a fairground life (End SECC)

We headed over to the mall on Sunday morning early. The idea being to thaw the lorry out and move it over to the secc for removing the DropZone. The temperature was above freezing for the first time in weeks, a whole 2 degrees. I was apprehensive about starting the lorry up after sitting so long in sub zero temperatures. "r" jumped in the cab and turned the key............BROOOOM! as the engine growled to life, it was smokey, but even running. We just let it tick over for a few minutes to let the oil circulate and thin out. I listened carefully, thankfully there were no knocks or whinning noises. The next issue would be the air, would it build up pressure or would moisture in the system or valves be frozen? Again we watched carefully and the gauges moved up to 8 bar. Not out of the woods yet as we had to see if the brakes would come off, as I released the hand brake there was a reassuring hiss of air, I let the clutch up and with a small clunk the lorry broke free of all restrictions. Lucky, lucky me, no doubt if it had been a few degrees lower like the days before it would have been a different story. I took the lorry over to the secc and left it in carpark 5 ready for pulling out.

Fast forward to 10pm and the secc finally closed. The DZ had performed beyond my expectations mechanically as we had only replaced one small guide ballrace and a couple of brushes. Before we started to pull down "r" went up the tower and tightened up all the loose caps on the lighting. There was a good many and if we had lowered the tower before doing this, they would have all fallen off. When we lowered the tower for pulling down, it was over the top of the superstar. We was beat for about 12" (300mm) to get the tower down and swing the pole around so we lifted it again and put 3" (75mm) block onto the tower cradle. When we lowered the tower down again this gave us the clearance needed to swing the pole around over the superstar, then we raised the tower slightly to remove the blocks. After that it was an easy pull down and with the help of "skyliner C" we were out by midnight. Only 48 weeks before it all starts again.

The picture is some of the lorries lined up waiting for the pull out.

a fairground life (Quality? what's that?)

Well John, you certainly have got the old grey matter working with regards to today's fairground rides quality. It seemed when I was younger that there were no new machines, maybe I was just too young to notice. It was slower times perhaps or showmen may have been earning fine with what they had, so if it ain't broke don't fix it! Then there is the technology and materials that are in today's rides that didn't exist 30 years ago. One thing is for sure, the credit loan needed to buy a ride certainly did not exist for everyone back then, but since the introduction of the credit card leading to everyone living on credit it seemed inevitable that eventually large loans would be available to people with less than solid assets. The credit bubble has helped a lot of people and the younger generation thinks nothing of owing large sums compared to the older generation saving for something then buying it. Then there is travel, holidays and television where the showmen and punters alike seen fancier, different, newer rides abroad and wanted some of that for themselves. Any how my first recollection of a NEW machine was when another showman built his own Meteorite circa 1978, my first recollection of a new TYPE of machine was when a well known showfamily got an "Invader" around 1980. Both of these had common factors- FOLD UP on one load! Easy quick build up was the criteria now. The Invader however took us into new territory- 415v 3ph power, auto drive, metal flake moulded cars and most importantly THEMEING! Yes it caught the imagination of the people with the name associated with "space invaders" and "alien" the movie, both massive influences on the public at that time. The Invader was a mobile goldmine nick named the "Hoover" as it could suck up all the punters at any fair! It had a capacity of upto 54 seats, it had modern style running lights when we still had bulbs. It had it all in spades and that showfamily knew how to exploit it from one end of the country to the other. The other showmen watched with green eyes and realised there was a new market to be tapped. Soon after more rides followed- Hurricane jets, magic carpet. There was even a time when foreign rides were brought in on loan just for the Kelvin Hall- magic carpet, orbitor, matterhorn and early years of the secc- polyp, raft canyon and spinball only to name a few. Then by the 90s the clever people had tapped into finance and we saw the big boom- terminator, miamis, street dancer, kingloops, kamikazee, superbowl, superbob, top gun, leathal weapon, super spin, superstar, tri-star and a host more I have forgotten. The credit was spending fast and into the "noughties" it continued with big apple,freakout, energy storm,crazy frog, dropzone, speed buzz, xtreme etc etc. It was as easy as Jack Dee said,"a tenner down and a million repayments". BUT it all ends now. The credit crunch and terrible Euro rate means No credit=No new purchases=No second hand market. It could be a long while until we see the same amount of changes we have in the last 20 years.

But quality is not just about age, what's the point in having a new ride if it's in dis-repair, some of the older rides that are well looked after are of a better quality than some of the new "off the shelf gear". I bet the DZ doesn't last as long as any set of Gallopers has! To be fair, some of the good gear in the secc has come from south of the border- superbob, superstar (previously scottish), super bowl (previously scottish), move it, big chairs. Quality is a big question, are rides worth £2 or more a go? sometimes quality is only paint deep!

As for the American question, to be fair the usa is too much into it's own technology! Yes it leads the way in Wooden Roller coasters and theme parks but the fairground stuff all comes from Europe- Huss,Moser,Mondial,Safeco,SBF,Visa,SDC,Tivoli,Reverchon,KMG and too many more to mention! All only a short trip away onto mainland Europe. Also the strong Pound helped us before the crash. That many manufacturers in a small area had to lead to competitive pricing and a good used ride market. It has got to be hard for the US showman to compete with that and Disney!