Strates Circus Train Status in New York

I am getting a kick out of the routeing of this Strates' train...Croxton to Allentown to Taylor to Bingahmton to Hornell to Buffalo. Shortest route: Croxton to Bingahmton to Buffalo via the S.T. route! And if it is going to Hamburg, NY (where I believe they set up) it could also get over to the H'brg-Buffalo line to Hamburg instead of the switching around in Buffalo! Ah, well, at least it gets to pass by it's ancestorial home just west of old HO!

I'm here, but nothing to add.
Let's hope someone has the scoop.
I'd like to catch the "fair train" on the main line.
Always miss it or it's at night.

You let out the secret #6! How'd you know Jimmy was a Horseheads and Elmira native! Fitting that it would go through in the dead of night. Which reminds me; I feel like I want to watch the beginning and end of, "In the Heat of the Night", with that GM&O passenger train of the late 60s. IS the Elmira painted car still in the consist?

I haven't seen the Strates' train in years, so I don't know whats left. I do know that it was important to old Jimmy to be sure to do the Chemung Co. Fair each year.

Crew is rested and waiting to be called but it's not enroute to Binghamton as of yet.

Strates coaches are eastbound through Howells, NY at 12:42 PM, as per cell phone report from the field.

-otto-

Strates Carnival Train NS HO-8, eastbound past MP 60 detector around 3:53pm, as per report from the field.

-otto-

Thank you Otto!!

Any ETA into Buf?

Lets assume for a moment that I'm not exactly qualified on the NS or the Tier...Shouldn't the train be heading West to Buffalo? Can someone explain real quick?

Strates train eastbound through Glen Rock just after 5:30pm, again refuting the claims that NS and NJT can't get along.

Ok..so why the roundabout routing to Elmira? Wouldn't it have made sense to just go west on the tier?

why this roundabout routing??? why not just send it west on the tier?

Perhaps we should repost the subject as Strates SHows 2008 Trek Across Pennsylvania as 047H530 passed Allentown West Scanner at 06:12 this Thursday morning. Crew change and up to Binghamton in 12 hours? Enjoy the Lehigh Line, unless they kick to Harrisburg, then up.

Could be contractual. NS has a contract which may be cheaper (maybe not) and also gives switching services, etc. that someone else didn't. Therefore move over a different road, though shorter distance, could also mean more $$$$.

Anyone have contacts in Allentown and the Lehigh Line? Would the symbol change? 047H530?

Strates Shows, Inc. is the only railroad carnival still traveling in the United States today. The Orlando, Florida based carnival company uses a 61-car train to transport the show's equipment and employees to various locations throughout their seven-month season. In one season alone the train will visit 16 different locations and cover more than 6,500 miles.

In the early 1930s, traveling by railroad was the trend of the carnival industry. It was at that time James E. Strates, founder of James E. Strates Shows, purchased his first ten railroad cars. As the company grew and prospered, so did the need for additional transportation. While other carnivals eventually converted solely to highway transportation, Strates Shows continued to purchase additional railroad cars. This gradual expansion resulted in the unique 61-car train which currently travels the East Coast.

The brightly colored train is over one mile long and consists of 50 flat cars, 10 sleeping cars and a generator car. Each flat car is 89 feet in length and, when loaded with equipment, weighs in excess of 100,000 pounds, one of the heaviest cars traveling the rails today. Sleeping cars, better known as coaches, are home to over 100 employees.

The logistics involved in moving Strates Shows' employees and equipment has developed into a precise science. A designated trainmaster and crew can load or unload the colorful train in under 18 hours. This timely and reliable method of transportation, combined with years of experience, has made railroad travel the most cost-effective and efficient way for the carnival to travel. Not only is train travel an efficient mode of transportation, it is an exciting part of the nostalgia and history of Strates Shows.