My Favorite Trains 1: The RBB&B "Red" Circus Train

So as I promised in my last post, I will be providing updates for the next few weeks, even though I won't be able to get much work done on the layout. Instead, I'll be sharing photos of some of my favorite trains that will be running on the layout.

I'm going to start with one of the larger custom-built and painted projects I have ever had done, the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Red Circus Train. This train still carries the circus around the country today. In the mid 1990s, it visited Madison when I was in grad school there and I was hooked. I asked my friend George Nelson if he would consider helping me put together the train. He custom painted all the cars and also helped me find flatcar loads that approximated the actual train. He put a tremendous amount of effort into this project and it shows. I also bought the decals from Donald Manlick in Manitowoc.

Running along the back of the photo below are several of the passenger cars for the circus train. They are silver with red lettering and logos (hence the name-- there is also a "blue" train out there carrying a second version of the RBB&B circus). Most are coaches, although baggage cars are used to transport the elephants and horses.

The train also has a large number of flats with vehicles, wagons, and supplies. Here are some of them parked in front of the passenger cars:

The next-to-the-last flat on the left is the generator car, and on the far left is a converted auto carrier. Some animals, such as the tigers, travel in the enclosed area on the lower level. I sometimes worry about them, as they are at the end of the train and thus receive much of the jostling that results from slack going in and out of the couplers. There are strict rules about how the animals must be watered, fed, and exercised, but it still not ideal.

Finally, to give you some idea of the length of the circus train, I put the enitre train on the loop in the staging area. And my version contains fewer passenger cars and flats than the real train!

If you want to learn more about the real Red Train, this is a great site:

http://chicago.railfan.net/cgi/photos.pl/?page=RBBX_Red_Unit

To find out if the Red or Blue Train will be passing near you in the coming season, go to:

http://www.ringling.com/TourSchedule.aspx (only the red and blue shows travel by train).

Next week, a humorous tale about trick-or-treat, a family connection, and how it's modeled on my railroad. Until the next update. . .