Ringling Bros. Blue Unit makes last revenue load out NEWSWIRE

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train is on its way to its last revenue show ever. As the train loaded sound equipment, personnel, and souvenirs in Charleston well into the early morning hours of Monday, it was the last time the train would ever make depart a city on a revenue run to the next venue. 

In fact, it was the last time the train would ever leave a city with passengers on board, as well. In about two weeks, the passenger cars will be set off for pickup by their private owners who won the equipment at auction, and the rest of the unclaimed equipment will be sent to Florida for disposition.

The news that the Blue Unit train would be making its last trip through West Virginia’s mountains — and the last trip, period, brought railfan and local crowds to the area that were comparable to that of a steam excursion. The train left Dickinson Yard on Watco’s Kanawha River Railroad around 11 a.m. local time on Monday and made a daylight run to Mullens on former Virginian Railway trackage before arriving in Gilbert, W.Va., on Monday evening. The train then used the former Norfolk & Western Gilbert Branch to gain access to Norfolk Southern’s Pocahontas District mainline near Wharncliffe, W.Va., before continuing east into Bluefield Yard and into Roanoke, Va.

As of Tuesday morning, the train was just northeast of Roanoke, Va., where it was expected to make a daylight run to Shenandoah, Va., and into Harrisburg, Pa., before arriving in Newark, N.J., during the predawn hours on Wednesday. As of 7:45 a.m. local time, the train was having CSX locomotives swapped for three Norfolk Southern locomotives before continuing north and east.

Trains News Wire will be providing live updates via Facebook as the train begins its last journey to Uniondale, N.Y.