| I'm including another photo of the steel car used by Ringling in 1927 to transport their white elephant Pawah. It is an unusual configuration with the large windows and location of two doors; note, however, the two bull bars on the open door. Ringling finally upgraded from wooden to steel flats at this time but I am not sure of the change in stocks without further digging. |
Friday, May 18, 2007
RBBB 1927 (From Richard Flint)
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Richard Reynolds says - -
This was the first Warren built steel car for RBBB. It was assigned no. 33 and carried Pawah the white elephants in the nearest end as shown here. I think a compartment for his keeper was in the section to the left of the elephant room. The remainder (the part with the slats and screen) was used to haul part of the large zebra herd John Ringling also imported for 1927 plus some ponies. No. 33 traveled on the 3rd section (not the 4th with the other elephants, camels and balance of the zebras).
After Pawah left following the ’27 tour, this car continued to carry zebras and to ride on the 3rd section. Zebra car no. 33 was still being used for that purpose as late as 1936. At last report (1950) it was sitting in the Sarasota quarters and being used for storing truck parts and junk.
In 1928 it was joined on the 3rd section by another “specialty” stock car, no 34, used by “Goliath, the sea elephant (“elephant seal” in present animal nomenclature). The two cars were hooked together in the consist. The sea elephant car had a shallow tank inside with a “sandy beach” onto which the huge animal could clamber. The keeper also rode in the car. A part of the car was used for storing electrical equipment.
Sea elephant car no. 34 left Sarasota in 1932. It went to Peru in time to join Sells Floto for its 1932 tour. The sea elephant was the big feature on that show, the last ever edition of S-F. The next season it carried the big animal to Chicago for the H-W opening, after which the big seal was loaned to the Cincinnati zoo. He later spent time in the Philadelphia zoo and at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City.
After 1932 the sea elephant car was used by Hagenbeck –Wallace. It wound up in California when H-W crashed there in 1938.
Only RBBB had the resources to buy and put into use such specialty railroad cars as nos. 33 and 34
To replace the old wooden ones, RBBB bought all new flats and stocks from the Warren Tank Car Company beginning with this no. 33 white elephant car. The huge order, largest ever placed with Warren, was filled at intervals throughout 1928 so that the all “new” train was ready for 1929. Of course they would still use the old sleepers until after W.W.II.
Before closing I should point out that the title board on no. 33 (as shown here), as well as all other stock cars, was placed half way up the side of the car - - not at the roofline like we can recall from the late 1930s and into the 1950s. It was not until 1933 when Gumpertz took over that the title boards went up to the roofline. Also, note that no. 33 is not white or silver but of a darker color. All stocks were yellow in 1927-1929. In 1930-32 they were orange. The familiar silver color was not used until 1933.
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