Trafford Park Raid Manchester 12.03.15
- Thread starter Alpha1
- Start date
F5 keys are already been worn out
Part 4
Before we get to Room
2, let’s rewind a little and talk about excitement
for a moment. There are many different forms of excitement I guess, of which
‘alarm’ is one. Alarm is exactly what I felt when, at 2am back in my hotel the
night before the raid, I am forcibly grabbed by the legs, ripped from my
slumber to the sound of “RAID! RAID! IT’S
A RAID!!!”
Raid? I thought it was the end of the world. A huge and very
hairy man was pulling me out of bed whilst shouting said utterance at the top
of his voice. I not sure what the point of this activity was or why he felt the
need to remind me of why we were there. At 2am.
“No! NO! Get the F**K
off me! I was asleep, you tw*t!!”
Concerned by this point that the removal of the duvet was
imminent, I grabbed the top of it and pulled with all my might, terrified that
‘Mr Jingles’ (use your imagination)
was going to make an unannounced personal appearance. He wouldn’t be taking
autographs. The tactic worked or at last it appeared to and I was, to far too much merriment, allowed to slip
peacefully back into the darkness.
“RAID!!! IT’S A RAID!!
WHOOO!! RAID!!”
Approximately 10 minutes had passed. My attacker (let’s call
him that, yes) had waited until I was asleep for a second time and decided to remind me again of our glorious
adventure.
“Will you PLEASE F**K
OFF!”
It was a long night.
So then, Room 2.
Actually it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a room at all. In yet another unlit
part of the building we encounter a stage. Stages are all the same really;
massive dusty red velour curtains with gold trim, hanging unevenly and making
me think of the time that Barry Smethurst took me behind them at school to show
me his Stretch Armstrong, (he wanted to see how far we could stretch it).
Behind the main platform and I suspect where the performers used to get changed
in-between acts, somebody had built a makeshift room using large pieces of MDF,
nailing them together to form an effective store room. In theory this was a
solid idea but in practice they had forgotten to fashion a key element.
A door.
“How are we going to
get in there then?”
“Get a drill; we’ll
unscrew a couple of panels and make a double doorway to bring the cabs out.”
Now we didn’t know the contents of what was behind these panels;
apart from a sneakily grabbed phone cam pic one of the Raid Leaders had
snaffled by standing on tiptoe and sticking his hand in a gap. For the most
part this was unexplored territory; it had been impossible to fully catalogue
what was in there as there was no way of gaining access prior to this point. Raid Leader#2 returns with an electric
drill with screwdriver function and begins to remove the screws from the panel
edges. This goes relatively well but somewhat slowly. Some of the screws are
cross threaded. The troops are getting restless, which is why what happens next
is a welcome if totally unexpected surprise. The driver of the 40 footer that’s
been hired for the morning appears, quickly assesses the situation and then gets
to work physically wrenching the panels off with his bare hands. He’s a big chap.
The entire wooden frame starts to bend, creak and shift, including the whole of
the front of the stage. I have 2 options here; I can either shout ‘Wait! Stop, the stage is coming down!’
or I can quietly step back and hope for the best.
I move my arse to the wall and whisper a few words of
encouragement before summoning a fake *cough*
and taking a sudden interest in the light switches over the other side of the
room, away from splintering wood. It’s still quite dark so I flick a few
switches. Nothing. I flick a few more and there is the distant sound of some
machinery powering up; I hastily look around to see if anyone has spotted me
but no, everyone is standing mouths agape whilst the huge truck driver rips MDF panels off with his teeth. I’ve no idea
what that sound was but apparently I’ve just switched something on in another
part of the building. I pause for a moment, imagining an airlock scene where an
innocent worker is minding his own business, before suddenly and violently
being sucked out into space because some idiot in another part of the spaceship pushed a switch he shouldn’t have. I watch too many space films.
“OMG!” somebody
cries.
Some of you may have noticed I have a certain affection for Space Harrier; it’s no exaggeration to say
that I once owned 7 SH cabs of varying types. Nothing could prepare me for the
sight in front of me right now however. Standing in the front of the newly
revealed room were two full size motion sit down Space Harrier Deluxe cabs. I
am, quite literally, aroused.
