Western Railroad Discussion > RBBB Red--Sept. 13/14--Denver CO to St. Louis MO

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS
http://www.Ringling.com
151.625 is the Circus Train Operations radio frequency.

Circus Train Yahoo Group:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CircusTrain/
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SEPT. 13 /14 (Tues./Wed.) RED UNIT Train-Run from Denver CO to St. Louis MO.  (Train arrival expected between midnight Sept. 13 and dawn Sept. 14.) 

2015 Red Unit Circus Train:
---60 Cars (39 conventional passenger-type cars; 21 TTX-[type] piggyback flats)
---4,370 Tons (when fully loaded)
---5,320 Feet (WITHOUT host RR's power attached; 1 mile = 5,280 feet)  

RED UNIT -- 145th Edition -- "CIRCUS XTREME" -- on the FIRST half of its 2-year tour.
SEE: http://www.ringling.com/SectionLandingPage.aspx?id=46818
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Current RBBB rail-tour Edition Numbers for the two railroad shows, Red (and Blue), are measured from the show's first year, 1871. Train-run ["jump"] dates presume each train departs the morning [or day] after the closing performance date. RBBB Circus Trains can change scheduled routing and departure time without notice.

2015 RED UNIT – 145th EDITION of THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH – “CIRCUS XTREME” - YEAR ONE: Towns below show where this tour is so far set with time-gaps showing where other venues are yet to be added:
 
ALREADY PLAYED:
Tampa, FL: Jan. 1 – 4
Orlando, FL: Jan. 8 – 11
Jacksonville, FL: Jan. 15 – 18
Birmingham, AL: Jan. 2 – 25
Greenville, SC: Jan. 28 – Feb. 1
Greensboro, NC: Feb. 4 – 8 
Philadelphia, PA: Feb. 11 – 16
Brooklyn, NY: Feb. 19 – Mar. 1
Uniondale NY [Nassau, Long Island]: Mar. 4 – 8
Newark, NJ: Mar. 12 – 15
E. Rutherford, NJ: Mar. 18 – 22
Huntsville, AL: Mar. 26 - 29
Columbia, SC: Apr. 2 - 5
Norfolk, VA: Apr. 9 - 12
Hampton, VA: Apr. 15 - 19
Columbus, OH: Apr. 23 – 26 
Providence, RI: Apr. 30 – May 3
Hartford, CT: May 6 - 10
Trenton, NJ: May 13 – 17
Hershey, PA: May 20 – 25
Omaha, NE: May 29 - 31
Colorado Springs, CO: June 4 - 7
Las Vegas, NV: June 11 - 14
Tucson, AZ: June 18 - 21
Phoenix, AZ: June 24 - 29
Fresno, CA: July 2 - 6
Los Angeles, CA: July 9 - 14
Ontario, CA: July 17 - 21
Anaheim, CA: July 24 - Aug. 2
San Diego, CA: Aug. 6 - 9
Oakland, CA: Aug. 13 - 17
San Jose, CA: Aug. 20 - 30
San Francisco, CA: Sept. 3 - 7
Bakersfield, CA: Sept. 10 - 13
Sacramento, CA: Sept. 17 - 20
Salt Lake City, UT: Sept. 24 - 28

PLAYING NOW:
Denver, CO: Oct. 1 - 12 
 
PLAYING NEXT:
St. Louis, MO: Oct. 16 - 18
Cleveland, OH: Oct. 21 - 25
Toledo, OH: Oct. 29 - Nov. 1
Rosemont, IL: Nov. 5 - 15
Chicago, IL: Nov. 18 - 29
Indianapolis, IN: Dec. 3 - 6

Already, towns for the Red Unit's SECOND year with the (Red Unit's) 145th Edition are being confirmed, one by one: 
Miami, FL: Jan. 8 - 18, 2016
Columbia, SC: Jan. 21 - 24, 2016
Charlotte, NC:  Jan. 27 - 31, 2016
Raleigh, NC: Feb. 3 - 7, 2016
Atlanta, GA: Feb. 10 - 15, 2016
Duluth, GA:  Feb. 18 - 28, 2016
Cincinnati, OH: Mar. 3 - 6, 2016
Richmond, VA: Mar. 10 - 13, 2016
Baltimore, MD: Mar. 16 - 27, 2016
Washington, DC: Mar. 31 - Apr. 3, 2016
Fairfax, VA: Apr. 6 - 17, 2016
Wilkes-Barre, PA: Apr. 28 - May 1, 2016
Hartford, CT: May 11 - 15, 2016

Car number for tracing or UP symbol for those of us near St. Louis?

