Circus Train

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus train on last run out of Norfolk Virginia (click to enlarge)
My goal was to make a broadsided image of the train so as to clearly see the circus markings on the cars.
The circus train was first operated in 1872 by the infamous P.T. Barnum.  In May of this year, the circus will cease
to exist and the circus train will be no more.
Fuji X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 400; cropped to about 1/3 of original image.

Just over a week ago I photographed the Ringling Brothers And Barnum and Bailey Circus (RBBBC) train as it traveled between Norfolk, Virginia and Newport News, Virginia via Richmond, Virginia.  The circus was slated to perform this past week in Hampton, Virginia, the next door neighbor to Newport News.  Indeed, a very circuitous route, however, the Hampton Roads harbor separates the two cities and the only rail lines that connect the "Southside" from the "Peninsula" are the Norfolk Southern Railroad, which serves Norfolk, and the CSX Railroad, which serves Newport News is via Petersburg and Richmond Virginia.  That is a distance of approximately 170 miles versus 10 miles if one was driving across the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.  No rail crossing, but one has been discussed.  But I digress...

This past Monday I photographed the train when it left from Newport News for the last time on its way to Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania.  

There are two RBBBC trains that travel simultaneously to different parts of the United States.  The "Red" train has always visited here while the "Blue" train visits other parts of the country.  You can tell which is which by the color of the round logos on the sides of the railroad cars.

I wanted to photograph this unique train as it will be gone forever sometime in mid-May of this year.  This particular circus is closing down after more than a hundred years in existence.  

Two of the cars in which the animals are kept, See narrative below for
an idea as to the conditions in which they are kept. (click to enlarge)

This descendant of P.T. Barnum's original circus train first operated in 1872, according to Wikipedia.  The enterprise started as "P.T. Barnum's Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome."  Barnum soon teamed up with James Bailey and "P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth, And The Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United" toured the country.  I guess they thought the name was a bit long so it was shortened to "Barnum and Bailey's", then "Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth."  The Ringling Brothers bought out Barnum and Bailey operation and combined the two traveling extravaganzas in 1919.  No matter what the details of the history of this circus is, I think it is a shame that it is closing after all of these years.  You may feel differently, of course.

Some individuals curse the caging and performing of animals while others see large and exotic animals for the first time, fall in love with them and become conservationists and wildlife biologists as a result.  Everyone has a different opinion about the circus.

Each performer or so gets his or her own room on the train in
cars such as this. (click to enlarge)

Those of you who have followed and read this blog consistently over the past 4 years probably know by now that I am a train/railroad/steam locomotive aficionado.  I like what railroads stand for.  I enjoy history and appreciate how the railroads were instrumental in building this county from east to west. Historically, the railroads were the dominant force and backbone of expansion, settlement and commerce for the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.  As a kid growing up in a small town in western Pennsylvania, my friends and I used to play in the railroad switch yard, climb up and ride in the switch engines at the engineer's behest and even hopped trains and rode them for miles.  We had three railroads in town: The Pennsylvainia Railroad, the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.  

I remember once the conductor in the caboose of a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train telling us guys that he couldn't be around to stop us from hopping trains, so the next best thing to keep from potentially us getting hurt was to teach us how to properly step onto a moving train as well as step off safely.  Could you image that today?  Never happen.

Flatcars hold containers with all circus supplies and props.  If you look closely,
the containers on the left and right are actually from the "Blue" train and the
middle one is from this, "Red" train.  I guess they intermingle the gear.
(click to enlarge)

I've photographed railroads for most of the last 47 years. I especially like to seek out and photograph steam engines, whether standing still or moving.  So, when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus announced they would close permanently this year, I knew I would have to photograph the circus train one last time, for posterity, when it arrived in southeastern Virginia.  The circus always visits Norfolk during a week in March, then comes to the Virginia Peninsula through Newport News to perform in Hampton the next week.

Not sure what is in this car, but it appears to be very secure
(click to enlarge)

My goal was to photograph the train so it is easily identifiable as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus train.  Normally, railroad photographers photograph trains from a 3/4 point of view, highlighting the locomotive with the cars trailing off in the background.  In this case, I wanted a broadside image to clearly show the cars with the logo displayed.  The question was where?


