Barnum & Bailey Circus - Blue Train - Last Arrival at Bon Air, Virginia

Train 047 led by Norfolk Southern 8370 pulls the last circus train to Richmond, Virginia. The crossing on Rockaway Road in Bon Air witnessed Richmond relaxation and entertainment for more than 100 years. This is the end of an era. Video by Jean-Marc "J M" Gadoury on an iPhone 6.

[@michaelachhammer6935]

I miss the train life. I was the last assistant trainmaster on the Blue Unit.

[@G3Dream]

Michael Achhammer it’s a shame that the circus closed. What a privilege you had to “master” one of the world’s most famous trains. It is still incredible to me that this train ran through my residential neighborhood. I wish you well in your “next act”.

[@G3Dream]

I am thrilled that this video continues to inspire grand memories. Early that morning, I knew I was about to capture something special. But the comments continuing to flow years later I never imagined. This January 2022, I was lucky to meet Maggie the Clown at the Amherst Train Show in West Springfield, Massachusetts. She too reminisced for a few minutes about her “circus life” on the train. To this day, she hears the distant horns at a train crossing and memories come flowing back.The gift of joy, wonderment and heart-strong smiles is the Legacy of the Circus. The best we can do with that Legacy is to keep it alive by our words and deeds! God bless!

[@joelhurley2678]

I saw this circus 🎪, when I lived in the Detroit area in 1974. Wow, hard to believe a end of a Era. Thanks for sharing, and thank you Barnum and Bailey for giving a 7 year old kid a thrill of a lifetime.

[@WilliamCrew]

Nice Catch! I was right down the road filming this train as well.

[@Bombarded1n]

I miss the circus life I was happy traveling

[@G3Dream]

Life on a train, town to town, the show must go on… the story of a person with an experience is worth twice the person with a theory… please Bombarded1 feel free to tell us more!

[@wes5150.]

Fond memories of their train, their employees, equipment, railcars, security, and they had their own 'Trainmaster'! At first we were alarmed when the individual indentified himself as 'The Trainmaster' because we had been drinking. In those days even management was known to drink and nobody ever got fired for just drinking unless you caused a wreck or injured someone else. Even our railroad cops would give you can of beer if he knew you. One was even a 'Bookie'. Turns out their 'Trainmaster' was just their 'Mechanical Department Employee' who changed brakeshoes. We handled their train a few times in Los Angeles many years back. A sight I'll never forget. A piece of US history.

[@G3Dream]

“🎶There’s no business like show business”🎵

[@ccjohncc1]

The RBBB circus trains were more than one mile (1.6 km) in length, and included living quarters for the performers and animal keepers. There were also special stock cars for the exotic animals and flatcars for the transportation of circus wagons, equipment, and even a bus used for local transportation at performance sites.[12] The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed its doors permanently in May 2017, and its train cars were either auctioned off or scrapped not too long after. In early 2018, Kirby Family Farm, located in Florida, purchased some of the cars and planned to turn them into dormitories for kids with special needs.

[@G3Dream]

Thank you for supplying context for this video and helping keep the memories alive.

[@Elfnetdesigns]

I believe KCS bought a few cars also to add in to their OCS fleet

[@dominiqueschaffner308]

@John Dozier Thank you for your interesting tidbit... I, too saw that train once in Fort Lauderdale going North.. I always wondered about that long train.. One thing i wonder, i didn't see any containers, cages or cars high enough for elephants or giraffe. ..?!

[@tvbopc5416]

After the end of B&B, some of the cars were stored in the rail yard in Gardner, MA for a while, visible from Rte. 2.

[@charleslevalley3606]

Seen this train in Kansas City many times when they were in town, we always went to those side tracks to make sure they were up to date to pull in there and park this. A part of many memories of 22+ years out there with bnsf nefore retiring in 2018.

[@knowledgeispowermediaprodu7094]

I remember seeing this train parked on a siding doing some unloading and switching in San Diego years ago while I was contracting aboard the Marine Corps Recruit Depot and the Coast Guard Station. It was so awesome. I kept getting yelled at by my boss to get back to work because I just couldn't stop watching it. It was so awesome! Great catch! Subbed!

[@BorisLu]

Great video!

[@G3Dream]

Thanks!

[@Elfnetdesigns]

I seen this train many times here arriving, departing, loading and unloading for shows, I even been on it. We used to tie the show into the house PA and power system at the venue here.

