Virginia above, Nevada below
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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A Blog designed for discussion of topics related to, but not limited to, Circus, Zoos, Animal Training, and Animal Welfare/Husbandry. Sometimes opening up the dialog is the best starting point of all. And if for nothing else when people who agree and don't agree, get together and start discussing it, it will open up a lot of peoples minds. Debate and discussion even amongst themselves opens a window where there wasn't one before.
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10 comments:
Wade, do the Ringling units still travel by train? Do most other circuses travel by motorhome caravan?
Mary Ann
Mary Ann,
Yes they do, and it is the most interesting, unique, way to travel. All other shows in the United States travel by tractor trailer. The motor homes are only used to live in. As shows have gotten smaller, about all you see is motor homes for the performers any more. A producer seems to have just a briefcase, and if he has equipment it is a wells cargo with a few lights and ring curb which is taken from city to city. It would be a massive undertaking if Ringling were to go by truck.
Wade
Addendum to Mary Ann,
A couple of shows in Europe also used train's for years. Knie, Krone, and Barum that I know of. Maybe our European readers will know others. It is real disappointing to see an industry reduced to what it is today. Everybody has reasons, but so far no solutions.
Wade
Wade,
Almost all small or midsize circuses in Europe have been traveling on the road ever since. Only larger shows in Central and Southern Europe were using trains. With a few exceptions, most big German shows stopped traveling by rail in the late 80's when the Deutsche Bahn (German Railroad) closed several ramps and smaller stations, making acces to smaller towns by rail almost impossible. This development, along with increasing costs of tarnsportation forced the circuses on the road. Krone was one of the last to use trains, at least to transport their livestock. Roncalli is the last circus in Germany to exclusively travel by train (due to nostalgic reasons and the age of most of the historic waggons). For the rest of Europe. French and British circuses of all sizes have traveled on the road for a very long time. Knie in Switzerland recently switched from rail to trucks. Due to the relative short distances between cities (60-80 miles), shrinking shows and the unavailability of train service to some smaller towns, transportation on the road is seen to be more economical.
The RBBB-Blue show that played Atlanta last month travels on 61 rail cars with a total length of 5,409 feet. That’s the longest single section circus train in history.
In fact it is within 800 ft of the length of the 4-secion trains of old. The 85 cars back with RBBB in 1940 (using 4 sections) totaled some 6,300 ft. Never thought I'd see a Feld show come within ca. 800 ft. of a 4 section canvas show train.
However, the show has nothing like as much stuff crammed on the 61 cars. Take the elephants for example. There are 3 elephant cars for only 6 elephants. Three ride in one and three in another. The third car just hauls hay and supplies.
In the old days those three cars would have hauled 36 bulls.
There are two FL born punks on the show but they ride overland in a trailer until they can be trained to ride the train.
Some pretty big shows have traveled on trucks, including several larger than anything Feld has produced in recent years. RBBB shows carry a lot of "technology" insofar as lighting, sound, and Jumbotrons go -- but nothing remotely as big as the sound and lighting and screen associated with say a Rolling Stone Tour, and that's all carried by trucks and set up and torn down every day. I suspect an argument could be made that for the past ten years for Ringling Red and Blue the train is as much symbolic and great publicity as it is necessary -- though at least last year operating a train was probably cheaper than running a fleet with forty semis.
For better or worse in it's heyday Carson & Barnes was moving 300 people, a tent bigger than a football field, 27 elephants, horses, cats, and other assorted animals down the road every day.
Ben,
I hope you arn't suggesting that some of those things that were used to transport the Carson and Barnes show were actually tractor/trailers. On it's worst day, it should not have been on the road.
Wade
Great shot! Ringling moves about 10 tractor-trailer units overland. Much of the lighting equipment moves in semis since it is relatively fragile for train movement. The cat acts also move overland as do the animal tents, the latter in order to be ready for when the elephants and horses arrive by train.
Dick Flint
Baltimore
Dick,
Stick around. When they start "whacking" on our Greatest Show on Earth, were are going to have to cover each others back. LOL I am sure you will verify, looking at RBBB from the outside, doesn't give you a clue to the inside. As different from other shows, as dogs are to cats. When you are the big hoss, the jackals are nipping and scratching at you 24 hours a day.
Wade
The only British circus that has travelled by rail was Bertram Mills' Circus, and I don't think it used rail transport after WW2.
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