N Scale Kits (England) 70' Circus Flat Cars

These kit cars (released in 2015) are sold with or without decals. Trucks and couplers not included. The kits are cast in lead free pewter. The Warren car has laser cut wooden decks.

Here's what NSK has to say about them -

In 1911, Buffalo Bill's Wild West show started using 60' flat cars for moving its show around the US. However, circus owners soon realized that railroads charged by car load rather than car length and started ordering 70’ cars instead. By the 1920's the Warren Tank Car Company of Warren, Pennsylvania, and the Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Company of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, were the principle providers of steel circus flat cars.

Every circus and carnival show that travelled used 70’ flat cars in their consists, and the cars were loaded "circus style" - pulling their circus wagons along the flat cars with temporary bridging or metal cross-over plates laid down over the coupler ends. Often the pulling power was provided by animals, including elephants (but usually by tractors). The wagons descended down the end ramp by gravity with the wagons being controlled by ropes around the snagging posts on the cars.

Cars were built until 1947, the last order being for five flat cars for Ringling Brothers Circus by Thrall Car Company of Chicago, similar in appearance to the Mt. Vernon style flat cars. However, there was a strong second hand market for the cars, and many cars were sold between circus and show units.

One Warren car is still in regular use by the James E Strates Show Train, at the end of its consist. The car is used as the unloading ramp for the rest of the consist, when its rear truck is removed and the car lowered at the rear end, to be used as a strong and versatile unloading ramp.