Eastern Railroad Discussion > Circus train and giraffe question

My curious cousin would like to know how giraffes ride on circus train. She remembers a cartoon from her youth where the giraffe's head sticks out from a hole in the roof. Fearing an unfortunate ride through tunnels she wondered how it really worked. I suggested they ride in dome cars or perhaps a baggage car with head bent. Anyone know "the rest of the story"?

I don't think RB&BB has giraffes. Elephants and ponies, oh my, but I've never seen a giraffe. Only on Lionel Lines !!!

There is a scene in the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that depicts a circuis train complete with giraffes (and lots of reptiles... ewwwww). I always thought that might be a representation of a fictional event.

BTW, what railroad was that? Colorado or NM I assume.

Later...
Jollymon

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> I don't think RB&BB has giraffes. Elephants and
> ponies, oh my, but I've never seen a giraffe.
> Only on Lionel Lines !!!


I saw giraffes at the RB&BB circus in Madison Square Garden in the early sixties. Don't know if they came by train though.

No girraffes when they unloaded the train the last few times in Oklahoma City, just the elephants and horses (and zebras, etc). No holes in the roof, don't think that would be too comforatable for the animals!

Some lines would have plenty of vegetation. <G>

TriangleRoute Wrote:
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> No girraffes when they unloaded the train the last
> few times in Oklahoma City, just the elephants and
> horses (and zebras, etc). No holes in the roof,
> don't think that would be too comforatable for the
> animals!

Jollymon Wrote:
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> There is a scene in the beginning of Indiana Jones
> and the Last Crusade that depicts a circuis train
> complete with giraffes (and lots of reptiles...
> ewwwww). I always thought that might be a
> representation of a fictional event.
>
> BTW, what railroad was that? Colorado or NM I
> assume.
>
> Later...
> Jollymon

I think that, like many Hollywood movies, that was the Sierra Railroad, although other scenes for that opening sequence were shot in the Southwest.

PETA has forced the circus to put helmets on the giraffes......and train (no pun intended) them to respond to the word "duck" (even though they are giraffes)

I heard that the real reason why there are no more giraffes is that there was no room for them on the train. The elephant's trunks took up too much space! Okay, I admit that was bad. :^}

Wow, and I'm told MY sense of humor was outrageous. LOL! In the past, RBBB has had such animals on the train. In fact, if I recall the year correctly, I once saw one of those long-necked creatures in one stock car in (??) 1983 when the Red show arrived in Richmond VA. But these days, at least since then, neither RBBB performance has giraffes. That doesn't mean they CAN'T; only that they haven't for at least a couple a decades. For transportation: I suspect that if either RR show has such animals in the future, they would be sent overland in a special truck, instead of on the train - simply for the need to keep the 4 stock cars per Circus Train for elephants, horses, zebras, dogs and such similar animals. AGAIN: that option's easily changed, if the needs dictate.

Thanks for all the info. Now I know what I'll do when my RR career is over--I'll run away and join the circus (train).

Here's a thought. What's the distance from the floor of a double stack well car to the clearance level? I would think a single well car might well fit a special container for a giraffe. Or how about when Amtrak gets all that money and re-equips all the Superliner routes and the old cars become surplus? I think the lounge car would do well for a pair of giraffes.

Actually I think I'll send a picture of the CZ rear end dome car and tell her it is designed for giraffes and their handlers. We'll see if she buys that.

allblack Wrote:
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> Thanks for all the info. Now I know what I'll do
> when my RR career is over--I'll run away and join
> the circus (train).

THEY'RE ALWAYS HIRING.....

> Here's a thought. What's the distance from the
> floor of a double stack well car to the clearance
> level? I would think a single well car might well
> fit a special container for a giraffe. Or how
> about when Amtrak gets all that money and
> re-equips all the Superliner routes and the old
> cars become surplus? I think the lounge car would
> do well for a pair of giraffes.

Practical reason against "high" cars for RBBB: The ruling clearance for both trains is the current Amtrak NEC Tunnel through Penn Station (New York City): both RBBB trains must clear that (including overhead catenary wire) to get into/out of that region - to/from Long Island, etc. But your comment DOES raise an interesting question: when their current "Streamliner-era" cars finally do get "too old" to roll, what then?
>
> Actually I think I'll send a picture of the CZ
> rear end dome car and tell her it is designed for
> giraffes and their handlers. We'll see if she
> buys that.

Dome car "SILVER LARIAT" on the Blue Unit Circus Train, Sept. 1998:
http://gelwood.railfan.net/cbq/cbq-silver-lariat.jpg

RBBB: "There were two moves made [with this car added to the train]: one was from Houston to Dallas, and the other was from Portland to Salt Lake City. The purpose was to take media folks along...."

cinder Wrote:
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> PETA has forced the circus to put helmets on the
> giraffes......and train (no pun intended) them to
> respond to the word "duck" (even though they are
> giraffes)

I am sure they would still have problems with the catenary on the northeast corridor :)

AJ

the railroad was CUMBRES AND TOLTEC SCENIC RR

I once pulled one of the RBBB circus trains from Jackson Mi, to Lansing Mi, and I believe I can shed some light on the giraffe question. In inbound crew informed me everything was OK and that the bricks were in the second unit. When I inquired about the "bricks" it was explained that the giraffes were in the first animal cars behind the power and that every now and then they would indeed stick their heads and neck up through the provided opening in the car. 98% of the time that would impose no problems because there are no bridges low enough to affect them, but there are a couple of spots where there are some low hanging utility lines. That where the bricks come into play. The Head Brakeman would go back to the giraffe car, secure the two bricks and proceed to a spot underneath the giraffe and bring the two bricks together in a rather abrupt fashion making sure that two rather vital parts of the giraffe were between the bricks thereupon causing the animal to suddenly lower it's head and neck in response to the rather attention-getting result of having ones two you-know-what's caught between two bricks thus avoiding the animals head fouling anything low obstruction. (I fell for it hook-line-and-sinker!)

William Wilson
St. Johns, MI

My hat is off to anyone who can work with giraffes. The ones I dealt with were easily scared and they have the ability to kick out in any direction with any leg. Not a good combination. They have been known to kill lions in the wild.

They loved banana leaves and would easily strip them off the stem.

Fascinating animals, but not very predictable.