ELLENTON, Fla. — When the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus drops its big top for the last time in May, the classic passenger cars and equipment it moves by rail will return to Florida to face an uncertain future.
In a late Saturday news release, managers with Ringling parent company Feld Entertainment say high operating costs and declining ticket sales are forcing them to stop both “Red” and “Blue” tours of the circus in May. The company’s Red unit will make its final performance in Providence, R.I., on May 7 and the Blue unit will finish up in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21.
Stephen Payne, vice president of corporate communications at Feld Entertainment, tells Trains News Wire that both the Red and Blue trainsets will be deadheaded to Florida at the end of their tours. Payne says a final disposition for the trains and associated equipment has yet to be determined.
The Red unit consists of 54 cars: 34 coaches and 20 flat cars. The Blue unit includes 35 coaches and 21 equipment flat cars. Each unit travels independently across North America.
In addition, the company has five equipment flat cars and three passenger coaches in storage, while six stock cars previously used to haul elephants and other animals are also in storage near the company’s headquarters in Palmetto, Fla.
The company owns and operates more than 120 railcars and is among the largest passenger car operators in North America. The cars operate under “RBBX” reporting marks.
Between 250 and 300 performers and other circus workers travel on each of the two circus trains for more than 40 weeks each year.
Both trains recently started their 2017 tours. The Red unit is in Orlando, Fla., and will be traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., for shows the week of Jan. 16, while the Blue unit will be leaving Miami on Sunday, Jan. 16 headed for Birmingham, Ala.
The Red unit will use CSX Transportation rails to get to Jacksonville, while the Blue unit will travel Florida East Coast rails once departing Miami.
The decision to eliminate both circus trains comes in the wake of the circus’ 2016 announcement to stop using elephants in shows. The elephant stock cars have been in storage in Florida since being removed from the train last summer.
The circus, which owners have billed the “Greatest Show on Earth,” has roots in Delevan, Wis., that date to 1875 with a traveling circus headlined by P.T. Barnum; and a separate circus started by Baraboo, Wis.’s Ringling Brothers in 1884. The Ringlings bought Barnum & Bailey in 1907 and officially merged the operations in 1919. The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis., displays circus and railroad artifacts from the early years of circus entertainment.
On Sunday, Circus World Museum Executive Director Scott O’Donnell fielded a continuous steam of media queries. In an interview, he said the museum would welcome rolling stock from the current circus trains.
“This comes as an absolute surprise,” he said about the decision to end the show. “It’s not only the end of an American institution, it’s also the end of an American brand that’s been around longer than baseball, and around longer than Coca-Cola. They’re all iconic American imagery.”
— Jim Wrinn contributed to this report.
UPDATE: Comments from Circus World Museum executive director. Jan. 15, 2016, 6:37 p.m. Central time.
CORRECTION: The circus train cars’ reporting marks are RBBX. The marks were incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this article. Jan. 15, 2016, 6:38 p.m. Central time.
& PETA forcing the RB/B&B to eliminate the elephants from the circus.
Hopefully that Circus World museum or any major railroad museum like the California Railroad Museum or Steamtown USA or the B&O Railroad Museum or any other Railroad Museum picks up the Ringling Bros/ Barnum and Bailey Circus trains either intact or by rail car. These are a historical American icon that shouldn’t be scrapped!
Let’s face it, a circus is not a CIRCUS without elephants. There may be a lot of reasons why this circus is quitting, but the absence of elephants has to be among the leading causes. The loss of this form of Americana is a tragedy on many levels. Rest in peace you fine entertainers.
Mr. Smith, if you don’t like the comments that contain political references then don’t read them. Government has grown to involve itself in almost all aspects of our personal lives and is inseparable from most issues. It was a business decision to close the circus but that decision was driven by politics as Mr. Jeffries pointed out. . You must be a liberal because liberals don’t like to hear ideas and comments that they don’t agree with. Most liberals I know are very close minded.
Another great American being shut down. This time animal rights activist caused it. Look out ZOO,S etc.
ODD. A STORY IN THE JACKSONVILEL (FL) TIMES-UNION SPOTLIGHTS ON THE FIRST FEMALE RINGMASTER (RINGMISTRESS?? RINGPERSON??) IN RB&BB CIRCUS HISTORY. NOW A PARALLEL STORY ABOUT SHUTTING THE WHOLE THING DOWN.
Perhaps if you would watch the news Mr. Smith, you would have seen the comments from the Feld family that it was the drop in attendence after the elephants were removed from the show and the knowledge that PETA was going to continue their attacks on the remaining animal acts that led to the business decision to close, so yes, the eco-terrorists and plant munchers did indeed kill the circus.
