Here we find a Joe Back photo taken in 1992. This was the first year the CWM train had any Thrall flats in it. They pulled #231 and #234 that year.Monday, October 17, 2011
Flatcar # 231
Here we find a Joe Back photo taken in 1992. This was the first year the CWM train had any Thrall flats in it. They pulled #231 and #234 that year.
Flatcar # 231
This is a Dom Yodice photo taken in 2001 as the CWM train was heading to Milwaukee. When it returned to Baraboo it was carrying the Cat, the RBBB Office wagon, the Red Mack truck and the # 130 Train light plant.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Flatcar # 234
The History of Flatcar # 234
This flatcar is a 72 ft. Thrall design flat. It was purchased from the Royal American Shows on January 28, 1987 by the Circus World Museum for $ 2000.00. While on the Royal American Shows it was numbered # 38.
The origin of the car is from the Thrall Car Manufacturing Company. It was built in 1949 for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was intended for use by two of the steel seat wagons designed by Art Concello but it was discovered the seat wagons were too heavy for these flats.
After Ringling closed under canvas in 1956, they were put up for sale in 1959. Royal American Shows bought a couple. In 1961, Ringling sold all remaining flatcars to Royal American Shows, so it us unknown for sure whether this was purchased from Ringling in 1959 or 1961.
Royal American Shows used this flat on their train until they stopped train travel. It was offered for sale and six of them were purchased by the Circus World Museum for $ 2000.00 each.
They were not used for the first 5 years. In 1992, the first Thrall flat car was used in the Parade train. It was painted silver with the Bright Red Letters and White Outline with the traditional lettering of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows. The flat car was used in parades through 1999.
As of September 2007, this car was resting outside the Train sheds on a side track located just west of the Circus World Museum.
This flatcar is a 72 ft. Thrall design flat. It was purchased from the Royal American Shows on January 28, 1987 by the Circus World Museum for $ 2000.00. While on the Royal American Shows it was numbered # 38.
The origin of the car is from the Thrall Car Manufacturing Company. It was built in 1949 for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was intended for use by two of the steel seat wagons designed by Art Concello but it was discovered the seat wagons were too heavy for these flats.
After Ringling closed under canvas in 1956, they were put up for sale in 1959. Royal American Shows bought a couple. In 1961, Ringling sold all remaining flatcars to Royal American Shows, so it us unknown for sure whether this was purchased from Ringling in 1959 or 1961.
Royal American Shows used this flat on their train until they stopped train travel. It was offered for sale and six of them were purchased by the Circus World Museum for $ 2000.00 each.
They were not used for the first 5 years. In 1992, the first Thrall flat car was used in the Parade train. It was painted silver with the Bright Red Letters and White Outline with the traditional lettering of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows. The flat car was used in parades through 1999.
As of September 2007, this car was resting outside the Train sheds on a side track located just west of the Circus World Museum.
Flatcar # 234
Taken outside of the train barns in 2006, this Thrall flat is all lettered and repainted and waiting for a new deck to be put in place.
Flatcar # 234
This is a great detail shot of the frame of this car taken in 2006. The decking is off. The car has been repainted but it never got put back in to use again.Flatcar # 234
This is a Joe Back photo taken in 1992 on the way back to Baraboo after the Milwaukee Parade. This was also the first year this Thrall flat was used on the CWM Train.
Flatcar # 235
The History of Flatcar # 235
This flatcar is 70’ long and was originally made by the Warren Tank car Company in 1929. It was on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus its entire life. It was purchased by Circus World Museum funds from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota and brought to Baraboo with other train cars, wagons and memorabilia.
This car was never used in the Parade trains to Milwaukee but has been a display item at the Museum. It is currently painted in the Silver Body with Red Letters and White Outline in the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows lettering.
This car resides in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion with part of the 1954 Ringling train exhibit.
This flatcar is 70’ long and was originally made by the Warren Tank car Company in 1929. It was on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus its entire life. It was purchased by Circus World Museum funds from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota and brought to Baraboo with other train cars, wagons and memorabilia.
This car was never used in the Parade trains to Milwaukee but has been a display item at the Museum. It is currently painted in the Silver Body with Red Letters and White Outline in the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows lettering.
