When the Circus came to Town (roll-by)

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
PREFACE:
Dad has been Model RRing since 1964, and still is today:thumb: . Back in the early-mid 70's dad left Model RRing for a short amount of time(about 4yrs?:confused: ), and joined the "Circus Model Builders", this was a group of guys that modeled Circus's:thumb: . On an 7'x8' area dad modeled Ringling Bros in HO just as it was in 1939-1940:mrgreen: .

It was TRULY SPECTACULAR:thumb: , he had EVERYTHING from the trains that carried the show, to the people that performed in it:winki: , i mean he REALLY did it ALL, the bigtop with performers, the sideshow, menagerie, dining tent, CRIPES, I COULD GO ON:thumb: . 80% of the WHOLE THING was scratch built by him, the rest was various kits he was able to buy. by the time dad folded it up and went back to Model RRing i think the Circus was at least 90% finished, perhaps more then that:winki: . One of the REALLY NEAT things about it was dad did it all by research, and pictures:thumb: , every wagon, animal, you name it, EVERYTHING that Ringling's had in the 1939-40 show, dad had built:thumb: .

TODAY:
Now, about 33yrs later, dad opened some of the boxes that hold the Ringling Bros. Circus he had built, and took out just a little more then 3/4 of the Circus railroad cars he has, and put a few of the wagons he made on them. These models are old, and some of the decals are yellowed, but that happens in time:frowns: . what you are about to see is only a VERY SMALL portion of what he has. he couldn't put most of the wagons, etc. on the rail cars because the are set up for a "running" Circus, not for travel, some of the wagons are missing ladders or planks on the side of them, and the animal wagons in travel would be covered, there are some things not correct for traveling, remember, dad built a "running" Circus, NOT JUST A CIRCUS TRAIN:winki: . what dad did today was just put what he could on a few of his Circus cars:winki::smilie: .

Though this is not even close to the SPECTACULAR SHOW dad had made, i hope you folks enjoy it for what its worth, just a few remnants of something that was once really great:thumb: . I am more then sure i am forgetting some things:eek:ops: , though dad hates to write, perhaps he will fill in any gaps i am missing:eek:ops::119: .

We will start off Ringling Bros. 1939 train with dads Milwaukee Road Pacific, followed by 3 elephant cars, a horse car, and about 13 flat cars, and on the tail end we will end it with three of Ringling Bros. passenger cars:thumb: . So please just sit back, and i hope you enjoy the show:mrgreen: . (SORRY for the poor quality pics:eek:ops: )
:deano: -Deano
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jesso

Member
Wow! Those are great! :thumb:

The detail on those vehicles are incredible!

What is the vehicle right before the polar bear carrier? Can't quite make out what is inside it, but the gold details on the green area is really nice.

7x8?!? That's huge!

Thanks for sharing! :thumb:
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
Great work, Larry!! :thumb::thumb: Your interest in the subject is reflected in the workmanship displayed by your models: very impressive. It's not hard to see where Dean's talent comes from.;)
And Dean: nothing at all "poor quality" about those pictures. Thanks to both of you for sharing.

wayne
 

cnw1961

Member
What a great idea to open the boxes. These models are much too beautiful to be kept in storage. Awesome modeling :thumb: (love that jungle bred python).
 

cn nutbar

Member
OUTSTANDING !!!!!!---of all the great threads that have been submitted to the gauge(and there have been so many),in my opinion,this has got to be one of the best---Deano,your dad is a real artist ---you're a lucky man to have such a talented inspiration---it shows in your work---thanks to you and your dad for posting this thread---nutbar
 

bigsteel

Call me Mr.Tinkertrain
absolutely AMAZING deano :thumb:.that collection should be on a display in a museum :eek:.your dads craftsmanship is impeccable! you and your dad should be proud!thanks for posting these!--josh
 

CNWman

CNW Fan
Wow, that is AMAZING! Deano, is your dad part of the NMRA? He could probably get quite a few achevment awards if that is just an example of his work!
 

REH45

New Member
Roll by Circus Photos

The model building is super. I workded with Ringling Bros Circus in the 60's I would like to see more photo of this model circus. Perhaps get a set. I started a model circus after Ringling when I was in grade school but never got it finished. my personal email is robert.e.handley@verizon.net
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
Welcome to the Gauge, Robert. :wave: You'll not likely find a friendlier or more helpful bunch of people than those here at the Gauge.

Wayne
 

EdDevany

New Member
When the circus came to town (roll by)

Most beautiful set of pictures of the most perfect models I have ever seen. Is there any way to get copies of this? Whatever, thanks for sharing this great great treat. EDevany
 

Nazgul

Active Member
Wow!

It truly is "The Greatest Show on Earth"!:thumb::thumb::thumb::winker:

The Chairman of the Board and you have out-done yourselves on this one, my friend:thumb:. I can only imagine how awesome the ENTIRE circus must have been.

Thank you for sharing this, and all the other countless projects, proto pics, knowledge, etc............
 

brakie

Active Member
Sweet! Who says yesterday's models is old fashion?
Your Dad did a great job..:thumb: I like it and would not be a bit backwards about running it at either club I am a member of..I know it would be a big hit during open houses.:mrgreen:
 

rrol61

FM Man
Thanks to all you great modelers out there for your very kind coments for my circus stuff. I sure enjoyed the years that i had many frendsin the circus modeling, sadly most of them have passed to the grreat sawdust lot.. Jesso the green wagon was the miirror tableau. it was used for parades and for baggage. That wagon was cheap plastic so it wasent one i made. I have to thank Dean for making me diging it out so he could take pictures Thanks again. rrol
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
WHOA that was....

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Deano, thanks for the FANTASTIC pics of Dads work!!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

That roll-by was one of the best I have ever seen :eek: :eek: it had all that TRURLY AMAZING :thumb: work on it and it made for a really exiting roll-by :cool: it took me 10 mins :eek: to get thru all those pics, I couldnt stop staring at all the detail and how cool everything looked on that train!!!!! :thumb: :thumb: :mrgreen:

OUTSTANDING work rrol (aka. Dad) :mrgreen: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Id love to see more shots if you got em
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Thanks to all you great modelers out there for your very kind coments for my circus stuff. I sure enjoyed the years that i had many frendsin the circus modeling, sadly most of them have passed to the grreat sawdust lot.. Jesso the green wagon was the miirror tableau. it was used for parades and for baggage. That wagon was cheap plastic so it wasent one i made. I have to thank Dean for making me diging it out so he could take pictures Thanks again. rrol
With My Dad, i too thank EVERYONE for their VERY KIND complements, and comments, THANK YOU!:thumb::smilie:

ALL i did was take the pics, dad did ALL the work:winki::mrgreen: . i wasn't sure exactly what kind of responses this thread would get, but i was so glad to see you folks appreciated, and enjoyed his work as much as i did/do:mrgreen: , THANK YOU!:smilie:
:deano: -Deano
 
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