“Jodo, get in there!”
I do.
My erect nudger brushes up against somebody as I squeeze through
the crowd and I quickly apologise for ‘standing on his foot’; it’s all I can
think about in the spur of the moment but it appears to work. When I get to the
front Raid Leader #3 is already sitting
atop one of the Harrier’s, with his arms spread wide in a gang sign posture and
there are flashes from phone cameras to record the moment. I gaze at the
machines from front to back, following the line of the artwork, along the sides
and up and over the seat section. I am in grail heaven. I cannot possibly think
of a scenario where 2 of these rare beasts ended up next to one another, walled
in by MDF and forgotten about for years.
There are other treasures in here though and the group
splits into people shining torches and people fetching and carrying. Somebody
shouts out a time check and everyone pushes things up a notch. Whoever filled
this area was not particularly bothered about preservation it seems as we
encounter cabs stacked upon other cabs, stacked on exercise bikes, stacked on
monitors, which are ALL stacked on yet more boxes and an office desk. It’s
potentially dangerous and it’s easy to forget what we are actually doing here;
there is a LOT of heavy metal and vacuumed glass all piled on top of each other.
And it’s dark. Glimpses of artwork and cab parts ferry past one another in the
dim light….Time Traveller, Tempest Cocktail, a WG6100, a pinball of
some description, a seat for Star Rider and a Warlords Cocktail.
The Space Harrier’s take 4 of us to move and a pneumatic lift
to get them across the threshold to the waiting truck. I'm helping of course
but as we heave and pull the machines this way and that across the bumpy
gravel, one thing is clear in my mind. I must have one of these Harriers...
Jodo2015-04-11 14:27:28
Before we get to Room
2, let’s rewind a little and talk about excitement
for a moment. There are many different forms of excitement I guess, of which
‘alarm’ is one. Alarm is exactly what I felt when, at 2am back in my hotel the
night before the raid, I am forcibly grabbed by the legs, ripped from my
slumber to the sound of “RAID! RAID! IT’S
A RAID!!!”
Raid? I thought it was the end of the world. A huge and very
hairy man was pulling me out of bed whilst shouting said utterance at the top
of his voice. I not sure what the point of this activity was or why he felt the
need to remind me of why we were there. At 2am.
“No! NO! Get the F**K
off me! I was asleep, you tw*t!!”
Concerned by this point that the removal of the duvet was
imminent, I grabbed the top of it and pulled with all my might, terrified that
‘Mr Jingles’ (use your imagination)
was going to make an unannounced personal appearance. He wouldn’t be taking
autographs. The tactic worked or at last it appeared to and I was, to far too much merriment, allowed to slip
peacefully back into the darkness.
“RAID!!! IT’S A RAID!!
WHOOO!! RAID!!”
Approximately 10 minutes had passed. My attacker (let’s call
him that, yes) had waited until I was asleep for a second time and decided to remind me again of our glorious
adventure.
“Will you PLEASE F**K
OFF!”
It was a long night.
So then, Room 2.
Actually it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a room at all. In yet another unlit
part of the building we encounter a stage. Stages are all the same really;
massive dusty red velour curtains with gold trim, hanging unevenly and making
me think of the time that Barry Smethurst took me behind them at school to show
me his Stretch Armstrong, (he wanted to see how far we could stretch it).
Behind the main platform and I suspect where the performers used to get changed
in-between acts, somebody had built a makeshift room using large pieces of MDF,
nailing them together to form an effective store room. In theory this was a
solid idea but in practice they had forgotten to fashion a key element.
A door.
“How are we going to
get in there then?”
“Get a drill; we’ll
unscrew a couple of panels and make a double doorway to bring the cabs out.”
Now we didn’t know the contents of what was behind these panels;
apart from a sneakily grabbed phone cam pic one of the Raid Leaders had
snaffled by standing on tiptoe and sticking his hand in a gap. For the most
part this was unexplored territory; it had been impossible to fully catalogue
what was in there as there was no way of gaining access prior to this point. Raid Leader#2 returns with an electric
drill with screwdriver function and begins to remove the screws from the panel
edges. This goes relatively well but somewhat slowly. Some of the screws are
cross threaded. The troops are getting restless, which is why what happens next
is a welcome if totally unexpected surprise. The driver of the 40 footer that’s
been hired for the morning appears, quickly assesses the situation and then gets
to work physically wrenching the panels off with his bare hands. He’s a big chap.
