Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Al G. Barnes Circus 1933/ Spotting the train


These remaining pictures were taken in Joplin, Mo. 7/28/33 and shows the early morning arrival. Looks like the big top crew is up and waiting for the train to be broken up and the yard engines to spot each section where it will be unloaded.
On top of the pole wagon you can see the elephants watering barrells and the contraption to the right of them is a "Georgia buggy" it works something like a pump handle but is used to pull up tent stakes, the end at left is raised as high as possible while a chain on the other end is wrapped around the stake, down comes the high end and up comes the stake. This is as far as my understanding of mechanics extends.
Buckles

Posted by Buckles at 7/26/2005 07:32:00 AM

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Red Lunsford built a similar stake puller for their show. Somewhere I have a picture of that and the spool wagon made from a school bus. A sight to behold going doun the road but they did the job with minimal manpower

26 July, 2005 07:47
Anonymous said...

I remember the stake driver being used. The elephants pulled them up on Kelly Miller. I watched them all the time. Watching the elephants work around the lot doing all kinds of jobs was almost as entertaining to me as the show under the big top. I do not ever remember an elephants being hurt or sick. They even loaded my cat cages onto the tractor trailer. Still amazes me to think these animals are as smart or smarter then most people I know. They did not need enrichment or toys to keep happy. They had us humans.

26 July, 2005 10:12
Anonymous said...

We use a steel pneumatic puller that isn't all that different in concept, though its a heck of a lot smaller. Pump the handle; works great pulling 42" rebar stakes out of asphalt parking lots. That and a stake driver attached to a breaker hammer and who cares if the Bobcat is always broken down.

26 July, 2005 20:49

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