This car resides in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion with part of the 1954 Ringling train exhibit.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Flatcar # 244
The History of Flatcar # 244
This flatcar is 70’ long and was originally made by the Warren Tank car Company in 1929. It was on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus until their train travel ended in 1956. The # 244 was a RBBB number that was last used on this flatcar. Royal American Shows then bought it in late 1961 along with all other remaining Ringling flatcars. The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. then purchased it for the Circus World Museum in 1966.
This car was used in the Parade trains to Milwaukee from 1968 to 1973 and then when the parade was resurrected again from 1985 through 1997. It was painted a Silver body with Red Letters and a Black outline being titled Royal American Shows on both sides.
In 1998 it was painted in the Silver Body with Red Letters and White Outline in the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows lettering on both sides. The car was again used in the 1999 train to Milwaukee but not after that.
This car resides in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion with part of the 1954 Ringling train exhibit.
This flatcar is 70’ long and was originally made by the Warren Tank car Company in 1929. It was on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus until their train travel ended in 1956. The # 244 was a RBBB number that was last used on this flatcar. Royal American Shows then bought it in late 1961 along with all other remaining Ringling flatcars. The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. then purchased it for the Circus World Museum in 1966.
This car was used in the Parade trains to Milwaukee from 1968 to 1973 and then when the parade was resurrected again from 1985 through 1997. It was painted a Silver body with Red Letters and a Black outline being titled Royal American Shows on both sides.
In 1998 it was painted in the Silver Body with Red Letters and White Outline in the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows lettering on both sides. The car was again used in the 1999 train to Milwaukee but not after that.
This car resides in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion with part of the 1954 Ringling train exhibit.
Flatcar # 244
Here is the # 244 flat painted in the Royal American Shows pattern. This is an Earl Finger photo taken in 1990.
Flatcar # 244
Here it is in use as part of the 1998 Great Circus Parade train. This is a Matthew Condron photo.Flatcar # 244
Pulled outside of the Deppe Wagon Pavillion when this was taken in 2007, this was part of the 1954 RBBB display.
Flatcar # 244
Bethlehem Steel was providing steel to the Warren Tank Car Co. to build these flatcars with as well as Lackawanna Steel shown several posts below.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Circus World Museum train
I started working on a project a few years ago that was my initial reasons for wanting to use the Circus World Museum Library. The train that went to Milwaukee for the parades had been making history each and every year. While the Circus World Museum had been an active participant, they hadn't been recording the history they created. I started trying to re-create the historical details almost 40 years after the first parade.
While I found lots of notes and records in the CWM files, what I started running into was that the photographic documentation didn't match a lot of the Parade records. It wasn't until several members of the working train crew explained to me that the paper list was a guide but wasn't the way it actually got loaded, that all of this started to get sorted out by photos rather than records.
I started trying to record the flatcar loads to help identify photos later on and that helped a lot but there were still discrepancies at times. Then the load that went to Milwaukee wasn't always the same order on the same flats coming back to Baraboo. Then on top of all of that, the flatcars were repainted different colors and with different titles. Sometimes three times in their duration of travelling down the rails for the Great Circus parade. Then wagons were trucked to the lot in addition to the train load which then brought a trucked wagon back on the train and a trained wagon left to return on a truck. This project got really complicated.
After spending nearly four years working on this, I finally gave the Circus World Museum a copy on a CD of the project that they can now put their fingers on instantly instead of walking to the filing cabinets, pulling files and spending hours looking for an answer to a Circus World Museum Train question. Is it 100% accurate? NO! There were still a few unanswered questions but I'll guess that 99% of everything that could be discovered and properly sorted out is recorded there.
Beginning with the easiest flatcar of all, RBBB # 355 is shown below with photos taken over a couple of year's journeys to CWM.
While I found lots of notes and records in the CWM files, what I started running into was that the photographic documentation didn't match a lot of the Parade records. It wasn't until several members of the working train crew explained to me that the paper list was a guide but wasn't the way it actually got loaded, that all of this started to get sorted out by photos rather than records.
I started trying to record the flatcar loads to help identify photos later on and that helped a lot but there were still discrepancies at times. Then the load that went to Milwaukee wasn't always the same order on the same flats coming back to Baraboo. Then on top of all of that, the flatcars were repainted different colors and with different titles. Sometimes three times in their duration of travelling down the rails for the Great Circus parade. Then wagons were trucked to the lot in addition to the train load which then brought a trucked wagon back on the train and a trained wagon left to return on a truck. This project got really complicated.