The entire wooden frame starts to bend, creak and shift, including the whole of
the front of the stage. I have 2 options here; I can either shout ‘Wait! Stop, the stage is coming down!’
or I can quietly step back and hope for the best.
I move my arse to the wall and whisper a few words of
encouragement before summoning a fake *cough*
and taking a sudden interest in the light switches over the other side of the
room, away from splintering wood. It’s still quite dark so I flick a few
switches. Nothing. I flick a few more and there is the distant sound of some
machinery powering up; I hastily look around to see if anyone has spotted me
but no, everyone is standing mouths agape whilst the huge truck driver rips MDF panels off with his teeth. I’ve no idea
what that sound was but apparently I’ve just switched something on in another
part of the building. I pause for a moment, imagining an airlock scene where an
innocent worker is minding his own business, before suddenly and violently
being sucked out into space because some idiot in another part of the spaceship pushed a switch he shouldn’t have. I watch too many space films.
“OMG!” somebody
cries.
Some of you may have noticed I have a certain affection for Space Harrier; it’s no exaggeration to say
that I once owned 7 SH cabs of varying types. Nothing could prepare me for the
sight in front of me right now however. Standing in the front of the newly
revealed room were two full size motion sit down Space Harrier Deluxe cabs. I
am, quite literally, aroused.
“Jodo, get in there!”
I do.
My erect nudger brushes up against somebody as I squeeze through
the crowd and I quickly apologise for ‘standing on his foot’; it’s all I can
think about in the spur of the moment but it appears to work. When I get to the
front Raid Leader #3 is already sitting
atop one of the Harrier’s, with his arms spread wide in a gang sign posture and
there are flashes from phone cameras to record the moment. I gaze at the
machines from front to back, following the line of the artwork, along the sides
and up and over the seat section. I am in grail heaven. I cannot possibly think
of a scenario where 2 of these rare beasts ended up next to one another, walled
in by MDF and forgotten about for years.
There are other treasures in here though and the group
splits into people shining torches and people fetching and carrying. Somebody
shouts out a time check and everyone pushes things up a notch. Whoever filled
this area was not particularly bothered about preservation it seems as we
encounter cabs stacked upon other cabs, stacked on exercise bikes, stacked on
monitors, which are ALL stacked on yet more boxes and an office desk. It’s
potentially dangerous and it’s easy to forget what we are actually doing here;
there is a LOT of heavy metal and vacuumed glass all piled on top of each other.
And it’s dark. Glimpses of artwork and cab parts ferry past one another in the
dim light….Time Traveller, Tempest Cocktail, a WG6100, a pinball of
some description, a seat for Star Rider and a Warlords Cocktail.
The Space Harrier’s take 4 of us to move and a pneumatic lift
to get them across the threshold to the waiting truck. I'm helping of course
but as we heave and pull the machines this way and that across the bumpy
gravel, one thing is clear in my mind. I must have one of these Harriers...
Jodo2015-04-11 14:27:28
Superb next installment, sounds like that little "room" was like the holy of holies.
I can't remember if I've ever had a go on a space harrier dlx, but how cool is that to find 2 of them.
A book all about raids would definitely be something I would love to read.
I had a stretch Armstrong (unless your reference was euphemism for c@@k of course...)
After pulling it too far and splitting it (the Armstrong that is) I couldn't resist having a taste of the goo inside and found out it was sweet, Probably corn syrup or something and hopefully not poison
Loving the cliffhangers in your stories, great job and still more rooms to go woohoo!
I can't remember if I've ever had a go on a space harrier dlx, but how cool is that to find 2 of them.
A book all about raids would definitely be something I would love to read.
I had a stretch Armstrong (unless your reference was euphemism for c@@k of course...)
