Jantzen Beach Carousel Moving Day!

Note: The images all have notations if you scroll through.

“You want us to do whaaaat?”

Most of the horses are buried off to the left, where one small path can be seen in the top photo with Mitchell.

Henry and Mitchell climbed into the right corner to look back and see the horses way off in the far corner.

There was barely space to walk…

Whoever stacked these boards was actually playing pick-up sticks. They had to be properly stacked as they are integral to the building of the carousel proper, floors and ceilings.

Before: We needed to make walkways out of this craziness!

This is the coolest and greasiest object — the big red drive shaft.

Had to add these pics — I love this big machine. The back of the big cranky thang… that is the technical name.

The second large hub of the shaft.

“Yes, that’s right, first, this mess has to be cleaned up!”

We first arrived to assess
the horses, because it starts
with the horses, the stars of
the show! It was to be a
simple assessment of the Jantzen Beach Carousel Horses toward proper restoration.
This is what we found:
an itty bitty walkway (cover your pants in grease as you went) where we had to duck and bob and look around shields and beams and poles underfoot, to see the horses tucked way back into the left corner.

Mitchell is standing on an 18×30-inch cleared stand-able space, above.
I am immediately charmed by the horses lined up, so touchable!

Standing on the little patch of cleared space in the horse area, we could see the cresting boards in an inaccessible place.

The huge heavy double bench chariot was in the farthest right corner, completely hemmed in by heavy objects.

Standing on the double bench chariot, looking back at the mess.

Actually, noone gave us
marching orders but it makes for
a great story. We had to clear
paths to inspect, let alone MOVE,
the horses for assessment. Quickly
the scope of the assessment changed,
including all decorative objects —
defined as anything not mechanical
(another firm is handling
that part of the assessment.)
Now our goal became clearing a
safe path to all the decorative objects,
even those deeply buried and
completely inaccessible, such as the
two bench seats (chariots)
and the 9-foot Cresting Boards, right.

Mitchell moving ceiling boards; he stacked them against the wall for safety and stability.

These guys worked so hard! (Joe here)

Here the first horse, a lovely Peekaboo, is carried off by Joe and Sean.

The four moving men were divided into two groups.
We spent the whole first day stacking floor and ceiling wood at
the right end to open the blocked space, while at the left end we were moving
the tightly packed horses and shields out onto the main floor in order
to re-stack the shields out of the paths.
By the end of the long day we had reached our impossible goal,
and could actually walk around without tripping.

NOTE: Specs of white floating in the images are dust in the storage facility.

We also found the smaller bench, the Lion Chariot!
(You can see how the guys had to move in a tight short cramped space.)

Two more days!

A path cleared to the back, day two. The first thing the guys did was pull out an 8x8x8-foot stack of heavy beams so we could pull the double chariot out!

The carefullest moving men around, inching the chariot out of its tight space; not a scratch on the decorative painted surface!

They carry the heavy double bench a few feet, being careful where they put their feet. I am holding my breath.

Turning it, finally, for a better carry out of the gated area.

Dang these guys were good!

After, they restacked the big beams into the corner.

Again, Mitchell and I worked left side / right side.
On the right side they finally were able to move the huge stack of 8×8 beams temporarily.
They carefully inched the huge heavy double-bench chariot out,
and carried it where it would be loaded into the moving truck.
Then re-stacking…
We needed to share this space with the operational assessment crew.

The Rounding boards were to remain in the same place, and we were going to bring two back to the studio.

It took four men to bring each one out; they were telling me that this was too heavy to be walked upstairs and it would not fit into the lift. Crazy woman…

I listened, and we assessed these on-site.

Seriously heavy, heavier than the double bench!

Right side, the rounding boards were moved and assessed, then restacked.
We decided the cresting boards should be stacked in front of them.

Vitaliy and Tim on one end of the decorative beams…

Joe on the other.

Eventually the cresting boards were inspected and restacked in front of the rounding boards.

On the left side, several beams needed to move out onto the floor for assessment,
and also to allow us to move the cresting boards out for repositioning.
Above, Vitaliy and Tim lifting the decorative beams on one side,
while Joe lifts and steadies the beams in the back.
Several decorative beams were moved out for inspection and assessment.

Finally the cresting boards were stacked neatly in front of the rounding boards,
last image; two came back to the studio.

Tim bringing me one of the decorative mirror shields… while dancing!

Looking out over the tops of the decorative beams.

Adam holding a shield for an assessment image.

Day two, I assessed several items that will not come back with us to the studio, as they are either too long or too heavy: Beams, mirrored shields, painted shields.

Our first load also leaves for the studio:
Cherub shields, decorative mirrored shields, cresting boards.
A couple of Parker Ponies ride in my back seat!

You can walk all around the structural items now!

Looking back at the clear path, even though you still must duck under the beams for part of the movement.

Panorama now, of protected brass poles…

Neatly stacked mechanical and structural items…

Clear paths to rounding boards, cresting boards, and more mechanical and structural parts…

Neatness like this makes my heart happy!

People can walk all around and the cherub shields are protected….

Clear pathways and properly stacked woods!

We leave that night with the storage place in heavenly order, above;
a few objects must go back into the storage so it can be locked up.

End of second day, heavenly order!

Third day, the horses.

We chose our initial horses on day two when we finally had room to
move around (last image). We wanted to take two of each size,
but also wanted a sampling of the types of damages on all the horses.

The large horses are heavy, but also, moving around uneven surfaces is dangerous.

Are we there yet?

First horse, the Portland Horse, on board.

By day three we had our options, and final choices were made.
The guys carefully loaded the wonderful horses, above,
and the HUGE chariots and other parts into the truck!
Fifteen (mostly) badly damaged horses came back with us.