12-cirus-gallery-1https://www.trains.com/trn/railroads/12-cirus-gallery-1/Ladies and Gentlemen! A circus train gallery | Trains MagazineA gallery of images from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trains last days in 2017InStockUSD1.001.00railroadsarticleTRN2020-11-032017-05-1218443
The Ringling Bros. Blue unit circus train arrives in Watco’s Dickinson Yard on the Kanawha River Railroad. The train is headed for downtown Charleston, W.Va., for a series of sold out performances. May 2, 2017.
CSX No. 3333 and two other CSX locomotives lead the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train across the Kanawha River at Deep Water, W.Va., after departing Charleston, W.Va., earlier in the morning on Monday, May 8.
Local townspeople from rural south central West Virginia watch as circus wagons and other equipment pass by for the last time in history. The train was en route to Uniondale, N.Y., from Charleston, W.Va.
“Don’t cry or be sad that it’s over, smile and be happy that it happened…and what a ride it’s been!” — sentiment echoed by multiple Ringling Brothers “family members.”
A Gilbert, W.Va., police officer and other locals watch the final run of the Ringling Bros. Blue unit circus train as it rolls through the small coal-mining town in rural West Virginia.
One of the last photos of the Ringling Bros. ‘Red Unit’ fully intact was captured early Wednesday morning near Bear Mountain, N.Y. The train was headed to Oak Island, N.J., where the consist would be separated before a deadhead move continued south to Florida. May 10, 2017.
A family from the coal mining town of Slab Fork give the Greatest Show on Earth a final salute as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus train rolls across the Virginian trestle in Slab Fork during the circus’ visit to Charleston, W.Va.
A Kanawha River Railroad conductor watches the shove of a Ringling Bros. Blue unit passenger car as circus train and railroad crews switch the entire 36-car consist of the circus train in Watco’s Dickinson Yard near Charleston, W.Va., on Saturday May 6.
A fitting end to an American tradition… A rainbow makes a brief appearance over top of a freight yard filled with Ringling Bros. Blue unit passenger cars during a daylong switching maneuver to build the outbound consist for disposition. The train is pictured here in the Kanawha River Railroad’s Dickinson Yard near Charleston, W.Va., on May 6 during a series of Charleston performances.
Circuses have made indelible marks in American culture. From telling someone who’s about to make an important presentation they are going to play under a “Big Top,” to referring to an uncoordinated situation as a “three-ring circus,” circuses are part of American’s shared history and culture. And, since the 1870s, circuses have been intimately tied to railroads. As the last circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, ends this May, enjoy photos from Trains contributors of the circus’ last move on rails, which may be the Greatest Show on Earth this year for railfans.
18 thoughts on “Ladies and Gentlemen! A circus train gallery”
Love that rainbow shot. As to the circus, we got to the first performance of the last location, on Long Island. Cannot imagine not having gone. I’ll miss them, miss seeing the train for several days a year during my commute through Hunters Point Avenue station.
We all as railfans have some great memories of the circus train, it is nice to see that that people have taken the time to capture the circus train on video & photos , as it will be gone forever.
Well, it’s too bad about Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus going the way of all flesh, but on the bright side, there ARE other circuses. The Big Apple Circus comes to my county every summer, and though it is not e 3-ringer, it does have an air-conditioned tent and is very entertaining. They have performers from all over the world. But the RBB&BC will be missed by railfans. Kenneth Hoffman, Southern Rhode Island.
Thanks for posting the pictures. The Ringling circus will be greatly missed. IG is so sad that it ended after all these years. I suppose it is just a sign of the times.
Unfortunately, Mr. Tynan’s comment is a complete error and I write as a past president of the Circus Historical Society and former member of the Division of Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution. The Felds acquired Ringling at the end of 1967 and have managed it ever since (Mattel owned the circus for about a decade in the 1970s/early ’80s but the Felds remained in charge, then bought the circus back from Mattel). There never was any issue about “stabling fees” at Madison Square Garden causing MSG to acquire them! Nor has the circus been “losing $ almost every year since! And Mr. Holiman is quite correct in noting it is not the last circus though historically it has been easily the largest and best known throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
Thank you Trains for your coverage. Because your initial coverage was early, I was able to get my family booked to see the show in Wilksbarre in April and pick the seats that I wanted. What a show.
Although we are disappointed that RBB&B is ending its long run in show biz, it business model has struggled in the past two decades, in the the 90’s they went bust while @ MSG , after owing The Garden $$$ for Stabling fee’s MSG ended up owning them until they convinced the Feld Bros to buy them for pennies on the dollars and who operated RBB&B for two decades losing $ almost every year since! We have changed as a country and we don’t appreciate the old style Circus with its contradictions in the treatment of its menagerie, the victim of the new millenniums tastes! I Wonder what will happen to its rail stock !?! all those cars turned into living spaces?
Love that rainbow shot. As to the circus, we got to the first performance of the last location, on Long Island. Cannot imagine not having gone. I’ll miss them, miss seeing the train for several days a year during my commute through Hunters Point Avenue station.
We all as railfans have some great memories of the circus train, it is nice to see that that people have taken the time to capture the circus train on video & photos , as it will be gone forever.
Well, it’s too bad about Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus going the way of all flesh, but on the bright side, there ARE other circuses. The Big Apple Circus comes to my county every summer, and though it is not e 3-ringer, it does have an air-conditioned tent and is very entertaining. They have performers from all over the world. But the RBB&BC will be missed by railfans.
Kenneth Hoffman, Southern Rhode Island.
Thanks for posting the pictures. The Ringling circus will be greatly missed. IG is so sad that it ended after all these years. I suppose it is just a sign of the times.
Unfortunately, Mr. Tynan’s comment is a complete error and I write as a past president of the Circus Historical Society and former member of the Division of Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution. The Felds acquired Ringling at the end of 1967 and have managed it ever since (Mattel owned the circus for about a decade in the 1970s/early ’80s but the Felds remained in charge, then bought the circus back from Mattel). There never was any issue about “stabling fees” at Madison Square Garden causing MSG to acquire them! Nor has the circus been “losing $ almost every year since! And Mr. Holiman is quite correct in noting it is not the last circus though historically it has been easily the largest and best known throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
It’s a sad thing to see a great show disappear in the Sun Set.
William Royer
Thank you Trains for your coverage. Because your initial coverage was early, I was able to get my family booked to see the show in Wilksbarre in April and pick the seats that I wanted. What a show.
It was the greatest show on earth, and it is the last circus to travel by train.
great final shot.
Although we are disappointed that RBB&B is ending its long run in show biz, it business model has struggled in the past two decades, in the the 90’s they went bust while @ MSG , after owing The Garden $$$ for Stabling fee’s MSG ended up owning them until they convinced the Feld Bros to buy them for pennies on the dollars and who operated RBB&B for two decades losing $ almost every year since!
We have changed as a country and we don’t appreciate the old style Circus with its contradictions in the treatment of its menagerie, the victim of the new millenniums tastes!
I Wonder what will happen to its rail stock !?! all those cars turned into living spaces?
RBB&B is certainly the largest and best known circus, but there are still smaller shows touring the country. Is is NOT the last circus.
Never take anything for granted. Thanks for the pictures.
Good shots!! A part of history now.
As the song says: ” You don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone”.
A tear comes to my eye as I say goodbye to the greatest train and show on Earth.
Amazing pictures. thank you. An end of an era.
Thanks for these stunning photos of the train, the spectators and the landscapes.