Winterquarters/Car Shops for circus and showtrains


joe circus said:
I'm trying to find a Walther's wagon for my Circus Train, they showed # 764-8 as a cage wagon back in the day, but I've never seem such a thing, thoughts anyone?
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enjineerbill said:
Not sure what you're looking for Joe. Do you have a picture of the wagon you are looking for? Is the number above the Walther's number?

I don't remember Walthers producing a cage wagon as most of their stuff was cast in solid resin as far as wagons were concerned. Prieser offered some very nicely done Hagenbeck-Wallace type 'corporation' cages, red and white I think.
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joe circus said:
Yes, it's a Walther's number. 764-6 was the Vintage Vehicles Calliope. 764-7 was the Tableau, and 764-8 was the Vintage Vehicles Cage. But, I've never seen a picture, that I can recall, and my old Walther's catalogues are packed.
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enjineerbill said:
Well Joe, you do have me stumped on this one. I do remember the calliope and tableau and have them, but not the cage. I'm wondering if Walthers ever actually produced them or if they got lost in the shuffle...I'm gonna look into this with Ralph Pierce, who at one time reproduced the resin kits from Walthers. He might know....stay tuned.
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Hey Johnny, I found where I came up with that number, it was on a fax Walther's sent me on Dec 5, 1996, when I was first doing my research on what all I needed to get to have a complete train.
 
Good afternoon all, its been a while. Not much to share with my projects. How about anyone else? Did you make it out to the convention Johnny?

Very interesting info on the lost cage wagon Joe, I wonder if Johnny ever found out any more info...
 
I was hoping to hear about CMB too.

I repaired the running gear on ten wagons and got the benchwork half done for the first 8 feet, that's about it...
 
This thread is too far down... maybe this can pick it up again. Here are a couple of links:

Some pictures from the CMB Convention in Baraboo. This site is a circus model blog with a new entry almost every day. Its pretty neat.
http://circusmodellbau.blogspot.com/

Next up I found out today that the San Diego Model Railroad Museum will be hosting a circus exhibit starting next month through November. The circus family day will again coincide with RBBB coming to town in August. Heres a link to the museum. Im hoping to make it out sometime to see the exhibit.
http://www.sdmrm.org/

I would enjoy seeing your work Joe, if you have any pictures, post them up!
 
Hi all, sorry I haven't been able to post anything regarding the CMB National in Baraboo. I've been battling pneumonia for
about 6 weeks and am just now getting back to a 'normal' routine. In the next couple of days I will post some of the pics I took along with
my thoughts on how the convention was. As for my diorama, it's gotta be done (read 'enough') by the end of this month for it's
debut at an upcoming circus show in Madison, WI. I'll post info on the show here as well. Great that you are sharing so much in this thread,
keep up the great support.
Sad news out of Las Vegas, a Cirque performer fell 50 feet to her death during a show over the weekend. Thoughts and prayers to family, friends
and fellow performers. Tragic.
 
CMB 2013 National convention Baraboo, WI.

Well the convention had hot and sometimes rainy weather but went off without a hitch.
Ned Kromberg and Christopher Greider were the organizers for the event and did a fine job.
Modelers from thru-out the U.S. had displays. I was too busy gabbing with folks to photograph
everything I wanted to, but for me the highlight was the large scale circus built by the late,
Herbie Head. His family was there to honor him by setting up the show between showers.
Remember EVERYTHING loads into the wagons and onto the train!

This will give you a comparison for scale;


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Here are the loaded flats....


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Pneumonia sucks, finally getting around to doing stuff again thank God.
We'll the show in Madison is coming up in a month and I'm trying to get everything set in place on the diorama.

Note: This is my RBBB 'fantasy' train I'm building in HO scale. Still need to add lots of detail, but I'm starting to weather the equipment so it can look neglected. This diorama is a circus equipment surplus supplier dealing in used and cast off equipment. It sits on the former Ripp Bros. & Great Trapino Combined Shows, now defunct.


Here are some recent shots of the Stockcars after weather beating them to represent a long, rough season;



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Nice update Johnny, I look forward to hearing about your upcoming show! I have a question for you or Matt... Do you replace the stock plastic wheels that came with the car kits with metal sets? If so, which brand do you use?
 
eric2448 said:
Nice update Johnny, I look forward to hearing about your upcoming show! I have a question for you or Matt... Do you replace the stock plastic wheels that came with the car kits with metal sets? If so, which brand do you use?
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Thanks Eric, more to come although I'm pressed for time as far as pics go for now.

I do replace my wheel sets with metal ones as the plastic are just no good. I use Intermountain, but there are a number of well produced ones on the market.
And as a side note; the plastic ones are the ones I paint rusted and use in the diorama scenes.

Make it a Circus day!
 
Thanks Johnny. Ive been researching wheels for some time now and it seems like the Intermountains are the way to go. Good to know you have used them with success on the Walthers cars. Im currently taking a break from paint and decals to work on a way to secure the wagons to the flats without having to glue them down... I believe Im getting close.
 
eric2448 said:
Thanks Johnny. Ive been researching wheels for some time now and it seems like the Intermountains are the way to go. Good to know you have used them with success on the Walthers cars. Im currently taking a break from paint and decals to work on a way to secure the wagons to the flats without having to glue them down... I believe Im getting close.
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If you come to a solution, would you be willing to share it here? If not I do understand, but many a modeler resort to glue and that is, in my opinion, the last thing that should be done.....

It's easy to make working chocks in the larger scales but HO and N make it much more difficult.
 
Yes, I will share it here once I am satisfied with the results. Im to the point now where I need to assemble a flat to test it running on various grades loaded with the heaviest wagons. My goal is to make these fully removable without having to sacrifice the appearance of the unloaded car. I looking forward to sharing when complete.
 
I'm thinking it's time to Kadee all of the rolling stock but, when I look for the product, there's about way too many choices. What should I get for my circus trains?
 
Eric, I do the same as Johnny with my wheel sets. If you plan on running your flats I would get one of those truck tuner tools. I used one on all my flats and they run great. Can't wait to hear about your progress with how to attach the wagons to the flats. If you were looking for photos from the convention, I have a bunch on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CircusDecals?ref=hl
 
Thanks for the info Matt, Ill have to pick up a truck turner when I buy the wheels. Your pictures are great, Ive been to your page a few times and enjoy the photos you post. I havent had much time to work on things as of late. Im hoping to put a flat together soon so I can test my idea full scale (HO that is haha).
 
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