Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train

Asian elephants are used in the circus and travel in the 4 stock cars.  The stock cars are the first cars in the consist when they travel, right behind the locomotives, because this is the location for the best ride.  The 10 elephants weight a total of 30,000 lbs.  The Elephant, Asia, weighs 4 tons.  Each elephant eats 160 lbs. of food a day.  The stocks have built-in misting systems and if the ride to the next venue is too long, the train is stopped so the animals can be unloaded and exercised.  Exercise is also accomplished during the "Elephant Walk" from the train to the arena accommodations before the first show and back to the train after the last show for the trip to the next venue.  It takes a 30-person crew to unload and walk the animals to the arena and back.

Dave Pittenger, Transportation Boss, is in charge of moving 6 tons of stage sets, and 350 costumes to and from the train.  The many wagons of supplies and equipment are pulled to the flats and Mike Hickey's invention, the Push Plate, is used on a 2,000 lb. rated CAT to push the wagons up onto the flats.

P. T. Barnum was the first to move his circus by train, in 1872.  His Business Manager invented a way to load the wagons onto the train so that they could be off-loaded in order of use at the next venue.  His system was later used by the U.S. Military in World War I.  That system is called, End Loading.  By 1915, Barnum had 85 rail cars, that moved in 4 sections with a steam locomotive pulling each section.  June 22, 1918, at Gary, Indiana, there was a head-on collision between a Circus Train and a Troop Train.  Eighty-six people were killed on the circus train, of the 300 onboard.  The cause of the accident was determined that the troop train engineer had fallen asleep.  It was this accident that caused the establishment of rules relating to the length of time a train crew can work, and the amount of time train crews must rest before resuming work. (More at:  http://www.hammondindiana.com/history/circus.htm)

Locomotives from the railroad provide the power to move the circus train from city to city.  These locomotives are 4,400 horsepower, 12-cylinder diesels that generate 2,000 amps of electricity to its traction motors.

The circus trains travel to about 42 cities logging 2.5 million miles a year.  With the 50+ animals and 250 residents, that's a "City without a ZIP Code."

The DVD showed the Ring Master's quarters:  kitchen w/microwave, bunk, coffee machine, and 'donniker' (see 'Circus Logo' for the definition of this term).

The Pie Car, the diner for the residents of the train, is managed by Uncle John.  His task is to feed 200 people a day.  Pie Car, Sr. is the rail car  kitchen and diner. Uncle John has to be ready with food for the workers one hour before the first bus leaves the train for the arena.  Each week he uses 60 gallons of cooking oil, 70 lbs. of chicken, 60 lbs. of steak, and 75 loaves of bread.  This car started as a 1950s car purchased for about $10,000 and refurbished in the Palmetto, Florida, shops into a $1 million kitchen/diner. 

Pie Car, Jr. is a smaller version that can be taken to the arena and is used to feed the performers and crew when they do not have time to return to the train for food between performances.