THE RETURN OF THE SHOW TRAIN.

Ringling Barnum's circus train tied up in 2017.  The colossal cavalcade of colorful props and performers occasionally tours on the model railroads.

During the summer, the itinerant carnivals also used to move the attractions by rail.  When Worlds of Mirth tied up, Baraboo's Circus World Museum bought the rolling stock.  Royal American used to bring what they called the World's Largest Midway to state fairs and rodeo competitions almost everywhere east of the Rockies.  Along the east coast, the James E. Strates show was the last carnival train running.  Or not.  "James E. Strates Shows parked its train after the 2019 season, skipped 2020 due to the pandemic, and since then hasn’t been able to reach a contract agreement with CSX."

It's possible that, apart from one or two large attractions, the midway can be moved more easily by trucks.

“CSX has a long history of working with the James E. Strates Shows and we appreciate the nostalgia of the carnival train in American culture. We have worked diligently to accommodate their transportation needs and we have offered them fair pricing for the dedicated, special train service they requested,” railroad spokeswoman Sheriee Bowman says.

The service requirements for the Strates train are tight. After a fair winds down on a Sunday, the loaded train must depart by late Monday night or in the wee hours of Tuesday in order to make it to its next destination in time to allow for unloading and midway setup for a Friday fair opening. “If we’re one day off from going from point A to point B, and we don’t make opening, we’re talking about a major financial loss not just for us, but for our fair and festival partner,” [Strates spokesman Marty] Biniasz says.

Based on those requirements, the Strates train would be the hottest train on the railroad — even rating above a CSX priority intermodal train that carries UPS traffic.

“We understand that Strates Shows has unique scheduling needs, but we cannot move their train at a loss or to the detriment of our other customers. We remain ready to work with them to find a solution, such as moving their cars in our merchandise or manifest service,” Bowman says.

Before the corona shutdowns, only the attractions moved by rail, with cast and crew riding buses or their campers.  Railroads, though, focus more than ever on predictable volume movements.

Jimmy Strates laments the way railroads have changed over the years, with an increasing focus on profits while becoming less capable of handling special moves.

“It’d be nice if everyone just would recognize that yes, we don’t have the capabilities in our personnel that we had 20 years ago, and that’s why we don’t want to do it because we can’t do it. And really, I think it’s a statement of America,” he says.

Not being able or willing to accommodate a special seasonal train, he says, would be like the U.S. Postal Service saying it can’t handle Christmas cards anymore.

The good news is, Strates, the railroad, and the Erie County Fair, which has hosted the Strates midway for 100 years, have come to an agreement by which the attractions, presumably including the Top Spin, which cannot be broken down into truck-sized components, will come to upstate New York by rail.

The attractions are on the way, with an expected arrival tomorrow.

The train, which has been sidelined since the pandemic, is currently en route to Buffalo, N.Y., in regular merchandise service on CSX. Once there, it will be interchanged with short line Buffalo Southern for the trip to Hamburg.

The Erie County Fair will host Train Day at the former Erie Railroad depot at 4 Scott St. in the Village of Hamburg. The event will kick off at 9 a.m. with an anticipated train arrival between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., the fair announced today.

The return of the Strates train coincides with the 100th anniversary of the partnership between the family-run carnival company and the Erie County Fair. It is considered the longest continuous run of any one carnival midway and a fair in the U.S.

Strates rail cars have been mechanically overhauled and cosmetically restored for its return, including the application of retro-inspired color schemes and lettering.

The Aug. 1 event will feature vendors selling 2024 Train Day t-shirts, and the U.S. Postal Service will be on hand with commemorative Fair Train Finale cancellation marks featuring Carnival Nights stamps. Artcraft Toy Trains will be taking pre-orders for Atlas O-scale officially licensed and authorized Strates Shows Carnival Show Train cars.

Enjoy it while you can.  "Future moves involving the Strates train are unclear."