Restored Circus Train Car Returns to Historic Venice Train Depot (On Demand)

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus wintered in Venice, Florida between 1960 and 1992. With the help of numerous donors from the Venice area and around the nation, the Venice Area Historical Society (VAHS) brought a restored circus train car to the Historic Venice Train Depot Campus in January 2021. This video recounts its final journey. In 2014, VAHS found an ideal car nearby. It was built in 1953 by Pullman Standard for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and it was once owned by the Ringling Bros. Circus. The Society raised the funds to purchase, transport, restore and reconfigure it, and also to prepare the Depot site to receive it. Originally called the Short Leaf Pine, the 85-foot-long rail car had its last brake check in Venice in 1993. The car is currently at the Venice Train Depot next to a caboose. Interior exhibits portray Venice’s circus history and circus legacy. They also illustrate how Ringling performers lived on the circus train. Check the VAHS website www.veniceareahistoricalsociety.org for tour information.