Overview

This book brings back the days when the popular Great Circus Train ran from the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, through Wisconsin and Illinois, delighting thousands of trackside spectators. In detailed text and 335 photographs, this volume captures the colour and excitement of the Great Circus Train, its origins, contents, loading and unloading of wagons, rail routes and planning, and finally, how it faded away. Railfans, circus enthusiasts, former spectators at the Great Circus Parades and children of all ages will appreciate the detailed documentation this volume presents , says Don Heimburger, publisher. The train was the source of the historic circus wagons used in the Milwaukee and Chicago circus parades that drew millions of spectators between 1965 and 2003. Over the years, the train consisted of as many as 29 vintage cars and nearly 90 historic horse-drawn wagons. Pulled by restored steam locomotives or by modern diesels, the train operated over six railroads including the Milwaukee Road, the Chicago & North Western, the Wisconsin Central, the Canadian Pacific, the Canadian National and the Wisconsin & Southern. The book contains a foreword by Fred Dahlinger Jr, one-time director of collections and facilities at the Circus World Museum, and a well-known circus historian.

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9780911581645

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Bruce Nelson has worked in the transportation industry since graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. Following more than 25 years of service with the Chicago Transit Authority, where he worked his way up through the ranks to the position of general manager, he is now employed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, an international engineering consulting firm. His interests include photography, music performance and the study of American history. He has authored many articles on transportation-related subjects for a variety of publications, and his photographs have appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and history books. A lifelong resident of northeastern Illinois, Bruce lives in Chicago with his wife, Jennifer. Bruce Nelson has worked in the transportation industry since graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. Following more than 25 years of service with the Chicago Transit Authority, where he worked his way up through the ranks to the position of general manager, he is now employed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, an international engineering consulting firm. His interests include photography, music performance and the study of American history. He has authored many articles on transportation-related subjects for a variety of publications, and his photographs have appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and history books. A lifelong resident of northeastern Illinois, Bruce lives in Chicago with his wife, Jennifer.

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