After pulling it too far and splitting it (the Armstrong that is) I couldn't resist having a taste of the goo inside and found out it was sweet, Probably corn syrup or something and hopefully not poison
Loving the cliffhangers in your stories, great job and still more rooms to go woohoo!
Just read, immense, immense, immense! Can't believe I've been there so many times over a good many years and all this was right under my nose! However, as people have said: nice they're not in a skip.
<edit> tho, thinking about it, that would need to be one bloody big skip.
tin2015-04-20 10:54:35
<edit> tho, thinking about it, that would need to be one bloody big skip.
tin2015-04-20 10:54:35
Part 5
Time is running out. Nobody appears to discuss this but the
group organically splits into 3 smaller groups; those clearing Room 3 (of which
I am one), those clearing Room 4 and lastly, those outside loading and arranging
the cabs onto the vans and trucks. This last part is like a giant game of
Tetris and after only 2 rooms, the amount of space that has been consumed is
worrying; there is a lot of stuff
here. A decision is made by the raid leaders to leave what are perhaps the less
desirable, incomplete, damaged and gambling or sticker printing cabs to one
side for a return trip at some point during the coming week. This is not an
easy choice to make as even these machines have screens in them or other
potentially useful parts. Outside, things are still remarkably organised; there
is a pile for scrap that the junk men have been booked to collect, a table for
parts that can’t be allocated to any particular machines and loose PCBs and another
area for non-arcade related items that will, at the end of the day, be
carefully returned back into storage. All of this is interconnected with bodies
walking, carrying and running back and forth from the remaining rooms, barking
orders at each other and occasionally stopping to remark on the condition of a
cab on its way to be loaded up.
Room 3 is dark and narrow and seems to consist primarily of
huge gambling machines that weigh a tonne; I grab one of the many sack trolleys
now dotted about and join the queue. Each of the 3 gambling monstrosities I
pull out seems to get progressively heavier and I panic when, half way to where
the gamblers are being lined up, one of the trolleys handles twists and rides
upwards trying to escape. The whole cab leans to one side and in what is
possibly the deftest action in my 41 years of being on this rock, I manage to
quickly rebalance before the thing plummets onto the concrete. Over by room 4,
cheers erupt. They are obviously having a far better time of it than I am, so I
line my load up with the rest and wander over massaging my wrist, which is now
on fire.
I arrive at room 4 just in time to see what all the fuss was
about as two Star Wars cockpits are
wheeled out in rapid succession! I’ve barely recovered from the shock of seeing
2 Space Harrier Dlx’s side by side and then this happens! Both cockpits are in
great condition but one in particular looks really
nice. Nice as in, barring the home use
only one that rocked up a couple of years back, ‘I-haven’t-seen-a-SW-cockpit
that nice before-nice.’ The reason for this becomes apparent as the daylight
hits the cab as it’s wheeled out; the entire thing is mounted on a plinth from
front to back. I have never seen
anything quite like it but the bespoke platform has protected the base of the
cockpit from any of the usual damage that all
cockpits get. With the super-vibrant US artwork too, it is quite simply a thing
of absolute beauty.
The cockpits had been boxed in by an Atari San Francisco Rush twin, a Tank upright, a multitude of Laserdisc
players (seriously, this guy must have bought every single laserdisc player
that came up in the last 10 years), a Baby
Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, Gauntlet II (very nice!), Klax and boxes and boxes of PCBs. Incredibly, there are also some
NoS control panels and boxed kits for various Sega and Atari games. It takes a
while to clear the boxes out and get to all of the cabs as the stacking leaves
a lot to be desired and well, nobody particularly
wants to have several dozen laserdisc players fall on them. That would hurt.
Right at the back of room 4 is a single solitary cab with its back to us,
fenced in by more boxes, more laserdisc players and about half a dozen pink
sticker print machines. The shape of the top half is very distinct and it’s
definitely Atari.
“Is that a….wait that’s
a……is it? I think it is!”
The cab in question is an Atari 720 Degrees.
