Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Circus Trains #13


Circus Trains-13, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

4 comments:

Ole P T said...

Why would they put sunburst wheels on the Jye-raffe wagons? The didn't make spec and certainly not parade.

Anonymous said...

On the contrary, circus giraffe wagons did appear in parades in the 19th century. An early Van Amburgh parade view reveals one, as do several Forepaugh shots. I have not seen a giraffe wagon in a spec, but many things were done in the 1870s-1890s that have yet to be "re-discovered."

There's an instance where a Forepaugh-Sells giraffe wagon [c1902-1905] that did not parade was outfitted with decorative wheels.

In this RBBB example, it could be that the best available set of wheels for placement on the vehicle when it went through the shop was a set with the wedge-shaped "panels," as they were termed. Guys like Henry Moeller, who lived and worked with them, termed them "panel wheels."

A Beggs catalog used the term "sunburst," but if you look at what's illustrated they're not panel wheels but what others have termed "outside sunbursts."

George Christy described his parade wagons [sold to Cole for 1935] as being "sunbursted," which likely describes the red-orange-yellow paint application to the panels. This was reportedly devised by St. Mary's and may have been what Bert Bowers specified in a 1928 order. However, there's competition for the assignment to St. Mary for the origin of the style and design.

Anonymous said...

Sharp eyes will discern that the frame construction methodology of this giraffe wagon is very similar to that used on the replacement red ticket wagon constructed after the 1924 Bridgeport fire. They were likely from the same New York City builder.

Anonymous said...

Knew that this was not a shop built wagon because of the lack of curved upper strechers. I have always wondered who had built this wagon and what was the total number built by them after the fire?
p.j.