Al G. Barnes Circus 1933/ Train unloading #3

Unloading the flat cars remains the same as William Cameron Coup first started doing it on the Barnum Show in 1872. The wagons are towed by teams of baggage horses walking along side the flat cars to the end as shown in this picture. For braking power on their descent, a hook rope is attatched to a ring in the back corner of each wagon and wraped around a snubbing post. The man standing on the ground is shown releasing the slack as the wagon heads downward. Probably the most dangerous job on the entire show is steering the wagon as the horses pull it from car to car. The man standing in the center of the car is about to do just that, he will hold the end of the wagon tongue and should he lose control while the wagon is in motion and allow the vehicle to slide into the retaining curb (gun whales) and jack-knife, he can easily be and often was, swept off the car. Buckles