a fairground life (they don't make em like that anymore)

It's been a short 18 months since we put the Carousel of RT's in the mall. Situated on the ice rink pad it was a bit of a task getting it in there. The ride it's self was originally a build up type as is common with all rides over 20 years old. However this had the centre assembly mounted onto a trailer some years back. RT and his boys had removed it from the trailer ready for going into the mall. This meant the fabrication of a new sub frame to carry the centre on the ice rink (pad). So after closing one Saturday night in May we did get the ride in. We rolled the centre components in on a small trailer and using a scaffolding assembly we lifted it clear of the trailer, then we shoved the trailer clear and lowered the pole onto frames with 6" castor wheels attached (skate board looking). This was then maneuvered down a set of stairs (4ft) onto the pad. It took several hours to do this and get it erected again using a chain block attached to the scaffolding frame. The rest of the ride we just carried in by hand.

Now it was time to get the ride out again. Problem was that gravity would not on our side when it came to getting the whole lot back up those stairs. Luckily a restaurant behind the pad was closed for re development. This meant we would be granted forklift access through it to the edge of the pad. However this restaurant was 4ft above the pad floor at mall height and the pad's circumference was surrounded by 20mm thick toughened glass hand rails. So we hatched a plan. We pulled down all the carry off items of the ride on Sunday night. The horses, chariots, platforms and dropper rods. Next we lifted the centre assembly by jacks onto rollers (scaffolding tubes) and rolled it to the front of the pad. This put the top of the ride over the thick glass hand rail panels and we worked on the mall floor at a good height to get the rounding boards ,cranks, top cover and swifts off. This left only the centre assembly with gearbox and motor attached.That was enough for one night, the easy part was done. We rolled the ride to the rear of the pad again and at 10:30pm headed home. The next morning we decided to start to remove two panes of glass from around the pad at the restaurant side. We cut away the top timber banister , then the silicone sealer and gouged that all out. We wobbled it glass about as best we could, not that it moved much. We tapped it as hard as we dared but there was no movement.We attached suction cups and tried to jack the sheet up and out. Nothing would move it, I think it must have been set in resin before the sealer was applied to the edges. This was going to knacker us for the forklift access tonight. So we asked the question and the answer came back that we could remove the panes forcibly. That night after the mall closed we taped them up in the fashion popular during the Blitz. A roll of 50mm gaffer tape was spent on the two panes (about 3ft high by 5ft long each). The two panes were covered by a plastic sheet to prevent flying shards. Next my bro stepped up with a Firemans hand axe. One smart blow to the bottom edge and we heard the shatter sound, he stepped one pace along and repeated for the second pane. Although we had heard the shatter noise's the two panes were still standing under the sheet. We stepped forward to removed the sheet, but as soon as we touched it the whole lot crumbled to the floor. We brushed it out the way. Now we rolled the centre over to this position and engaged the services of the fork lift. The extended forks were attached and as the wheels of the forklift sat on the edge of the floor they just reached out over the pad and above the motor. This and the gearbox were removed by attaching a strap to a fork and hoisting the lot up. We dropped them onto a pallet and the FL took it out side. Next was the top section of the centre pole. The pallet was put on the forks and GT and I stood on this while the FL raised us up like a mobile platform. The bolts were removed and the heavy pipe section was man handled by us onto the pallet we were standing on. So far, so good. The extended forks were employed again and they slid under the chain wheel attached to the pole. The pole hung down from this and the forks lifted the whole lot up and away. All that was left was the cross on the fabricated frame. The boys dismantled this and erected it back onto the rides trailer again that was waiting outside. In the meantime we had a problem. The pole was about 6ft tall. The forks were lifting it from about 2ft from the top. This meant that the pole was around 8ft tall and would fit through the doors of the mall, however the forks had a 3ft tall safety barrier attached (presumably to stop crates falling backwards onto the fork lift driver) that stuck above this height and would not fit through the doors. The pole was certainly too heavy to man handle.We thought up a few ideas but then the simple one was mentioned by bro- "just take the guard off". Right enough it was only 4 bolts and 20 minutes later it was off (2 minutes to do the job and the rest to find the right size socket and allan key). The pole was taken out and dropped right back onto the trailer were it was assembled again. Next up was the motor and gearbox and a little past 8pm the ride was ready for traveling the fairs again.

I wonder if it will ever come off the trailer again. The ride operated inside every day for 18 months and never missed a day, testament to the quality of workmanship and manufacture of this mature ride.

The pict show the centre pole awaiting dismantling and the top over the glass hand rails at working height.