Emporia's circus train
Imegene Marsh
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Forty-four years ago, March 4, 1967, a special train took approximately 1,200 children and over 150 supervising adults to the Arab Shrine Circus in Topeka. Scott Thomas was one of the 3rd grade school children who went the first year. A picture of his class from Butcher School was taken at the Topeka depot before they returned home. The first year, the Shriners took the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades and the next year, 4th, 5th and 6th, alternating each year for eight years. Scott recalls riding the train at least two or three times.
This was a dream come true for Dean Marsh. Let me tell you the story —
44 YEARS AGO, A DREAM WAS BORN
The year was 1967, and Dean Marsh was elected President of the Neosho Valley Shrine club in Emporia, Kansas. As an engineer on the AT&SF Railroad, he thought it would be great to take the Emporia schoolchildren on a special train to Topeka for the Arab Temple Shrine Circus.
The surrounding small towns took their schoolchildren to Topeka to the Shrine Circus in their school buses. Emporia school buses were not allowed to travel on the highways.
Dean remembered as a child, the big special trains would take railroad families to the Big Four picnics in Emporia. With this in mind, he began his quest. He went to the Santa Fe officials with his idea. They told him that all of the crew that ran the train would have to donate their time and that a nominal charge would be required by the Federal Interstate Commerce Commission for insurance purposes, would cost each child 95 cents. Liability insurance would also need to be provided by Arab Temple. Dean talked to all the Santa Fe crew that would operate the train (which were all Shriners) and they agreed to donate their time. Since the train operators were middle division railroaders, Dean had to get permission to run the train over the eastern division into Topeka.read the rest of the story at:http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2011/mar/19/emporias-circus-train/
This was a dream come true for Dean Marsh. Let me tell you the story —
44 YEARS AGO, A DREAM WAS BORN
The year was 1967, and Dean Marsh was elected President of the Neosho Valley Shrine club in Emporia, Kansas. As an engineer on the AT&SF Railroad, he thought it would be great to take the Emporia schoolchildren on a special train to Topeka for the Arab Temple Shrine Circus.
The surrounding small towns took their schoolchildren to Topeka to the Shrine Circus in their school buses. Emporia school buses were not allowed to travel on the highways.
Dean remembered as a child, the big special trains would take railroad families to the Big Four picnics in Emporia. With this in mind, he began his quest. He went to the Santa Fe officials with his idea. They told him that all of the crew that ran the train would have to donate their time and that a nominal charge would be required by the Federal Interstate Commerce Commission for insurance purposes, would cost each child 95 cents. Liability insurance would also need to be provided by Arab Temple. Dean talked to all the Santa Fe crew that would operate the train (which were all Shriners) and they agreed to donate their time. Since the train operators were middle division railroaders, Dean had to get permission to run the train over the eastern division into Topeka.read the rest of the story at:http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2011/mar/19/emporias-circus-train/
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