|
|
||
| HOME ARTICLES GALLERIES ABOUT US FORUM LINKS CONTACT JOYLAND BOOKS | ||
|
THE END OF THE REEL: PART TWO by Gary Radice Article: Added October 2003 |
||
|
The Ian Beech Interview
themagiceye: What exactly was your involvement with The Virginia Reel?
Ian
Beech: My job was that of an electrician but, since Green
Star Rides (GSR) had a small team, I also operated rides when the need arose.
The Reel's electrical work during the season
mainly involved the maintenance of the two DC drive motors for the chain lift and their face plate starters. The motors
were housed below the top of the pull-up in a small room reached via a steep wobbly staircase. Only one motor was used
at a time (the other being in stand by). The motor was driven by flat belts, two sets of reduction spur gear and the top chain
wheel. The face plate starters (again two for redundancy) were sited in a small room on the operator side of the platform
next to the bottom of the pull-up.
Other jobs included the replacement of lamps from the decorative lighting - these often
failed due to the vibration as a car traversed the track. In the winter all the deck lighting was removed and stored under
the ride or within the boarded up Whip. A lot of time was taken up with the cleaning up and re-lamping of these lights.
Who are/were Green Star and how long did you work for them?
GSR were, as far as I can
recall, part of the Border TV family of companies. They were concessionaires on
the Pleasure Beach, running their own machines:
The Enterprise, The Grand Prix (not the Grand Prix as is today
in 2003 - rather a circular undulating ride with carriages
- see box below) and The Tidal Wave, along with
Blackpool Pleasure Beach's (BPB) Whip and Reel.
I worked for BPB for a few years, being a member of the first team to operate The Revolution, including the "Scouts eating cake day"
- I was in the control box during the filming!
I joined GSR in 1979 and stayed to mid winter
of 82/83
Did you operate any other rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach?
During my time with BPB
I operated The Monster, The Revolution, Roller Coaster, Big Dipper, Grand National, Turtle Chase (some skill required), Cable
Way (a lot of walking required), Swamp Buggies, Ghost Train, Space Tower, Steeple Chase, Monorail plus all five of GSR's machines
as mentioned before.
On the whole, are your memories of operating The Virginia
Reel happy ones?
Yes, we had a good crew who all worked hard
but also had some good laughs. Like the time we found a dead rat at the rear of the ride and set it up with a cigarette in
its mouth in the tool cupboard just at eye level. We all had a great laugh as our most nervous member opened the door
and leapt three feet in the air! We didn't see him for an hour!
Hours were long - starting with walking
the track at 9am and not locking up on illumination weekends until around midnight. We worked 6 days a week and
never had a weekend day off during the season.
Despite this, my memories of those days were generally
positive.
Do you think that The Reel would be a popular ride today if it was still operational?
Yes I do!
By the end it had become a
rough ride which just added to the excitement. Arrow show a modern version of the ride on their website, although they show a train of cars rather than individual units -
this minimizes the
number of block sections required whilst maximizing throughput.
Arrow normally know a good ride when they
see one.
Did the ride require much maintenance?
During the season the track
was walked first thing in the morning. We looked for any damage and for loose bolts which either held
down the plate track to the timber or attached the top rail to the frames (performing the
same job as the up-stop rail on a coaster.)
We sometimes had to grind off
these bolts if they would not tighten. It was probably a spark from this operation which started timbers
smouldering causing the fire...
During winter the cars were
stripped down and bearings, etc, replaced or repacked with grease. Any problems seen during the summer
with the floor (on which the track was laid) or the supports for this floor were replaced
or repaired. The ride had its own joiner who had a workshop complete with circular saw, etc, at the rear
right hand corner of the ride alongside the first left hand bend in the tunnel.
I can't remember his name but
he retired around 1980 and looked as old as the ride that last day.
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
THEMAGICEYE | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact Us |
||
