Momentum Fairground Ride
Built by Santiago Plicio in April 2025
It’s never easy choosing what to display at each forthcoming Meccano meeting, but one thing I know is that I soon get bored if I don’t have something new to bring with me.
The process of starting anew is at first something a little aimless and tedious as it almost always involves deconstructing an older model first, either to make the necessary room or to free up enough parts to move forwards.
It is normally at this stage that I start to come up with possible ideas of what I can create that is something new, and only then does the development of the idea gather momentum.
One such large model, which I had kept in my garage for a while, was stripped down to individual parts and components, keeping only a tilting tower section and part of the base, but both of which I completely re-designed.
I thought about keeping the large rotating drum that was fitted to the old model but eventually decided instead to reduce its design to half the size, making it easier to slide onto a heavy-duty axle, which I had fitted at the top of the new tower.
The fairground ride-based plan was to create a new rotating unit that would be mounted onto this tower, and that in turn would support eight arms in the typical amusement park shape and fashion we have become used to, with each arm composed of two angle girders in the shape of the legs of a large spider.
Motorising the movement of this rotating unit was a little more complex than normal but I set about using a double strung drive belt system to the motor fitted with lots of pinions and gears inside a compartment built on the side of the tower.
I was not however happy with the rather noisy mechanism due to the weight of the rotating canopy, so instead of removing this motor I built a second one and fitted it to the side of the compartment, but this proved tricky to get precisely in the required position and did not work as predicted.
I decided I had no choice but to remove both motors and replaced them with another geared motor which took many further adjustments until it finally was positioned in a way that effectively engaged the strung drive belt and motor and it was a great relief when the rotating canopy unit started to spin without disengaging. With the test carried out and providing a smooth and successful operation of the model, I was able to finally properly firm up the nuts and bolts to my satisfaction.
The model divides into four separate sections, which makes it easier to transport and not too complicated to set up, and its amazing how quickly the model all came together in just over five days. It’s a case of not knowing at first exactly what I’m trying to achieve nor how it will come together, but after each tentative start it soon gathers momentum.
Having built so many rotating fairground models in my time, it gets harder and harder to design each new model that feels valid or in some way different, but the sense of achievement I felt in completing this one, already makes it stand out among some of my favourites.
‘Momentum — you’ll not know how good a thrill ride gets until it starts!’