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 Post subject: Re: Two VERY LONG Circus Trains Available(?) In May
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:26 pm 

When they gutted the cars they have do they sell any of the interior hardware such as lights, door and cabinet hardware and seating? I always see want adds on this site and others from people looking for that stuff to restore other equipment.


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Two VERY LONG Circus Trains Available(?) In May
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:31 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2004 4:49 pm
Posts: 520
"When they gutted the cars they have do they sell any of the interior hardware such as lights, door and cabinet hardware and seating? I always see want adds on this site and others from people looking for that stuff to restore other equipment."

The circus people were always real good to deal with in my experience and yes, you could buy parts from gutted cars, but you really had to be down there in Florida on the right day to grab stuff before it went into the dumpster. They'd make you some good deals on the various parts, but didn't want to take the time to set them aside and advertise them for sale. Any parts that came off of cars currently running are long gone.


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 Post subject: Re: Two VERY LONG Circus Trains Available(?) In May
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:22 am 

Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:29 pm
Posts: 397
When the circus mechanics get finished with a car it has nothing in it that was a part of the original car. They change the cars so radically they even weld shut the windows and doors that they do not need. They cut doors into the side of cars and weld in new partitians as needed. Sometimes the end doors are welded shut and a small door in the middle of the car suffices as entry ways. They use tubes of construction adhesive and 2X4's to build out the new walls/bulkheads...putting sheets of pebble grained plastic over those. It is near impossible to get the old stuff out. They kept an inventory of spares but those too are shells of undocumented cars (usually commuter coaches and baggage cars) accompanied by rows of random trucks. All of it has sat out in the weather for decades.
I also do not think these cars met the same standards as Amtrak cerified equipment...I could be wrong. It might be hard to get them moved once they are no longer associated with the circus.
I have understood that the Strates train treveled without riders...just equipment. The carnival people drove up in trucks and buses...that's what I was told anyway. Florida to the NE and return at the end of the season...it did not travel all over the country. They did not have the same relationship with the railroads that the circus had. Their equipment was more traditional.
T7


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 Post subject: Re: Two VERY LONG Circus Trains Available(?) In May
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:42 pm 

Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:35 pm
Posts: 101
I would like to revise my previous statement... Apparently Strates is interested in at least 8 of the cars. So that's 8 that will go from nice well maintained cars to sad stinky carny carts.


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 Post subject: Re: Two VERY LONG Circus Trains Available(?) In May
PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:22 am 

Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:30 am
Posts: 290
I wonder if NCDOT will be interested in any cars?

They've said that the well is basically dry for 1950's/1960's equipment that's suitable for rebuilding for their needs, so this might present an opportunity to get some rebuild candidates that are structurally sound, have good bodies, and good running gear.

They both run a lot of 1960's Union Pacific equipment for instance. With Ringling Brother's 8 coaches from UP's 1964 order with St. Louis Car Company for an example, they'd then have 14 of the 15 coaches from that order according to the roster data I'm looking at.

I doubt the redesigned interiors would pose any issues, since that's redone anyways on their rolling stock. No asbestos to worry about during the gutting process, either, since that work presumably has been done during their first transformation.


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