Posted from Android

oct

Thank you for the post on the RBBB Red unit.  Is there any information on proposed route ... or probable departure time from Denver???

Thanks

Odyssey
Evergreen, CO

The last show at Denver is tomorrow afternoont 1300 hrs so probably an early Tuesday morning departure after Amtrak 5 leaves.

Odyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you for the post on the RBBB Red unit.  Is
> there any information on proposed route ... or
> probable departure time from Denver???
>
> Thanks
>
> Odyssey
> Evergreen, CO

I would also appreciate any route or schedule information.

As far as route goes, I'm going to guess (and it is purely a guess -- I have no information source) eastbound out of Denver via the KP Line -- Denver, Sharon Springs, KS, Salina, KS, Kansas City (sorry -- I don't remember the subdivision names, and don't have a map handy). Then beyond KC on the ex-MP River Sub from KC to Jefferson City, and the ex-MP Jefferson City Sub from Jeff City to St. Louis.

If the latter portion east of KC proves to be correct, and if it is in daylight, it could afford some nice opportunities for photos of the train with fall color. The route east of KC is all in the Missouri River valley, and the track location is below tall, forested bluffs on most of the route that can provide a wonderful, colorful backdrop. That said, it is not a "chaseable" route. Pick your location or two, and that will likely be it.

If this route is used east of KC, there will be probably be the usual quick crew change at Jefferson City, but other than possible delays, the train will move briskly. UP uses directional running east of KC to Jeff City, with eastbounds on the River Sub via Lexington and Boonville, and westbounds on the Sedalia Sub via Warrensburg and Sedalia well to the south. This keeps things moving along. East of Jeff City all the way to St. Louis is double track CTC. Again, things move briskly due to this operating pattern. With relatively few closely paralleling roads, and then only for relatively short segments, this is a "pick your spot" kind of routing.

The bluffs are all on the south side of the track, and the track is typically very close to the base of the bluffs. That means, at this time of year (when the sun has shifted to the south), that the track can go into shadow early in the day. An overcast day can actually help, both in eliminating the shadows, and intensifying the fall color in a dry autumn when full sun can wash out the color. The forecast, though, is for bright and sunny conditions all week. If you pick your spot, consider using the Photographer's Ephemeris (http://photoephemeris.com/) to estimate the sun angle and shadow effect of the bluffs at your desired location. Another technique is to work with your topo maps and find gaps in the bluff line where there is an intersecting perpendicular valley, usually by a creek or river. This can open up both sides of the track to sunlight. There is also a long section on the River Sub where the track "goes inland" to take a rough diagonal away from the big bend that the Missouri makes in the middle of the state. This section, from Grand Pass (east of Waverly) to Lamine (near I-70 west of Boonville) is much more open,  and crosses some beautiful farming country with forested sections. This section could also afford for the same reason open views that would allow a lot of the length of the big RBBB train to be seen. US 65 and some county roads (which have lettered designations in Missouri) intersect and parallel at several locations. There is also a portion of the River Sub south of I-70 where the Missouri's valley and the track is more north-south in orientation, opening up some nice views with morning-to-midday sun at a few locations. But be advised that paralleling Mo. Hwy. 179 is very hilly and curvy, and is no road on which to mount a chase.

It's mostly green still in mid-Missouri, but the trees are starting to show tinges of color here and there, and it may be only a few days before the color starts to pop a bit. It would be a little early for mid-Missouri, but the extremely wet spring and early summer has been followed by a long dry spell, and vegetation everywhere is looking really parched. My guess, as one who loves autumn and follows the leaf color change closely every year, is that it may be one of those years in which the color is early and quick. We had a similar weather pattern some years back when I lived in southeastern Missouri, and literally one day it was still mostly green and parched-looking, and then the next day there was color everywhere. Just like that. It was the fastest change I could ever recall. But regrettably, it all lasted only a few days before it quickly went to brown, and the leaves dropped soon thereafter. In my experience, "wet then dry" years can be like that in Missouri.

Wherever you might go to get images of this movement, good luck. And as always, respect railroad and private property, and safety first!

MC
Columbia, Missouri