The jaw-dropping is short-lived however when a commotion outside
sharply refocuses everyone’s attention. Several of us rush outside to see that
one half of the San Francisco Rush
twin has fallen on one of the raid crew. He is clutching his hand and obviously
hurt; blood drips from a cut and the mood switches to one of concern for our
friend. A number of people go to check if he is OK. It transpires that he is ‘a
right tough bastard’ though and amazingly, he returns inside to continue cab
shifting duties. That was too close.
Room 4 must be cleared in order to get to the entrance for
the final storage area, Room 5. All of the boxes need to be rummaged through first
though, to establish which contain arcade goodies and which are household, of
which there are a good number containing old VHS cassettes, clothing,
brick-a-brack and office equipment. We must be careful not to take this as the
deal is only for the arcade related items. I wheel a large laundry basket out into the light and begin methodically opening and checking contents.
Household. More household. Plant holders. I’m beginning to think we’ve seen all
of the treasure that room 4 has to offer.
“This is all junk; I’m
going to wheel it back inside..” I announce.
Over by the trucks a small group is gathering around what
looks to be a cocktail cab; its in a sorry state externally, with one leg
missing. The
team is currently trying to get the lid open to see if there are any internals.
“Get the crowbar…”
At best, we hope the cab contains a good condition monitor,
maybe an original board set or perhaps the PSU section is still intact. After
a good few tugs with the cab lay on its back (no pun intended!), the lid pops
open and the insides spill out onto the tarmac.
There is silence.
Then some giggling.
The cocktail cab is rammed
with 1980’s adult magazines; (Knave
and Club) and VHS cassettes. This was
somebody’s 'happy time' stash. Whoever it was obviously wanted a really happy time though, as underneath
the literature and tapes was secreted a large clear plastic bag…….
…….containing a massive dildo….
“F*ck me..”
Jodo2015-05-10 13:09:40
Time is running out. Nobody appears to discuss this but the
group organically splits into 3 smaller groups; those clearing Room 3 (of which
I am one), those clearing Room 4 and lastly, those outside loading and arranging
the cabs onto the vans and trucks. This last part is like a giant game of
Tetris and after only 2 rooms, the amount of space that has been consumed is
worrying; there is a lot of stuff
here. A decision is made by the raid leaders to leave what are perhaps the less
desirable, incomplete, damaged and gambling or sticker printing cabs to one
side for a return trip at some point during the coming week. This is not an
easy choice to make as even these machines have screens in them or other
potentially useful parts. Outside, things are still remarkably organised; there
is a pile for scrap that the junk men have been booked to collect, a table for
parts that can’t be allocated to any particular machines and loose PCBs and another
area for non-arcade related items that will, at the end of the day, be
carefully returned back into storage. All of this is interconnected with bodies
walking, carrying and running back and forth from the remaining rooms, barking
orders at each other and occasionally stopping to remark on the condition of a
cab on its way to be loaded up.
Room 3 is dark and narrow and seems to consist primarily of
huge gambling machines that weigh a tonne; I grab one of the many sack trolleys
now dotted about and join the queue. Each of the 3 gambling monstrosities I
pull out seems to get progressively heavier and I panic when, half way to where
the gamblers are being lined up, one of the trolleys handles twists and rides
upwards trying to escape. The whole cab leans to one side and in what is
possibly the deftest action in my 41 years of being on this rock, I manage to
quickly rebalance before the thing plummets onto the concrete. Over by room 4,
cheers erupt. They are obviously having a far better time of it than I am, so I
line my load up with the rest and wander over massaging my wrist, which is now
on fire.
I arrive at room 4 just in time to see what all the fuss was
about as two Star Wars cockpits are
wheeled out in rapid succession! I’ve barely recovered from the shock of seeing
2 Space Harrier Dlx’s side by side and then this happens! Both cockpits are in
great condition but one in particular looks really
nice. Nice as in, barring the home use
only one that rocked up a couple of years back, ‘I-haven’t-seen-a-SW-cockpit
that nice before-nice.’ The reason for this becomes apparent as the daylight
hits the cab as it’s wheeled out; the entire thing is mounted on a plinth from
front to back. I have never seen
anything quite like it but the bespoke platform has protected the base of the
cockpit from any of the usual damage that all
cockpits get. With the super-vibrant US artwork too, it is quite simply a thing
of absolute beauty.