After spending nearly four years working on this, I finally gave the Circus World Museum a copy on a CD of the project that they can now put their fingers on instantly instead of walking to the filing cabinets, pulling files and spending hours looking for an answer to a Circus World Museum Train question. Is it 100% accurate? NO! There were still a few unanswered questions but I'll guess that 99% of everything that could be discovered and properly sorted out is recorded there.
Beginning with the easiest flatcar of all, RBBB # 355 is shown below with photos taken over a couple of year's journeys to CWM.
Flatcar # 355
The History of Flatcar # 355
This flatcar is 70’ long and was originally made by the Warren Tank car Company in 1929. It was on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus its entire life. It was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Newman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and donated to the Circus World Museum in 1960.
This car was never used in the Parade trains to Milwaukee but has been a display item at the Museum. It is currently painted in the Silver Body with Red Letters and White Outline in the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows lettering.
This car resides in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion with part of the 1954 Ringling train exhibit.
This flatcar is 70’ long and was originally made by the Warren Tank car Company in 1929. It was on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus its entire life. It was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Newman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and donated to the Circus World Museum in 1960.
This car was never used in the Parade trains to Milwaukee but has been a display item at the Museum. It is currently painted in the Silver Body with Red Letters and White Outline in the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows lettering.
This car resides in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion with part of the 1954 Ringling train exhibit.
Flatcar # 355
This is the manufacturers name of the steel used in the flatcar. Although it's upside down here it is used at the top of the gunwale underneath the top plate.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Old Milwaukee Days
The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company had been the primary sponsor of the Old Milwaukee Days for several years when they made the decison after the 1973 Parade to end their sponsorship. Somewhere along the lines, apparently a 1974 regala was being planned and this calendar was printed. I bought it off of eBay a few years ago. The 1974 event never happened to the best of my knowledge.
Can anyone help fill in some of the story details here?
The Baraboo Circus Parade
Baraboo hosted a couple of the Great Circus Parades over the years featuring the Circus World Museum collection of Parade wagons, costumes and equipment. This is one of the posters they used in 1980.
The Baraboo Circus Parade
When the Great Circus Parade was cancelled in Milwaukee following the 2003 Parade, the train and all came home for the last time. Fortunately Baraboo jumped on the bandwagon and hosted the Parade for two more years. The train wasn't needed anymore.
When Milwaukee came up with the desire to host the Great Circus Parade again in 2009, the train was completely out of the question due to its age and condition. All the wagons were taken on trucks from Baraboo to Milwaukee just like they were for the very first parade in 1963.
Great Circus Parade
The Fact that this parade poster has Milwaukee on the top indicates it was used in 2003 or before. Does anybody have a correct date?Sunday, October 09, 2011
Cole Bros. Circus "Logo"
Upon the development of the Cole Bros. Circus for the 1935 season, Jess Adkins and Zach Terrell had this marvelous logo created for them. While this originally had Clyde Beatty and Ken Maynard on it, the swift marks of a gold pen erased that bit of advertising.Cole Bros. Circus "Logo"
The beautiful artwork with their portraits adorned the letterheads as well.
Cole Bros. Circus "Logo"
After the death of Jess Adkins, things changed. You can see the portraits are now removed and replaced with a set-up image.
Cole Bros. Circus "Logo"
Notice the "Logo" used here on the Side Show entrance banner. The photo is labeled 1939.Friday, October 07, 2011
Christmas Ads
Can you believe its time to be talking about the Christmas ads again? As a time honored tradition, many of the CHS members have taken ads in the Bandwagon to wish one and all a Merry Christmas, grassy lots and good fortune in the coming year. This year, our Editor, Mr. Pfening, plans on putting them in the Sept. / Oct/ issue which will be in everyone's hands before Christmas.Anyone that wants to take out an ad, be it, member, non-member, show, Museum or such can see the great rewards available in a full page ad at $100.00, a half page ad for $60.00, or a quarter page ad for $35.00.
Contact me with your ad and payment Before Nov. 10th.
Bob Cline - CHS Secretary
2707 Zoar Road
Cheraw, SC 29520
Thursday, October 06, 2011
United Nations Circus
Here are a few more photos taken of the 1963 run of the United Nations Circus.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
United Nations Circus
Let's go back to April 20, 1963 when the United Nations Circus was filmed in Manchester, Georgia.
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