17-04-20 PHOTOS: RBBX

In spring of 2017 the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (reporting mark RBBX) packed up its tent for good. Attendance had been slowly declining for years, however the bottom fell out when the iconic circus elephant were retired due to pressure from PETA and other animal rights wingnuts. However RBBX's most enduring legacy was its fleet of performing heritage railcars organized into two touring productions, Red and Blue. While the railcars were never under threat from protest groups, the severe revenue shortfall made running two mile-long trains full of people and equipment unsustainable. Fortunately, fans were given several month's warning and thanks to the folks at Trains magazine, who published the schedule and route in advance, I was able to position myself in the Baltimore area to catch the Blue Unit train while it was berthed for a performance and later when it departed for Charleston, WV.

After the final performance I was fortunate to catch what was referred to as the "funeral train" wherein all cars not already sold and transferred would be combined into a single movement to be run down the East Coast to the RRBX compound in the Tampa area. To round out the photo set I have also included some pics of MARC and CSX operations in the Baltimore region. You can view the entire set of photos here.

We begin with a westbound MARC Camden Line train arriving at the Dorsey station from Baltimore with Bombardier split-level cab car #8048 in the lead. This is the first westbound train of the afternoon as the Camden line runs a peak only service in both directions.

Located off Maryland Rt. 100, the large park and ride facility makes the Dorsey Station a popular stop for both DC and Baltimore commuters.

Here MARC Mp36PH-3C #25 pushes the short split-level consist towards Washington DC, knocking down the Clear signal indication at DORSEY interlocking. The full crossover was installed in the early 90's to allow MARC trains to duck and weave around slower CSX freight trains on the Capitol Sub.



A few minutes later the "new" Dorsey Short Turn pulls into the track #2 platform from Washington, DC. A year or two ago, MARC was able to stretch its budget to include an extra early PM round trip originating in Washington, DC. To make everything work with their limited number of trainsets the round trip would have to turn at Dorsey, instead of running all the way to Baltimore. This isn't a huge deal as very few Camden Line riders continue beyond Dorsey. Today MARC MP36PH-3C #15 has the honors of leading the eastbound train.

This train consisted entirely of single level K-Cars with MARC #7762 leading the movement back west.

A little less than a month before the final performance on May 17th, the RBBX Blue Unit pulled into Baltimore for a week long engagement. The train was stabled at the typically vacant Mt. Claire Yard, which is located on the original B&O alignment that leads to the present site of the B&O museum and the Mt. Claire shoppes. The long string of heritage passenger cars was divided between two tracks. Performers traveling by road also had space in the yard to park their RVs.

At some point a shuttle bus arrived to ferry the performers to the Royal Farms arena in Downtown Baltimore. Before PETA threw a fit, the elephants and other equipment would parade down surface streets to reach the area from the rail-head.

I'm sure a website somewhere has a detailed history about all the RRBX cars, but I couldn't find it and it ultimately doesn't do you much good to hear me rattle through a list of dates and builders. The passenger cars served as dormitories for most of the performers and stage crew for the RRBX production. Previously all the animals would also ride the train, however the large cats were moved into trucks and, as I said, the elephants were retired.

View from the other end of the yard. The typically vacant Mt Claire Yard seemed to be tailored to the needs of the circus trains with lighting, parking and long tracks with space between them. 

The exhaust stacks on the roof indicate that RBBX #63005 is a HEP car. Hauled by freight engines and stored in yards, the RBBX trains needed to supply their own electrical power. This smooth sided baggage car is a St. Louis Car product from the 1950's.

Although there was a mix of both Pullmans and Budds, all the cars were painted a uniform grey. Pullmans seemed to dominate as I suspect Amtrak siphoned off most of the Budds when they had their pick of the legacy railroad's passenger equipment. Again, I don't have a fleet history, but I would suspect that the RBBX cars never went through an Amtrak HEP conversion as their power cables travel along the roof.


Heading back into the city, here we see new ET44AC #3375 motoring up the grade on the Baltimore Terminal sub.

Here we see CSX ES44AC #3050 and SD70MAC #4811 struggle up the stiff grade on the Baltimore Belt Line en route to Philadelphia and points east with a heavy manifest freight train. The whole consist is moving at a jog with the throttles in north 8. You tell me which engine makes the better sound ;-)



A few days later I joined some other railfans at the Savage, MD MARC station to video the penultimate run of the RBBX circus en route to Charleston, WV. Power for the mile long train was provided by CSX ET44AC #3333, SD40-2 #8882 and SD70MAC #4690.



A month later The Greatest Train on Earth rolls back towards its home base in Flordia for the last time after its final show at the Nassau Colosseum on May 17th, 2017. I managed to catch it from the Sisson St bridge passing through Huntington Ave Interlocking on the Baltimore Belt Line at about 7pm. Unlike the previous run south from Baltimore, the passengers cars are completely empty, save for a single conductor. The performers had to vacate their accommodations on Long Island with alternate transportation provided by the company to wherever they needed to go. The Funeral Train combined any rolling stock from both the Red and Blue units, less any cars that had already been set out for delivery to their new owners, at Newark's Waverly Yard and then made a run down CSX's east coast corridor. Power was provided by CSX ES44AH #3129 and ES44AC #726. As far as I know, all the heritage passenger cars have been purchased by preservation oriented parties.

There was at least one crew member on the train, see here observing the consist from the open dutch door of RBBX Pullman sleeper #42016.

Former Red Unit cars could be identified by the red globe symbol. Open side doors, as seen here on RBBX #40015, and traps seemed to be inviting rail riders to climb aboard :-\

The performance related gear and vehicles rode behind the passenger cars on 85' flats. From what I could tell the funeral train held only the equipment from the Blue Unit.

In additional to traditional "circus trailers", the flats also carried trucks, generators, tractors and animal cages.

That's all she wrote for the 146 year history of the Greatest Show on Earth.

While it's sad that this staple of North American railfanning has forever left the scene, I was honored to have been in a position to catch it multiple times during its final month on the road. Hopefully the Strates Carnival Train will stick around for the future generations.