Nice how the article points out that RBB makes a business decision based on declining ticket sales and the political trolls turn it into a mindless rants about imaginary eco-enemies. We need a proper review of comments to meet the guidelines of being “on-topic”, or run Newswire without comments.
I notice one of the comments says none of the fleet retains fluted (corrugated) siding. Unless that has changed within the past year, Ringling still operates at least a few corrugated side Budd cars.
If you didn’t attend the circus the last time it was in your area, then that’s why the show is closing… same applies to your family, friends, neighbors, etc. It’s easy to blames others. I haven’t attended a RBBB circus since I was kid and had no real desire to see it as an adult (and it wasn’t for the lack of elephants). So I guess I’m part of the problem.
Very sad another part of Americana dies.
For those that have never seen the inside of the cars, they are definitely not Amtrak ready. The cars have their insides customized based upon the contracts with the various performers. Some cars may have half their space for one performer or family. They are set up with multiple spaces just like an RV, in fact, that is the concept they use. Other cars have smaller rooms that are simply a bedroom, or even shared rooms. Other cars are set up as the “Pie Car” (dining car) with tables down the middle or booths like a diner. There are shower and restroom cars, etc. There are also some great generator cars that power the entire train (two major gen sets in really sound-proof rooms within the cars), that may have the most value.
The interior of some cars are changed every two years when the show (red or blue) returns and is redesigned. The windows and other parts are unique, and I’ve bought pallet loads of the more traditional railroad windows from them over the years. The stock cars have also been customized based upon the animals that use them. For example, the elephant cars have feed racks and watering systems. I was inside one once with the elephants trying to rescue a handler when an elephant fell over on him during transit, and it was like no baggage car that I had ever been in (the elephants really helped make it that way). Other animals travel in larger cages, and the cars were designed to slide those cages in and out easily.
For PVs, most of these cars will be a challenge. Luxury is a seldom-used term in the circus, and the cars are pretty day-to-day basic. While the shells are in great shape, the interiors will certainly require work and redesign for most to be used for anything beyond a circus train, summer cabin, or display at a circus museum.
These are unique trains serving a unique purpose. Don’t think that they can be immediately used for other purposes.
I agree with Mr. Jeffries, the “eco-terrorists and plant munchers win again”. The wack-jobs continue to destroy this country with their idiocy and the stupid politicians continue to listen to them. Once they had the elephants the rest of the animals were sure to follow. What’s a circus without animals? Once you let these fools in the door you can expect the worst.
Wouldn’t it be nice if NS assigned Heritage Units to the Circus Train for the remaining trips across the NS system.
It’s all because of the clown hysteria over Halloween
Once PETA took the Elephants, i knew the end was near. Thanks for the memories…..
And the eco-terrorists and plant munchers win again…thanks PETA for killing another source of family entertainment and joy…
Mr. Achenbach: Very well said.
Don’t hold your breath expecting the ‘animal-rights’ types to stop here. They are already going after zoos, aquariums, and so forth. Some are against even owning pets, or eating food animals…
It is great we were able to save a few well cared for elephants and instead we were able to put 100’s of employees out of work.
Thanks to the animal rights wackos this part of Americana is gone. Hopefully, someone will buy RB&BB and bring the elephants back. Then, tell these idiots to take a hike.
The roster of circus train passenger cars are salvageable and can be re-adopted to their original design and function as common carrier equipment.
The original window configurations remain intact on many of these cars, especially former coaches. They give clues of characteristics specific to particular railways including Union Pacific and Great Northern.
Railway museums may collect some of these cars to restore to their original factory form and railway paint schemes. Some museums have little more than freight cars used as makeshift coaches.
While the cars are quite old, Amtrak could acquire and overhaul these cars at a bargain to accommodate growing ridership. They would blend better with the new Viewliner sleepers and diners than the Amfleet cars.
You may notice none of the cars have corrugated sidings. Some had their sidings removed.
There are opportunities with these cars when the Circus retires them. Those of us not in the position to buy these cars can only notify Amtrak and the railway museums. And, otherwise hope these opportunities will not be squandered.
The end of another era, like our private passenger trains in the 60’s and early 70’s. It been at least 10 years since it came to my city. The closest rail siding to the auditorium was about half a mile away so they walked the elephants on the city streets to the auditorium which was a show in itself. Hopefully Amtrak or private operators will find a use for the cars and they not get chop up for scrap metal.
Note to Amtrak……well maintained cars available. Probably at a decent price. You could use the equipment.
And probably works better than that worn out Amfleet stuff parading around on the Lake Shore.
A permanent show in Florida.