New stuff

So its been  a wile since I posted. Well I have some new stuff to show case.

                                The sidewinder now has electric green led lights. The real ride doesn't have led lights but the led lights put off the super bright green glow the real one has.

                    The super shot now has tan and yellow pipe cleaners going up its length

                                         But when the lights are on, they are led lit.

                                         The scat is back and is better than ever.

                                                And also has electric lights.

             The hi rollers lights are on, and now the right side panel has cool white led lights.

                        The rapid slide has joined the midway, and now has flags,

                                                                  And lights.

 

                      A new wayout swings have been built, painted and lit.

                                                                    With led lights aswell.

                                      The hustler has been built. It now has better décor,

                                                           and lights aswell.

              The chair swings and other wayout swings now have electric lights.

 The new pink and yellow wayout swings shown for the first time here.

                              The expo wheel now has some new editions to it.

  The winch that folds and unfolds the wheel now has a motor on it, making it more efficient. (the sweeps also now have X shaped spacers in the middle. They are hard to see in these pics)

 An all new bally has been added to it. Its the first custom bally I have done. (see carnival terminology for bally)

The real bally mine is based off of. Fun fact, I estimate around 10-20% of setup/teardown on rides is nothing but décor. Such as attaching ballys (expo wheel), un folding feather lights (swings), attaching flags (expo wheel), putting together cluster lights (super shot), raising signs (slides), and other décor. In fact, around 60% of the hustlers setup is pure décor. Take away the signs, and ballys, and gate cluster lights, and it would take like 20 minutes to set up. (that's the real ride not the knex ride, the knex ride takes around 15 minutes to get up)
Other changes not shown here are the new skydiver, led RGB lights on the purple paratrooper, green led lights on the spider, red paratrooper, old paratrooper, eli hy 5 2, carousel, and dinosaurs now have electric lights.

expo wheel first and second generation

I am here to talk about the expo wheel. I have been looking at some pictures, and I have noticed the expo wheel has 2 generations.

  For one the first generation tubs are a lot different. They require, including the tub and roof, like 5 pieces to complete the tub.

 The first generations normally only have 1 sign light.

And when racked, the first generation has small seat racks.

This is the first generation expo wheel up. You will also notice the base has décor on it, and the ride is decorated with bulbs.

The second generation expo wheel has different tubs, which only need 3 pieces to attach.

The second generation also usually has 2 sign lights.

Also when racked the tub supports are a lot different.

You will also notice on the picture of the second generation expo wheel up, they usually have color changing led lights, and has no décor walls on the base, but instead led lights.

One other odd thing, is that the first generation wheels were almost always white, with blue orange yellow and red bulbs on the sweeps, with clear rims, and a purple, or blue base. (sometimes the sweeps would have red orange yellow purple pink blue and green bulbs)

But the second generation is still a white wheel, but normally has color changing lights (or occasionally bulbs with led lights) and a yellow base. But I have never seen any expo wheels with say a blue wheel and a red base, or any color base besides yellow, blue or purple. Also, wile very few, some first generation wheels do have color changing lights, but it is very rare. And in case you were wondering, my expo wheel is based off of the second generation, not the first. I hope this helps you tell them apart. (thanks matts carnival warehouse for some pictures)

ferris wheel variants

( I would suggest you read the carnival terminology page before you read this as there might be a few confusing terms. Click on the pages tab at the top of the page, you might have to scroll up, and then click on it and click on carnival terminology) Today I want to talk about something a bit off topic. Its still in the realm of carnivals, but doesn't have to do much with the knex rides. Lets call it a fun fact. Hey new article variant, fun ride facts. ( and ride variants article)
Anyways I wanted to say how many different Ferris wheels there are. That is portable, I don't do much on park models. ( the difference being portables tear down, and park models stay up most of the time) Ok, this list will be in declining size of the wheel.

GIANT WHEEL.
The giant wheel is, to my knowledge, the largest portable wheel available. It splits into not 1, not 2, but 4 different trailers. One is the right tower, one is the left tower, one houses the wheel, and the last houses the seats, rims and other parts. It is often owned by large amusement company's, like Deggeller Attractions, and sometimes has color changing lights. It is said to take around 2 days to setup. It has 20 seats.

