Another iconic mainstay of railroad history is about to pass on to history. The famous Ringling Brother's Circus train will roll no more...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/01/14/ringling-bros-circus-close-after-146-years/96606820/
I have had quite a few encounters with the famous train during my years in the Cleveland area. It was always a fascinating sight to see the train unloaded and the elephants and circus wagons parade from the railroad yard to the arena.
Sad to see its passing...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fan-t/albums/72157675074671831
The most recent time I saw the train roll by it had fifty-five cars!
Regards, Ed
I am not a circus person. And I don't like clowns.
But I did take my kids to the circus back in the '70's. Ya know, it really was pretty darn cool. I/we saw those guys with the tigers that sorta wanted to kill them. And all that. And the clowns and their cars, etc.
So.
I do say that I'm sad to see them go. Not for me (as I said above), but because they were an important part of life: bring wonder to the backwaters of humanity.
No offense, backwaters.
Ed
I have never felt comfortable watching trained animals perform. The circumstances in which they are held are inhumane. I hope the circus animals find their way to proper sanctuarys.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Well, my slant on the whole thing was the railroad operations and the role that the railroads performed in moving that whole ensemble pretty efficiently.
I'll miss seeing the train(s) passing through town.
Ed,I agree..Those trains was a city on rails complete with a school for the performer's children.The train rolled through Bucyrus 2-3 times a year. The earliest I recall seeing this train was around 7:00 am on its way to Columbus.
One of the saddest things I ever read was the RBB&B big top fire in Hartford Connecticut in 1942.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I still remember back in the fall of 1999 when I was moving from my apartment in Ashland, Ohio back to my parents' house in Bucyrus to get back on my feet after loosing my job in a layoff. The drive took me through Crestline on each trip of taking a load of my stuff in my parents' SUV. On the drives, I always kept my scanner with me and had it on when going through Crestline to see anything interesting was coming through. On the one trip, I heard something about the circus train stopped to take on water. I detoured to the crossing just south of the Fort Wayne line, and on the southeast transfer track were two former Conrail locomotives stopped. I couldn't see the rest of the train, but when it departed and headed south towards Galion, it was indeed the circus train, the first and only time I'd seen either of the trains in person. I remember seeing elephant trunks hanging out a couple of the doors and some employees at the vestibule doors watching the scenery and waving as they went past. Wish I would have had my camera with me that day.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
What killed the circus is the fact that they changed TOO MUCH! I went a few years ago and it could hardly be called a circus more like a overrated musical or such. Its very sad to see it go. But hopefully it will not be lost forever!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!