The cockpits had been boxed in by an Atari San Francisco Rush twin, a Tank upright, a multitude of Laserdisc
players (seriously, this guy must have bought every single laserdisc player
that came up in the last 10 years), a Baby
Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, Gauntlet II (very nice!), Klax and boxes and boxes of PCBs. Incredibly, there are also some
NoS control panels and boxed kits for various Sega and Atari games. It takes a
while to clear the boxes out and get to all of the cabs as the stacking leaves
a lot to be desired and well, nobody particularly
wants to have several dozen laserdisc players fall on them. That would hurt.
Right at the back of room 4 is a single solitary cab with its back to us,
fenced in by more boxes, more laserdisc players and about half a dozen pink
sticker print machines. The shape of the top half is very distinct and it’s
definitely Atari.
“Is that a….wait that’s
a……is it? I think it is!”
The cab in question is an Atari 720 Degrees.
The jaw-dropping is short-lived however when a commotion outside
sharply refocuses everyone’s attention. Several of us rush outside to see that
one half of the San Francisco Rush
twin has fallen on one of the raid crew. He is clutching his hand and obviously
hurt; blood drips from a cut and the mood switches to one of concern for our
friend. A number of people go to check if he is OK. It transpires that he is ‘a
right tough bastard’ though and amazingly, he returns inside to continue cab
shifting duties. That was too close.
Room 4 must be cleared in order to get to the entrance for
the final storage area, Room 5. All of the boxes need to be rummaged through first
though, to establish which contain arcade goodies and which are household, of
which there are a good number containing old VHS cassettes, clothing,
brick-a-brack and office equipment. We must be careful not to take this as the
deal is only for the arcade related items. I wheel a large laundry basket out into the light and begin methodically opening and checking contents.
Household. More household. Plant holders. I’m beginning to think we’ve seen all
of the treasure that room 4 has to offer.
“This is all junk; I’m
going to wheel it back inside..” I announce.
Over by the trucks a small group is gathering around what
looks to be a cocktail cab; its in a sorry state externally, with one leg
missing. The
team is currently trying to get the lid open to see if there are any internals.
“Get the crowbar…”
At best, we hope the cab contains a good condition monitor,
maybe an original board set or perhaps the PSU section is still intact. After
a good few tugs with the cab lay on its back (no pun intended!), the lid pops
open and the insides spill out onto the tarmac.
There is silence.
Then some giggling.
The cocktail cab is rammed
with 1980’s adult magazines; (Knave
and Club) and VHS cassettes. This was
somebody’s 'happy time' stash. Whoever it was obviously wanted a really happy time though, as underneath
the literature and tapes was secreted a large clear plastic bag…….
…….containing a massive dildo….
“F*ck me..”
Jodo2015-05-10 13:09:40
gridrunner
Ex-lurker!
did this gear have anything to do with XY Man? The number of neo print machines made me wonder. That was his main 'business' and the array of grail artefacts arrayed around them. Many of these games where in his old lock up in Salford - the holoseum for example. Perhaps he never got round to exporting them to the US?!!
gridrunner
Ex-lurker!
that san francisco rush. This might well be XY's stash..
gridrunner
Ex-lurker!
i've been off the board for a bit and I'm just wrapping my head around this thread. I'm so happy this stuff has been found and delighted for you guys. The prodigal stash has been found. It's all very Indiana Jones!
It deserves a museum or arcade setting up to house it. If this is the stash I think it is then it's the mother lode.
It deserves a museum or arcade setting up to house it. If this is the stash I think it is then it's the mother lode.
Darth Nuno
User
- Credits
- 43CR
gridrunner said:
XY Man...this rings a bell to me... I don't know him, but I have heard of him looooooooong time ago ... because he was a guy who also got... a Galaxian Theater in UK! That could explain the G3 parts found there. Is there a way to contact him, I would like to know the story behind theses G3 parts.
gridrunner
Ex-lurker!
I'd love to see the Holosseum back in action if that ever gets into a fixable state.
Knave, might be. If anyone wants some retro 'bit of the other' scans, PM me
Knave, might be. If anyone wants some retro 'bit of the other' scans, PM me