[@jacintaedwards1123]

Barnum & Bailey circus used to visit Melbourne Australia when I was growing up in the 70s & 80s. Didn't know they had their own train over there in the US.

[@G3Dream]

The circus was “aussie…aussie…awesome” in every corner of the globe! Thanks for watching and sharing your experience.

[@jacintaedwards1123]

@@G3Dream .......aussie aussie awesome? Ok. Well Melbourne was the Circus capital of the Southern Hemisphere in those days. Even dating back into the 1800s. I remember American Circuses brought out Black Panthers and Cougars with their circuses, in the 1930s to 1950s some of those American wildcats escaped and they have been sighted around specific parts of Australia. I spotted a Black Panther in 2004 while slowly driving along a windy gravel road in country Victoria, it was huge and leaped from one side of the ride to the other about 3 feet in front of my car. I'll never forget it. Anyway, sad that the Circus era is gone. They were fun days!

[@michaelhewitt258]

That train. Came through Kalamazoo, Michigan I saw it twice. It was heading to Grand Rapids, Michigan. One time it had to stop. The tracks were flooded The crossing bells. In Michigan. Keep ringing. When the crossing gates lower.

[@G3Dream]

Thanks for sharing that recollection. Small world, as I had family in Kalamazoo too. I spent a summer north of Grand Rapids in Newaygo County years before I was a rail fan. Met lots of folks on furlough from “Generous Motors” (their term).

[@timosha21]

I am a train 🚆and I approve this video!!

[@snakeyes1952]

I remember seeing the train headed north from Cincinnati, Ohio about 10 years ago. It took me by surprise because it was unexpected, but a pleasant surprise at that .

[@G3Dream]

Rare that we ever see something so unexpected as the circus train. Unit trains have that potential, but seldom compete with the Circus. I can think of only a few examples, like the George H w Bush funeral train, or military transfers, or special load extras, but nothing comes close to the volume and length of the circus train.

[@kimkauffung7687]

And the Ringling 🎪 circus is no more. Pretty much just turn on the TV and there's the everyday circus 24/7. At least got to see it a couple years prior to closing down.

[@G3Dream]

Thanks for watching. You make an interesting point about TV versus in person. Perhaps that is generational perception comparing convenience and personal customizable control versus in-person, big tent, community experience. I confess to not knowing the economic numbers that sunk the circus, but I seem to recall that negative hyperbole fueled by selective media focus about the ethical treatment of animals quickly let the air out of the arenas. Entertainment by nature must be fresh, new, engaging and fun. And as times change so goes entertainment traditions. As a child raised in the 70’s, recalling the circus train parked outside the Providence (RI) Civic Center, with all the hype, it’s hard to imagine that a 6-year old today would not be equally impressed by the Greatest Show!

[@victorburk2932]

You were lucky to go see it. I always wanted to but it was never nearby.

[@Elfnetdesigns]

3 ring circus = CNN, FOX and Twitter

[@user-sh9du2nv5y]

Used to see this train in the late 1970s and early '80s parked alongside a siding in Redondo Beach CA across from Castle miniature golf and you can see it from the 405 freeway did not have as many cars as we seen in this video was able to explore around them and even see some of the performers on the train doing their thing on their off time what an amazing moment that was

[@G3Dream]

I wish a photo of the scene you described could be shared. Thanks for describing it so well.

[@1940limited]

It always amazed me B&B was able to keep this train operating all around the country long after railroads got out of the passenger business.

[@traceyjames4681]

Thank you.

[@sophornnmun3479]

Good luck with your video 👍

[@chriswright2250]

I worked for F&G mechanical in Secaucus NJ and next to our shop was a rail yard. I remember seeing the circus train parked there when they played the Meadowlands.

[@Ceodayone]

So cool!

[@djburland]

Fabulous memory

[@fillup40]

Saw a circus train in Oakland before it went out of business.

[@mariannatexas]

I wish there was a humane way to bring the circus back into life. I hate that my grandchildren and their children will never get to know the thrills one feels when going to the "big top"

[@robertmayesiii8356]

Looks like it sad to watch train go by with all that stuff and vehicles on it. Like the circus got evicted from town... On their way out by train.😲😮😢. Thats just how i felt watching it.😣😞😒😢😭.

[@jacintaedwards1123]

Ringling Bros circus also visited Melbourne Australia frequently.

[@jacintaedwards1123]

Sole Bros circus was another American circus which visited Melbourne. Then there was Ashton's circus and Moscow circus. Great times!

