Roller coaster model built by boy

Budding engineer James Morgan may be only nine, but he has taken his passion for white knuckle rides to the extreme by building his own working model.

James, a pupil at Gaer Junior School in Newport, south Wales got the idea after riding on the Speed attraction at Oakwood in Pembrokeshire.

The enterprising youngster built his own version with a K'nex set and posted a video of it on the Youtube.

But he admitted he has not even been on the real rollercoaster yet.

"I've been interested in roller coaster rides since I was five and I want to become an engineer so that I can build funfair rides," said James.

"I have built lots of rides and roller coasters using K'nex and sometimes Lego, they run on battery-powered motors."

He said the rollercoaster model took him about 10 hours to build.

But he admitted: "I haven't been on the real one yet but I love Megafobia which is another ride at Oakwood."

James's father Anthony believes his son's construction skills may be something he has inherited from his grandparents.

"Both his granddads worked with steel construction so perhaps it's in the genes.

"We're really proud of James and it's fascinating to watch him work - the only problem is the mess he makes," he said.

"As he's still quite young he doesn't actually go on many of the big rides but just watches them and when he gets home, try to recreate them," he added.

James's video was spotted on the web by staff at the theme park who were amazed at the detail and level of accuracy of his model.

Marketing manager Stephanie Churchard said: "You often get videos about Oakwood posted on Youtube but this was the first time any of us had seen such an incredible working model.

"James's version is virtually identical to the full size Speed and even includes the beyond vertical drop which is the section that makes the ride unique in the UK and so popular with visitors.

"We're hoping he'll be inspired to build models of some of our other rides and, who knows, in a few year's time it sounds like he could well be designing the real thing," added Ms Churchard.

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Oakwood Theme Park
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