Thursday, June 26, 2008

Sells-Floto Advance Cars #2


Scan10317, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

These bill posters were a self-contained community traveling ahead of the show.
Standing in the vestibule are cook, porter, etc.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unless there was a private car in the show train, the advertising car was typ[ically the most expensive car owned by the circus. They moved with system local and express trains and had to be in good condition to roll at passenger train speeds. That necessity partially explains the high turnover in cars. It was cheaper to replace a car than to upgrade and maintain it. Sometimes ad cars were re-cycled back into the show train, converted to a slower speed sleeper. Show trains moved about as fast as freight trains, but "hoggers" often tried to move them faster, an action that could result in mayhem and destruction, and poor sleeping conditions for sleeper occupants on rough track.

Anonymous said...

Wile traveling on the RBBB Blue unit train I asked numerous yard superintendants their opinion of the Ringling trai, as compared to amtrak or freight cars.
They all replied that it was the BEST maintained train in the country.A few followed that by saying that because people lived on those trains, they were the most inspected,by a lot.
While traveling on this train with 14 lions, I asked for, and recieved, a watering system that made it possible to water all the lions from outside the car.
An excellent transportation system for my animals when properly maintained and supervised.