MULLIGAN WHEEL
The mulligan wheel isn't as common, but can be seen at powers great American midways shows. The mulligan wheel is around the same size as the century wheel, but does rack different. The mulligan wheel has 2 trailers, 1 for the wheel, and the towers, and 1 for the seats, rim irons etc. One odd thing, is that the mulligan wheel often has flags on the seats, and is the only large scale wheel to have a star light in the middle, But the pictured one does not.

GRAND WHEEL
The Grand wheel I only know of by research, and I have never seen it in person. I've read that it is the largest 1 trailer wheel available, and that the seats come apart for racking. That's all I know.

GONDOLA WHEEL
Also known as the fabbri wheel, it is a rather unique and rare wheel. It has oddly shaped tubs, has 16 sweeps, and only has a rim iron on 1 side of the wheel instead of both. Also all of the sweeps detach for racking. (thanks to http://carnivalchasing.blogspot.com/  for the first pic of the gondola wheel)

The above pic is the park version of the ride. I know I said I dont do park models. but this is the closest thing I could find to a setup pic. Why there are no lights on it I dont know.

CENTURY WHEEL
The century wheel is the largest 1 trailer wheel I have seen, but that doesn't mean its the largest in existence. It is a rather large wheel, and takes around 1 day to setup. Even to this day, I have never seen it fold, but I know, like the giant, and mulligan wheel, it unfolds side to side, instead of all the way around. Meaning, instead of unfolding it all from the right, they pull out a sweep on the right, then the left, then the right, etc etc.

EXPO WHEEL
The expo wheel isn't as common ad the century or giant wheels. But I know a bit about it. Its is the only gondola wheel (meaning the seats have tops and tubs) that has straight towers instead of arch towers. (arch towers are like ^ and straight towers are | ) It is also to my knowledge the only gondola wheel that unfolds around instead of left to right. In recent years it has new colors and color changing lights.

ELI EAGLE 16 WHEEL
The eagle 16 wheel is I believe the largest Eli wheel. It is often seen with rim drive, but sometimes cable. It also has an extra large A frame, with 8 sweeps instead of 6. It has 16 seats, and a double star light. I have personally never seen it, but I have seen many pictures. The sweeps fold like other eli wheels.

ELI HY 5
This is the most common sized eli wheel. It has 12 seats, but racks different, as the out ring, instead of detaching, has hinges, which fold in towards the A frame, which makes it easier to fold. It has a double star, and comes in rim or cable drive.

ELI HY 5 2
This wheel is the same size as the HY 5. It has 12 seats, but usually has no outer ring. This wheel is usually rim drive, so it has a metal inner ring but no outer. It has a double star, usually multi colored, as well as lights on the ends of the sweeps. It also folds different. Instead of stopping to fold in the ring, they fold all of the inner ring first, then fold the sweeps, so they don't have to stop.

WISDOM WHEEL
The wisdom wheel is a Ferris wheel that looks almost exactly like the eli wheels, but racks a lot different. The outer ring comes off, making the fold time around 20 minutes, instead of like 10 for the eli wheels. The towers have hinges in the middle instead of the base, and the wisdom wheels don't have an A frame. They often have signs in the front, instead of cluster lights. The name Wisdom wheel is my best guess.

ELI LITTLE WHEEL
The last one is the eli little wheel. It often has only like 5 or 6 seats, sometimes has like 12 sweeps. It usually only folds about 40% and is no taller then 17 1/2 tall. It, like most kiddie rides, doesn't take much to tear down.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Of these wheels I have made the Fabbri Gondola wheel, the mulligan wheel, which was turned into the gondola wheel because of issue in racking, Century wheel, Expo, Eli hy 5, Eli hy 5 2, wisdom wheel, eli little wheel. I also made the giant wheel, but it only lasted like 2 days, and I barely remember it. More knex rides and ride variants articles to come.