The Ringling Bros. Blue unit circus train arrives in Watco’s Dickinson Yard on the Kanawha River Railroad. The train is headed for downtown Charleston, W.Va., for a series of sold out performances. May 2, 2017.
CSX No. 3333 and two other CSX locomotives lead the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train across the Kanawha River at Deep Water, W.Va., after departing Charleston, W.Va., earlier in the morning on Monday, May 8.
Local townspeople from rural south central West Virginia watch as circus wagons and other equipment pass by for the last time in history. The train was en route to Uniondale, N.Y., from Charleston, W.Va.
“Don’t cry or be sad that it’s over, smile and be happy that it happened…and what a ride it’s been!” — sentiment echoed by multiple Ringling Brothers “family members.”
A Gilbert, W.Va., police officer and other locals watch the final run of the Ringling Bros. Blue unit circus train as it rolls through the small coal-mining town in rural West Virginia.
One of the last photos of the Ringling Bros. ‘Red Unit’ fully intact was captured early Wednesday morning near Bear Mountain, N.Y. The train was headed to Oak Island, N.J., where the consist would be separated before a deadhead move continued south to Florida. May 10, 2017.
A family from the coal mining town of Slab Fork give the Greatest Show on Earth a final salute as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus train rolls across the Virginian trestle in Slab Fork during the circus’ visit to Charleston, W.Va.
A Kanawha River Railroad conductor watches the shove of a Ringling Bros. Blue unit passenger car as circus train and railroad crews switch the entire 36-car consist of the circus train in Watco’s Dickinson Yard near Charleston, W.Va., on Saturday May 6.
A fitting end to an American tradition… A rainbow makes a brief appearance over top of a freight yard filled with Ringling Bros. Blue unit passenger cars during a daylong switching maneuver to build the outbound consist for disposition. The train is pictured here in the Kanawha River Railroad’s Dickinson Yard near Charleston, W.Va., on May 6 during a series of Charleston performances.
Circuses have made indelible marks in American culture. From telling someone who’s about to make an important presentation they are going to play under a “Big Top,” to referring to an uncoordinated situation as a “three-ring circus,” circuses are part of American’s shared history and culture. And, since the 1870s, circuses have been intimately tied to railroads. As the last circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, ends this May, enjoy photos from Trains contributors of the circus’ last move on rails, which may be the Greatest Show on Earth this year for railfans.
