Wednesday, March 27, 2019

MORE WINTER QUARTERS


17 comments:

Chic Silber said...


The ass end of the Jomar

is seen at the far right

Roger Smith said...

I hadn't seen this sign. Quite a reduction in font for poor B & B.

Richard King said...

Aside from the one in Baraboo does anyone know if any of those ambulance cars still exist?

Bob Swaney said...

The US Army transportation museum at Ft Eustis, VA probably knows the answer.

Chic Silber said...


I believe all the "Hospital Cars"

were phased out long ago Richard

After my tenure was up I didn't

keep track of cars or numbers

Chic Silber said...


The word "Font" became the

term the computer industry

reasigned to "Typeface" as

it took less characters

A font is a set of type to

fill a drawer in a cabinet

It contains a precise number

of letters numbers & spaces

Printer's type was made of

lead tin & antimony

Chic Silber said...


Boy do I wish I could

remember the recent

Chic Silber said...


The word "AND" is hardly visible

Richard King said...

I know they are long gone from the show. I know there were some at Circus World and thought maybe some survived under private ownership on some siding in Sarasota, like Jomar.

Chic Silber said...


The rusted out hulk of

what was the Jomar sits

on a dead end spur behind

what was "Stottlemeyer &

Shoemaker" lumber company

The property is owned by

the family of the late

Harvey Vengroff who died

last September

Bob Horne has a couple

of other old cars with

it that he runs a lunch

joint out of & has been

the flame keeper of a

small team of dedicated

volunteers that have been

lipsticking the old hulk

Chances of a restoration

are not at all possible

If the Vengroff family

gets to build low cost

housing on the property

that has been proposed

that track & the cars

that sit on it will be

relegated to history

Chic Silber said...


Many years back when

the Jomar was offered

to the Ringling Museum

it was determined that

it didn't have nearly

enough left of it for

any possible restoration

So instead they bought

the "Wisconsin" from

the state of Wisconsin

to restore & exhibit

That car was used by

"Mr John" & Mabel for

a short period of time

while the Jomar was

being built by Pullman

A very poor substitute

Chic Silber said...


The sign also left out

"Combined Shows Inc"

Richard Reynolds said...

I was lucky to go through this entrance in the spring of 1953, '54, and '55.

That is not Jomar at the right. It is instead an old wheel-less car used by the press dept. Jomar was always parked under the shed, the top of which you see behind the palm tree.

Chic Silber said...


Thanks Richard

I never knew of another rear platform car

but I also never saw that Winter Quarters

The Show was already in Venice when I was

put on the payroll in 71 as before that

I only did projects piecemeal

Many other show owners had such cars

Nowadays several major Freight Rail

companies have restored some for high

line entertaining & Name recogniion

Norfolk Southern has the Sandy Creek

which was the sister of Hickory Creek

which were both round end cars

Bob Swaney said...

I wonder if Jim Strates’ personal platform car is sitting in his Taft rail yard?

Chic Silber said...


I'll be on the lookout for it

I'll be on the Amtrak Silver

Star headed North up to NY on

Thursday (today) & Friday so

I should be in that vicinity

by about 7 this evening

Chic Silber said...


I just mentioned under the

image of that car up above

that yes it is