At the end of October, 2015, the Ringling Bros Barnum and Baily Circus came to Rochester for four days of performances. My friend, Melissa was traveling as the piano player for their small band, and lived on a Circus train She offered me tickets to one of the evening shows, and invited me back to the train yard afterwards.
The circus ran two circus train-based tours., a red train and the blue train. Melissa traveled with the blue train unit. The trains were a mile long with 36 passenger cars, 4 stock cars and 20 freight. In Rochester it parked down the road in a rail yard where it split in half on opposing tracks. Melissa lived in a 5 by 8 feet apartment with a kitchen, bed, and room for her and her cat.. For meals she could also cross over to Pie Car in the section of the train across the yard.
This was the last leg of a tour that included elephants. On May 1, they would be "retired" to the Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. In May 2017, the circus with the rest of its animal, clowns, and other performers put the brakes on those trains for good. .