Nostalgia & History > 9 years ago, end of the Circus Train

December 6, 2016 saw the last Circus Train to run down the CSX CE&D sub. The last show of the year would always be in Indianapolis, IN and the train would head west to Terre Haute then turn south onto the CE&D sub for run to Florida and I would always try and catch it here in Southwest IN. I think the actual last show was in May of 2017.
Here is my video I put together back in 2021 of the Circus Trains I have filmed. Also my photo of the train near Haubstadt, IN Dec. 2012. The other photo with the hand wave is by Mike Snow. Mike might have written this piece, I just can't remember so credit to whom it is due.
Brian V.
Vincennes, IN

"With the wave of the hand it is gone and never to return".
"It began in 1871 as P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome. It survived the Depression, two world wars and the new media of its time. But on May 21, 2017 the world's most historic circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, will shut down after failing to sufficiently dazzle the children of the smartphone age and to overcome the fierce opposition of the animal rights movement, which does not want to see animals in the circus. Backstage and from the bleachers during a four-day run in Washington, the frenzied spectacle of today is still rooted in its 19th century traditions, with a dash of the modern mixed in. Clowns flop. Trapezists fly. Wild animals jump. Contortionists bend. Horses gallop. Tightrope walkers wobble.
But ticket sales, which had been declining for a decade, plummeted last year, when the elephants left the ring for the last time.
Feld Entertainment in Manatee County, which owns Ringling, spent years battling animal rights groups and accusations of elephant abuse. The circus never lost in court; it won a total of $25 million in two settlements from animal rights groups and beat back allegations that it had mistreated elephants with chains and bullhooks.
"We won in court — and obviously in the court of public opinion, we didn't prevail," said Kenneth Feld, the 69-year-old chairman and chief executive of Feld Entertainment, which bought the circus in 1967. In an unforgiving marketplace, he said, it just became too hard for the circus to hold on to its most crucial fans: wide-eyed kids and their nostalgic parents.Now, in its last days, the men and women who have dedicated years to an enterprise that felt eternal are looking back with pride, grief and a sense of disbelief that "the greatest show on Earth" is going dark for good".



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/25 14:09 by CSX2605.

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Has it been that long ago?  It just seems like yesterday that I was trackside while watching it go through Williams Loop.  Geez!

This was a favorite train of mine and I was fortunate enough to see it several times when they played in the 1980s in Champaign, IL. It would park on a siding near the University of Illinois power plant and they performed at the Assembly Hall. I also saw them for the last time in Chicago in November 2015 and got good pictures of the train at their parking place on the Belt Railway of Chicago. My daughter lived in Elmhurst at the time and we went with her family to see them at the United Center. I even still have my N-Scale Micro-Trains version of the train on display in my office. They also came through this area on the NS Decaur line giving me a few more opportunities to see the train. This was a facination operation that unfortunately came to an end.

Bruce Stikkers
St. Jospeh, IL

Great presentation added by the Pat Metheny music!

I have been watching your videos on the RBBB train(s) since they were posted; excellent coverage!  All of us on the show(s) miss that life and stay in touch via various internet sites -- and videos like yours are always found with great affection and wonderment that we witnessed that from on board.  Both RBBB trains were about 20 cars longer than Auto Train, making them both the longest passenger trains in world history.  That's enough of an eyebrow-raiser for anyone, railfan or not.

Thanks for those beautiful memories!

Here are a few images taken by show personnel on various train-runs across the continent:
(1) Blue Unit on the Huey P. Long Bridge (Jack Burill pic)
(2) About to depart Richmond, Va.  The MIDDLE of the train is way back beside the apartment buidling in the distance (pic by Joe G, from trackside - he allowed permission to share this image when he first posted it some years ago)
(3) Employee Tatton Jacob took this photo "somewhere out west" showing how astonishingly BRIGHT the lights were above the coach vestibules.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/25 17:47 by rbx551985.

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A FEW MORE:
---Blue Unit along the Pacific Coast (on a San Diego run)
---Blue Unit's Gen. Manager Mike Melssen took this one from the coaches GOING UNDER THE FLATS on Tehachapi Loop.
---Another pic from Tatton Jacob, showing the Blue Unit rolling along in MEXICO

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A couple of shots from the SHOW, too, with one more from the train:
---The last week of the show in May 2017, we're seen playing with kitty cats backstage at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island (that's cat-trainer/star Alexander Lacey at left and Yours Truly at right)
---A shot from the finale of THE SHOW (a photo taken by Ringmaster David Shipman)
---Nikki Robinson took this one of the Red Unit, rolling across the Tampa Bypass Canal in Tampa, Florida

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rbx551985 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have been watching your videos on the RBBB
> train(s) since they were posted; excellent
> coverage!  All of us on the show(s) miss that
> life and stay in touch via various internet sites
> -- and videos like yours are always found with
> great affection and wonderment that we witnessed
> that from on board.  Both RBBB trains were about
> 20 cars longer than Auto Train, making them both
> the longest passenger trains in world history. 
> That's enough of an eyebrow-raiser for anyone,
> railfan or not.
>
> Thanks for those beautiful memories!
>
Thank you, I really appreciate it. You folks on the train always gave a hearty wave when passing by. That night shot reminded me of the time they needed to water the elephants/animals so the train pulled into Decker siding which is just south of me. Everyone was so friendly and good conversations were had about the circus and the animals. Word spread quickly around Decker of the train and many families show up with thier kids enjoying the sights. Thanks for the beautiful memories.

---I took this shot of the Blue Unit arriving in Newport News, Va. yard in Spring 2012.  The first HALF of the train is all that is yet seen emerging from the trees in the distance.
---Both RBBB trains passing in opposite directions (Joe Colossa, I believe, took this shot)
---"Meatwad" (Red Unit's mascot) watches the world go by from one of the train-steps in a vestibule.   This guy had his own Facebook page!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/25 15:19 by rbx551985.

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By the early 20-teens, the two trains had had enough cars ADDED since the Feld Famiy bought the show that they had:

---39 passenger cars + 21 piggyback flats on the RED UNIT, and
---40 passenger cars + 21 piggyback flats on the BLUE UNIT.

Now THAT'S A LOOOOONG PAIR OF TRAINS!