Trainspotting: Abandoned Circus Flatcars in Baraboo, WI.

Like many railfans, I enjoy looking for railcars and infrastructure wherever I find myself.  As a child I visited Devil's Lake several times.   I finally had a chance to return last month.  It was a wonderful vacation and I supplemented my usual hiking and rock climbing with a bit of time spent driving around Baraboo looking for railroadiana.

Tucked away along the railway across from Andro Ave,  I found this building. It appears to be part of the former Circus property though everything to the right (north) of this building is now fenced off and obscured by trees.   What lies back there may have been the area where all the Circus trains were stored and serviced in the past, but I don't know.  Google maps shows several rows of cars and tracks.

Tracks run west out of this building and three 85' Flatcars are sitting there.  They all bear the Reporting mark CWM which stands for "Circus World Museum".  

I've been unable to track down exact info, but it seems like these could be as old as the 1930's or earlier, though I have no hard evidence yet.

The first is CWM 59 Ringing Brothers and Barnum & Bailey

The second is CWM 54 "Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows"

The last is CMW 58 "Sells Floto Circus".   Sells Floto was a circus acquired by one of the Ringling Brothers in 1929.  

The trees growing through the decks and completely overgrown rails at the end of #58 give ample suggestion that these have been there for a rather long time.  Though overgrown and covered in dirt, Google maps suggests that the tracks may still be present and connected to a line that leads to the main train lines.    

With the closing of the Circus 2 years ago, and the sale or scraping of most of their railcars it is likely that their days are numbered, though perhaps with their relative seclusion there is hope for some sort of preservation. 

These were a nice discovery.  Next summer we're planning a return trip and I plan to do some more train hunting.   There were a few other bits of railroad infrastructure that I photographed and I'll share those in the next post.

Happy Trainspotting!

Karl