 | Longest single jump The longest, single railroad jump between
two cities by a circus occurred April 20-25, 1924, when the Al G. Barnes
Circus moved 2,058 miles to avoid an animal quarantine from California to
the Mississippi river. The ATSF had set a schedule of eight days
for the move, but moved the train on such a rapid schedule that it beat its
own schedule by three days. |
| Shortest run If not the shortest railroad jump between two
show lots, this one comes darn close. In 1930, the Sells-Floto Circus
played in the Chicago Coliseum and the next date was at the Chicago
Stadium. Trucks were hired to move the wagons, but the horses, lead
stock, elephants, and people all went to the circus train to move the 18
blocks to a closer siding. |
| Currency Beginning with W. Coup's very first move by rail in
1872, the circuses always had to prepay cash to the railroad at the time of
the move. The railroad agent had to keep the office open or try to
find the right person on the circus train to get the cash. This
procedure remained unchanged through 1972. Beginning in 1973, invoices
were sent to the Ringling headquarters and the transportation fees were paid
on a monthly basis. |
| Blue Unit In 1969, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey set
up a completely new, second unit to the circus. The original show was
designated as the Red Unit and the new show was called the Blue Unit.
This new show required a new train which used eleven coaches purchased from
the Penn Central's Twentieth Century Limited and the Rock Island's Rocket.
The rest of the train consisted of four stock cars, one tunnel car, and for
the first time since 1957, four flats. The pride of this new train was
the observation car, Hickory, which had been the tail end car from
one of the Twentieth Century Limited trains. |
| Poles to Engine or Poles to Caboose This term referred to
the direction the wagon poles or tongues should face when the flat cars were
loaded to facilitate unloading for the next day's show. |
| Runs Either the location where the flat cars are loaded or
the ramps placed at the end of a flat car so that the
wagons could be loaded and unloaded. Not all flat cars were equipped
for these ramps. Those that were so equipped were designated as "run
cars." |
| Crossover Plates Crossover plates were the metal plates
placed between the ends of two railroad flat cars. They permitted the
wagons to be moved from one car to the next during loading and unloading. |
| Jump or Run The train trip between two cities or
towns. |
| Dukie Run A Dukie was a box lunch prepared by the circus
cookhouse when there would be a lengthy trip between show towns and the
circus would not be set up to prepare a meal. It was distributed to
the circus employees so that they would have a meal on the train during the
jump or run between towns. |
| Bull Car Circus elephants are called bulls, regardless of
gender. The railroad stock car used to transport the elephants may
sometimes be known as a "Bull Car." |
| Pie Car The Pie Car was the closest thing that the circus
train had to a Dining or Club Car. It was a place where circus
troopers could congregate and buy a snack, play cards, and socialize. |
| Two Car Show Unlike a flat car circus, these small shows
usually traveled on two cars, a coach and a baggage car. Normally,
they consisted of only two cars but may have had as many as five. It
made no difference, circus people always referred to them as a Two Car Show. |
| First of May A person who joins the show after the weather turns
mild or an inexperienced person who has joined a circus for the first
time. |
| Gilly To carry by brute strength alone or a nickname for a
towner (a local resident). |
| Gilly Wagon A wagon that loads through the end door of a
baggage car or a wagon that is basically skeleton and four wheels which can
be taken apart and loaded into a baggage car. |
| Poler The person that steers the wagon on the flat car by the pole
of the wagon. |
| Bill Car The advance or advertising car that travels ahead of
the main circus train. |
| Chalker The person who blocks the wagon wheels with wheel
chocks on the circus train flat cars. |
| Mud Show A horse drawn wagon show. |
| High Grass Show A circus that plays mainly small, isolated
towns. Designated High Grass because the lot where the circus would
set up was normally overrun with weeds and high grass. |
| Low Grass Show A circus that normally plays the large cities
and towns. Designated Low Grass since the circus lots were usually
well maintained. |
