Circus Train

[mmyers]

Clowns have always kind of scared me.

[3rdrail]

Verrry interesting...I think many will agree that MTL seemed to be losing direction, trying to be all things to all modelers. In the RB and B&B Circus trains, they have a found a niche quite a few wish to model that no one else is in the field right now except the outfit in Boca Raton that plans to make circus stuff in from Z to O. Perhaps MTL will make the N & Z cars and Starlight or whatevever will make the wagons and cages. Some one on Atlas thought it was an April Fool's joke. Mightly elaborate joke, designed to piss off your customer base of retailers. Yeah, right.

Seems it will be a long term project, which might indicate MTL intends to get into streamlined era passenger cars as well as heavyweights. Damn, they got me for another two cars this month, Chulvis.

[CoalPorter]

Are they making new body styles, or just painting up some COFC flats? ??? :

[ljudice]

Some video I shot 2 years ago:

http://www.roundmountaingroup.com/images/redunit.wmv

[up1950s]

Geez that thing is longer that I thought . 

I kind of counted in another video 60 cars or so . at 85' x 60 / 160 = about 31 actual feet in N .

[CoalPorter]

Geez that thing is longer that I thought . 

I've only seen the RB train once, but it was a fairly typical length train. More like a freight train and much longer than a typical Amtack train. It would take a large layout to run a prototypical circus train.

[wm3798]

Actually, if you think about it, it's a good move for them.  Especially if they are thinking about wading into the fiery pool of death that is N scale passenger trains.

I suspect they are using this set up, which will be like catnip for collectors, to underwrite whatever passenger equipment they do release.  I highly doubt they will be doing 100% accurate cars, but they'll probably get pretty close, then make sure the art is as good as can be.

As for the flats and other support cars, I suspect they'll be painting stuff they already have off the rack.  I don't think circus train afficianados will care a lick if a brake wheel is in the wrong place, or if there's a Youngstown door instead of a Beth Steel...

Really, another stroke of genius here is they've picked a very definitive prototype train that has no need for its own motive power... Something that has burned them in N scale before...

I have no interest in purchasing any of this, but I'll be interested to see how it develops...

Lee

[SkipGear]

Another plus is that a Circus train would be at home on just about any layout. They are not region or road name specific. Anybody with some sort of main line represented on their layout can make an excuse to have the circus train run through.

A gentleman that works with me at our shop, Don, is a big circus fan. He has been a member of the Circus Model Builders association forever and a day and has a complete scratch built prototypical 50-60's era Circus train already. He has just started getting into N scale and this is going to feed the fire for him.

Judging from his equipement and knowledge, the hardest part for MT will be the wagons. No two are alike and they are very distinctive. Don can look at any wagon in the train and tell what it carries and what it is used for. The wagons should be on flats and visible so they need to be right.

[FrankCampagna]

If they specified the Ringling Brothers Train, that implies they have and agreement with the company to use it's name. I doubt they will really mess up, or risk losing permission. Perhaps the TT flats instead of Mount Vernons (?). Certainly not the whole long train (Who could afford it?) This is not of interest to me. I would like to do a small carnival train, but nothing on this scale.

Frank

[up1950s]

Another plus is that a Circus train would be at home on just about any layout. They are not region or road name specific. Anybody with some sort of main line represented on their layout can make an excuse to have the circus train run through.

A gentleman that works with me at our shop, Don, is a big circus fan. He has been a member of the Circus Model Builders association forever and a day and has a complete scratch built prototypical 50-60's era Circus train already. He has just started getting into N scale and this is going to feed the fire for him.

Judging from his equipement and knowledge, the hardest part for MT will be the wagons. No two are alike and they are very distinctive. Don can look at any wagon in the train and tell what it carries and what it is used for. The wagons should be on flats and visible so they need to be right.

Any chance he can share photos of his 50's-60's era circus cars ? Trying to find photos of them is giving me a blister on the tip of my middle hunt and pecker .

[wm3798]

But if they do this as a collectible series, say, one car every couple of months or maybe two or three cars a year, they can milk this concept for years!  Think of it... a couple of foobie using existing tooling, and one new unique car per year.  Joe has really hatched a very good plan here.

Lee

[up1950s]

But if they do this as a collectible series, say, one car every couple of months or maybe two or three cars a year, they can milk this concept for years!  Think of it... a couple of foobie using existing tooling, and one new unique car per year.  Joe has really hatched a very good plan here.

Lee

I ain't getting any younger , and there is nobody in my family going to take up after I am dead . So if MTL wants to suckle on this family's teat they would get more the sooner than going for drips and drabs over time .

[wm3798]

...I wonder if they'll do an auto rack with like 124 clown cars on it...

Emmet Kelly

[Bob Bufkin]

Emmitt Kelly - worked for the C&O railroad before he became a clown.  Has anyone seen the old 50's movie The Greatest Show on Earth.  Has one great train wreck scene.  My parents took me to see this at a drive in when I was little.  They put there hands over my face during the wreck scene.  Make me mad then.

[asarge]

As I recall, there was a thread on the A-Board or one of the forums a year or two ago about who might do a circus train and most thought MT would be the one. It should be pretty popular and MT is perfect to do it. Think about it, it's not a fantasy scheme and it will attract people to n scale because there is currently no HO version in production. It's been quite awhile since Walthers did the HO Circus Train!  A few people today expressed an interest when the saw the monthly MT News with the announcement.