the miami. When I got there the ground was sodden and puddles laid on the surface. The plot was marked out but I got stuck in the mud and had to be towed into position. That would pretty much set the scene for the next day for all the heavier loads. I returned to the mall and "r" & the crew had the final loads ready to move. Again we headed off to BOA. On arrival it was too dark to see and to avoid any unnecessary damage we left the loads on the hard until morning.

the picts are of the river festival, look at those crowds.

a fairground life

The last couple of days have been spent testing some of the rides. Not much happening at the minute. "r" has received a second recall on his L200 for faulty U bolts on the rear axle. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but in June we had to get two new leaf springs fitted under warranty as both were broken! This means that the U bolts will have been off 3 times this year alone on the L200. Went over to the carpark we use for the Glasgow River Festival and put up some closure signs to try and thin out the amount of traffic we have to contend with on pulling in day. Hopefully this will help. The dates have changed again this year and it is now another week later falling on the last weekend of July. We have been lucky for the last 3 years as it has been dry for the event. What's the odds on four out of four??? Apart from that all I have been doing is paper work, print,copy,print,copy so that I am all ready for moving again.

a fairground life

Ups and downs this week, I got the non return for the set and fitted it. No go, I mean no go literally as the set wouldn't start. Its possible I didn't spend enough time bleeding it but I think its possible that the lift pump was not strong enough to open the valve on the suck side and yes I did have it in the correct way (big arrow on side). So in a fit of temper I removed it and tightened up the pipes into the new filter extra tight. The kind of tight you wouldn't apply normally incase you break something. Put it all back together and got the set started for 12:30pm, a whole hour after I started the job. As we opened I got my first 3 punters on the DZ. It wouldn't go either. I checked all brushes, cleaned all bands,checked all lap bar limit switches,check fuse box, relays, check brushes and clean bands again (at this point the ride was for sale at a knock down price) and finally found a suspect resistor with a heat mark on its body. So I went off to RS components for another while "R" scaled the tower and started removing the wiring connections to the bands. When I returned we fitted the new resistor, "r" had cleaned all band connections except two that had the access bolts rusted solid. We tried the ride---no go. So "r" went up with a hammer and chisel and removed the two seized bolts the old fashioned way. He cleaned the last two connections. We tried the ride and it finally went, 6 hours after we started on the thing. By the way the heat marked resistor is working fine. On the bright side, for the last two days the set has started without bleeding-that fit of temper on the filter housing has did the trick.

Today Prince Andrew came and visited the Clydebuilt Museum, there was a small army of security and Police with him (just out of shot in the picts). I don't know if it was a secret of if nobody was interested but the crowd was only about a dozen passers by. I bet Di would have pulled in the crowds. Then again Andy fought for his country during the Falklands. HE IS SECOND LEFT OF THE LAMP POST, FACING THIS WAY SHAKING HANDS.

a fairground life

Since last week I have fitted a new bellhousing to the skydiver pump. This was to reduce vibration coming from the pump motor coupling as it was running very very slightly out of line. I had ordered the part a couple of days before but it was unclear whether the bellhousing would be correct as the motor plate number did not correspond with the measurements I took. So after closing one night at 8pm we decided to fit it. We cut off the old mounting brackets, removed the piping and took the pump off. After a couple of measuring sessions with the tape we calculated that the motor end of the coupling would have to come forward 9mm. So out with the pulley draws to do this. "r" removed the retaining grub and we drew the coupling forward. We inserted the rubber spider and tried the bellhousing on. Yippee it fitted (good job we went with measurements instead of plate number) as I did have visions of welding all the old gear back on again. After an hour and half we tried it out. With the new arrangement we have zero vibration and at least a 30% reduction in motor noise, plus it looks professional, a success I would say.

As for the filter arrangement on the set its not as successful. The fuel seems to be running back, but its too quick to be an air leak in the piping. No I think the two filter arrangements are creating some kind of vacuum. So I fitted a new lift pump again just to be sure but it still needs bleeding in between start ups. So I'm gonna try a non return valve between the filters. Failing that I might try a loop in the fuel pipe. Now that's an idea!, I could extend the fuel feed pipe and run it higher than the engine then drop it down to the new filter, this way the fuel can't syphon back to tank, plus that would be cheaper than a valve! decisions decisions!

a fairground life

So all the kit is back together for the next few weeks. Last Monday was spent fixing a wiring problem in my mothers home. It took so long that "r" and I only got to erecting the Skydiver at 7pm. We only did half of it and knocked of at 8:30pm. The next morning I was at licensing court in Glasgow for the hearing of my application for a PE license for the River Festival. It started at 9:30 am with Taxi drivers and continued until mine came up at 11am. There were a few other showmen attending too for other events around the city. Its always a worry that the hearings are left to the last minute as any problems wont have time to be overcome. After that I headed out to finish the Skydiver with "r". The next day was his graduation and although the fair at the mall was supposed to open at 12 noon the Maimi and DZ were closed until 4pm when Mrs showman and I arrived. It was quiet, just as well cos at 5pm the DZ acted up. It wouldn't go again, similar to the SECC problem, but this time it was only a blown fuse in the control panel. I think I may have caused this myself changing a bulb in the carriage lights. So 20 minutes later it was all systems go. Thursday was quiet a good day but Friday rained heavy for most of the afternoon. At teatime the set chucked it, it was dirt in the lift pump. This is getting to be a problem now so I'm going to fit another fuel filter before the lift pump.Saturday seen the skydiver develop a hydraulic leak. A pump manifold blew off a fixing stud. It was a 5/16" Whitworth thread so I had to go and source one. Being Saturday afternoon every major supplier was closed so I ended up at Bills tool store down at the barras. They only had a small selection of whitworth but I managed to get something to fit. Meanwhile "r" was washing up the 20-25 litres of oil we lost. We were all systems go again for 3pm. I had travelled 25 miles, spent £5 of fuel and lost two hours trade plus hydraulic oil all for a 15p stud!!!

a fairground life (graduate)

Congratulations to "r" who graduated today from Strathclyde University as a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with Honours, BEng (Hon). 

We attended the "Barony Hall" for the ceremony, Mrs showman had me in suit and tie. The weather was scorching and with a few hundred people packed in to watch their offspring graduate the temperature rocketed. Everyone was sweating bullets for well over 90 minutes. That said it was something to see, all the pomp and ceremony including a Piper. As "r" was capped & hooded he walked back up the side aisle of the church and Mrs showman had many a tear in her eyes. When the show ended we caught up with him in the gardens of the campus were there was a Champaign reception. It was only then, when I saw him with his study mates & lecturers that I realised how he had been living two separate lives for the last four years. WELL DONE SON.