Finding a location took some research.  As I said, I was looking for a broadside view of the train, unobscured by trees.  A place like that along the railroad is difficult to find as either there is no place that is open or if there is a farmer's field that is open, the tracks are obscured by a row of trees.  Using Google Maps® I was able to find one spot just west of Windsor, Virginia along Route 460 that was open and wide enough to capture the essence of the train.  The image I was primarily looking to make is at the top of this post.

The train was scheduled to leave Norfolk sometime between 7 and 9 a.m.  I knew it would take almost an hour for me to reach my chosen location and it would take the train about an hour to reach the same location.  I was counting on the train not leaving at 7 so I left my home 7:15.  I'm glad I did because I reached the location about 1 minute before the train arrived!  Surprise!  

I made my images and quickly got back into my vehicle to drive to a second location several miles west where I wanted to try to make another, more traditional, image of the train.  The problem was that the train was traveling at 60 mph.  Route 460's speed limit is 60 mph and it would be difficult to get sufficiently in front of the train by the time I reached my second location as there were several traffic signals, a few small towns, etc. between where I was and where I wanted to go.

Luckily, I reached the second location about 30 seconds before the train arrived and made the image of the locomotive below.

Leaving Newport News.  One of his last rides. (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/11; ISO 400

For the railroad aficionados, here is the engine that led the train from Norfolk to Hampton, Virginia.  It is one of Norfolk Southern's "Heritage" units, that is one that was painted a few years ago in one of several legacy railroads that were taken over and became part of what is Norfolk Southern Railroad today.

Norfolk Southern "Legacy Unit" from the old Savannah and Atlanta Railroad.  This scene was backlit with a blown out
sky and looks terrible in the original file.  I had to work with it for quite a while to make it look decent, not great,
but decent. (click to enlarge)

I have photographed the circus train in prior years, but never captured a broadside view for historical reasons.  I'm glad I made the effort as the train will be disbanded later this year and probably never run again.

If you are interested, here are some additional facts from Ringling Bros. about the train:

• Ringling Bros. is divided into two simultaneously traveling unit trains: the Red Unit and the Blue Unit.  See round logo on train cars

• Each circus train has a designated trainmaster who is responsible for the safe operation and timely movement of the unit train. Each railroad train crew is provided with a circus radio for operational and emergency communications. In addition, the circus trainmaster monitors the carrier railroads' radio frequency to be aware of other traffic on the railroad.

• Ringling Bros. provides an instructional booklet detailing train operations and emergency procedures to all employees.

• Maximum train speed is 60 miles per hour.

• The stock cars, for the animals, are directly behind the locomotive where the ride is the smoothest.

• Individual stock car water tanks and electrical generators provide continuous water and power supply while the stock cars are separated from the coaches for unloading.

Unit Trains

• Average number of personnel who ride the train (performers, staff and maintenance crew): 326
• 33 conventional passenger cars for circus personnel and their families
• 4 custom-designed animal stock cars
• 2 container flats for concession storage
• 17 piggyback flats which carry equipment, props and vehicles
• 6 hours to unload the train and 12 hours to setup the show

Red Unit: 55 cars, 3,985 tons and 4,877 feet long

• Average number of miles traveled by train in the last six years: 16,378

Blue Unit: 56 cars, 4,055 tons and 4,959 feet

• Average number of miles traveled by train in the last six years: 16,265

Special Accommodations for Animals

Ringling Bros. stock cars are specially designed and custom-built to meet the needs of each animal species. 

The stock cars have the following special design elements:

• Fresh supply of water available in every car
• Food storage locations that are accessible to animal care staff while en route
• Fans mounted in roof for air circulation; windows and doors open for cross-ventilation
• Heating and misting systems for climate control
• Direct access to the animals for handlers in all cars and working/living facilities for handlers in some cars to provide uninterrupted supervision of the animals while underway
• Specially treated, non slip flooring to allow for fast, easy cleaning and disinfecting drains in car floor which function regardless of whether the train is moving or standing still
• Specially designed ramps for loading and unloading animals
• Additional generator to supply electricity to the stock cars when separated from main power source

Crossing Harpersville Road in Newport News.  Gone from here forever! (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 1-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 55mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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