Word is that Circus World in Baraboo, WI is interested in the trains.
Sheldon
The last two times I went to the circus I fell asleep both times. Now,they weren’t the Ringling Bros., but I doubt it would have made any difference. Both acts were billed as “must see”, and the wife and kids dragged me to them. I find that the entertainment value nolonger compensates for the hassle and aggravation of having to find parking and then shelping oneself and family into an overcrowded venue with people tripping all over themselves to get in/out.
Ulrich- Don’t feel bad…I fell sound asleep during the Lion King.
Nah. It is not totally a generational thing. I’m one of those early boomers and I always thought circuses were boring and some elements (clowns) downright weird.
Excerpt from An Abbreviated History of The Circus in America
http://www.circusfederation.org/uploads/circus_culture/about/america-huey.pdf
As a result of its Golden Age, the circus was indelibly fixed in everyday life, as much as newspapers, the telegraph, the railroad and mail-order catalogues. Circus lingo was adopted into the larger lexicon, adding phrases such as “rain or shine” (used to promote the tented circus through inclement weather), “hold your horses” (a warning to local horsemen when the circus elephants paraded through town), “get the show on the road” (a directive shouted at roustabouts to break down the show and move to the next town), “white elephant” (born out of a battle between competing circuses in the exhibit of a fraudulent white elephant), “jump on the bandwagon” (coined by journalists who witnessed presidential candidate Zachary Taylor climbing aboard a circus bandwagon for public attention) and “grandstanding” (describing politicians who circulated through the circus grandstands vying for voters). Reporters labeled President Woodrow Wilson’s “tossing his hat into the ring” during a Ringling circus performance in Washington, DC as a sign that he would run for reelection.
I vaguely recall a major incident involving the Wallenda’s in Detroit in the 1960’s. Two of their troup died.
The TV show “Extreme Trains” covered one of the two trains. Their car shop guys said they completely demo the interior and install all-new construction complete with insulation and bathrooms. Sometimes they have had to replace the trucks with modern ones.
Regular rank-and-file rooms look like a sparse hotel room with built-in bunks. The rooms for management look like small efficiency apartments inside. These look nothing like passenger accommodations on other trains, more like a moving motel.
There’s a generator car in the center of the accommodation section of the consist with two generators for both “sides” of this section. I do not remember if the Pie Car can be accessed while underway, but if it is, only one “half” of the accommodation can access it. All “hotel power” comes from these two generators. They said it’s built from an old baggage car.
Lots of cars have regular DirecTV and DiSH Network dishes on them which I’ll bet after they retire these guys can quickly get jobs as satellite television installers, having to re-aim them at every layover.
Another cool fact is that the “freight” section can be driven end-to-end by vehicle after some preparation. Pickup trucks are strategically-placed on this section to tow the trailers.
That’s exactly what they are. Their own car shops’ purpose-built HEP conduits.
These guys are geniuses in their craft. Neither of their trains require HEP from the locomotive.
Here’s a bit of detail: http://bit.ly/2jSFfFK
I wonder if NCDOT will be interested in any cars?
They’ve said that the well is basically dry for 1950’s/1960’s equipment that’s suitable for rebuilding for their needs, so this might present an opportunity to get some rebuild candidates that are structurally sound, have good bodies, and good running gear.
They both run a lot of 1960’s Union Pacific equipment for instance. With Ringling Brother’s 8 coaches from UP’s 1964 order with St. Louis Car Company for an example, they’d then have 14 of the 15 coaches from that order according to the roster data I’m looking at.
I doubt the redesigned interiors would pose any issues, since that’s redone anyways on their rolling stock. No asbestos to worry about during the gutting process, either, since that work presumably has been done during their first transformation.
RBBX cars to be auctioned off - a quick listing
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40427&start=21
As was mentioned in the article in April TRAINS, the carbody and running gear are in excellent shape, but that’s all that you really have. You would have to gut the interior and rebuild what you want from scratch. Windows would have to be repositioned, plumbing will probably have to be rebuilt, rewiring would be needed, etc, etc, etc. I’m not sure how much money would actually be saved.
He didn’t mention, but it might matter to some who are reading this thread, that you had only ten days from the announcement to place your bids. (See RyPN for the duration of the auction, via the link Balt provided).
You won’t be able to take delivery, of course, until after the show finally stops. But I expect the point of this quick auction is to ensure that VERY quickly after that point, all the cars will be gone either to new ‘forever homes’ or to kill clinics. (And no fancy nickel-and-dime price negotiation hardball or ‘requests for donations’ at the last minute, either.)