[@victorburk2932]

How cool that would have been to witness this first hand. I always wanted to go catch a live show but it was never near me. Thanks for the post folks!

[@michaelachhammer9600]

It was cool to see the train. It was even cooler to work on it. I was the (last) assistant trainmaster on the circus train, the one in this video.

[@williamschlenger1518]

Great video.I can't imagine the money it cost to run & maintain this train.

[@geralddeering2248]

There should be a video about the circus museum in baraboo,Wisconsin.

[@kellyydelkellyydel493]

I wel all wars love you kinny rogir

[@bobpaulino4714]

Saw it several times in Columbus, Oh. My mother and father would take us to watch the unloading of the animals when the train arrived. We also saw it pass through the Port Clinton area several times. Have pictures and videos somewhere. Should have never let the whiners shut it down. My great aunt, Sallie Luoma (later, Sallie Schiff) { no relation to the POS, vermin, politician}, ran away from her home in Ashtabula, Ohio when she was 16. She joined the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show using the alias Jane Fuller. She travelled extensively. She and an associate were each offered a prized horse for their personal use while in Argentina or Venezuela. They politely declined, citing transportation, boarding, feeding and other concerns associated with their travelling schedules. She eventually ended up back in Northeast Ohio and married my great uncle Harry, after whom my father was named.

[@nurlatifahmohdnor8939]

Acknowledgments 1 2 D. Elliot Carlisle 3 D. Thomas Connellan 4 D. Paul Hersey 5 D. Vernon Johnson 11 10 D. Carl Rogers 9 8 7 D. Robert Lorber 6

[@joachimdiesner9684]

bei der länge des zuges werden in deutschland mindestens 3 züge daraus gemacht

[@G3Dream]

“With the long train, at least 3 trains are made out of it in Germany” Thanks Joachim, that train was the longest I have ever witnessed in Bon Air, my backyard! „Mit dem langen Zug werden in Deutschland mindestens 3 Züge daraus gemacht“ Danke Joachim, dieser Zug war der längste, den ich je in Bon Air, meinem Hinterhof, erlebt habe!

[@alfredohernandez4944]

EwfSQRETGERH ERST TUCCI

[@Thunderbirdsforever-]

This is absolutely beautiful never to be seen again. The circus dissolved because of animal rights activist and I really can’t blame them it’s time to go back to their natural environment national environment but here is a funny story, in 1961 I was a musician with the James Brown band. And we had gone from nothing to absolute pandemonium around the world and we really didn’t know how to handle everything from going on the Chitlin circuit to now being moved into the Albert Hall in England and Ed Sullivan show. But there was a man who volunteer to come and watch how we conducted our roadshow and how we moved 31 musicians and support people. He taught us that everybody that has anything to do with the show has to be cross trained to be available on the stage! Make it appear that this is a very big production the people will be very impressed. We had a truck driver and a bus driver had plus a relief driver for each one when we were at the auditoriums we had dress them in jumpsuits with rhinestones to make them look like they were part of the show there were several items that this man suggested to make the show look really big but having dancers in the background and having back up singers and later I found out this man’s name was Irving field. And Irving field is the gentleman who took two failing traveling circuses and purchased both of them combined their equipment and instead of have a one ring one ring and a chance he put three rings in the tent and he put a circus together that would last 90 minutes but yet feature all the animals therefore the children would not get cranky and sleepy and the parents would not feel like they’ve seen way too much. Having failed was the father of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. If you Google his name you will learn all about him it raining Brothers circus the Barnum circus and the Bailey Circus were just several of small circuses that were hitting little towns and making a few dollars but he like those three services and they all together had the equipment that it would take to put one grand circus up. I’m virtually blind now I have to talk into a transcriber so I don’t know about the grammatical errors and spelling errors I’m just hoping that enough of what I’m telling you gets through so you will understand that Mr. Irving field is the reason for the big-time concert to be a smooth and productive as it is.

[@G3Dream]

Thanks for sharing your amazing story! No business like show business, whether circus or musical performance! I did find an interesting article about “Irvin Feld”. No surprise after reading that the owner of the Circus breathed life into every act he came in contact with. www.nytimes.com/1976/03/25/archives/featured-now-in-the-center-ring-are-stars-from-eastern-europe.html

[@knowledgeispowermediaprodu7094]

Thank you for sharing that with us. What an awesome story. I'm sure you have many stories. It would be cool to sit down and talk about the good times! Stay safe out there!