Passenger Trains > Reflecting On The Circus Train

One of what I'm sure will be many trips down memory lane with the circus train — crossing Alameda Creek at Niles on the way to San Jose in 2012.

I'm not really surprised, but I am stunned and somewhat speechless by today's news. Ringling Brothers has been part of my life since my parents first took me to see the circus at the Cow Palace in San Francisco when I was 4 or 5.

I was fortunate to ride the circus train twice. And I was beyond fortunate to be able to chase it as often as I did. Last year, I caught both the Red and Blue units, and chased them both. I'm sure glad I did.

---

Saw it once at FEC crossing, Boynton Beach Blvd, N. Bound, here in Boynton Beach, about 3 years ago. Totally surprised to see it and wasn't able to get my camera out quick enough.

In addition to PETA, you can also blame today's tech enviromnent. Short attention spans. Everything is on the phones. Kids addicted to games with much less social interaction than when we were kids. Why go to a circus? You can see the same thing on  you tube all day long. Wonder what will happen to all those specialty passenger cars?

Who wants to go see a circus when you can just stay home, safely locked in, watching true crime stories on your personal mobile device?  Nope, you can't convince me that anything is getting better in this World.   Good luck, kids!

Ed

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ringling-bros-circus-shutting-down-20170114-story.html

The federal government should step in and save RBBB for circus fans as was done with the Amtrak circus.

What we need is for the government to stay out of everybodys business.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In addition to PETA, you can also blame today's
> tech enviromnent. Short attention spans.
> Everything is on the phones. Kids addicted to
> games with much less social interaction than when
> we were kids. Why go to a circus? You can see the
> same thing on  you tube all day long. Wonder what
> will happen to all those specialty passenger cars?
​As it was mentioned in another thread, all of the cars were converted at one time or another for circus use only. Sadly they wont be worth much. ( too high of cost to convert them back to original)

As it was mentioned in another thread, all of the cars were converted at one time or another for specific circus use. Sadly they wont worth much. ( too high of cost to convert back to original condition) What a shame.

wmry202 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As it was mentioned in another thread, all of the
> cars were converted at one time or another for
> specific circus use. Sadly they wont worth much. (
> too high of cost to convert back to original
> condition) What a shame.

The trucks alone are worth a large amount if money. RBBB long ago adopted Amtrak specs for trucks, wheels, draft gears, and a long list of others. All carbodies are in excellent structural condition, so conversions are not impossible.

Think about it: not only are they on excellent running gear, they have modern wiring and plumbing, too, not to mention HVAC.

Think what a great exhibit/display train it could be made into.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/17 18:25 by Realist.

The cars themselves would be in better shape than most cars you can aquire these days. The interior is actually the easy part if the car is structurally sound. It also could depend on how modular the construction the circus used is.

Maybe some train loving millionaire will by it and turn it into a land based version of "The World."

Circus Train and the LIRR:

http://arrts-arrchives.com/circus1.html

sorry they're not doing a "farewell tour"...could make some $$$
p2

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In addition to PETA, you can also blame today's
> tech enviromnent. Short attention spans.
> Everything is on the phones. Kids addicted to
> games with much less social interaction than when
> we were kids. Why go to a circus? You can see the
> same thing on  you tube all day long. Wonder what
> will happen to all those specialty passenger cars?

Maybe the Circus will revive in the future with animal-robots using artificial intelligence. There will be opposition by the PETC (pronounced PTC), People for the Ethical Treatment of Computers.

I love walstib's reflection shot, don't you?