The Elephant Walk in Peninsula

For 20 years between 1974 and 1994, you had the opportunity to witness possibly the strangest thing you had ever seen if you were in the right place at the right time.

That time period was when the Richfield Coliseum was hosting major music acts (Frank Sinatra opened the Coliseum in 1974) as well as events like the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Baily Circus, the Ice Capades and so many more. Oh yeah, it was also home to the Cleveland Cavaliers which was its primary stated purpose.

But we’re not here to talk basketball or Ice shows. We’re here to talk about the one-of-a kind event that happened every year just as the Circus was getting ready to set up at the Coliseum.

If you were tracking when the Circus was coming to town and you knew the train schedule that was going to bring the large animals to that palace, you knew that train was going to stop at the depot in Peninsula on Route 303. You also knew there was going to be a parade of elephants that were going to slowly plod there way up that hill in a two-mile safari to the Coliseum right where 271 emptied on to 303.

The circus traveled in 39 train cars that included 40 cages of cats, 18 elephants, 40 horses, 12 bears, 10 chimpanzees, 30 dogs and a giraffe.

Because of where the Richfield Coliseum was located, this scene was possibly a singular event out of all of the places the circus performed. As many as 3,000 people would gather to see the annual event. Considering the population of the Village of Peninsula was 700 at that time, this caused quite the parking problem. One of the main attractions was actually what was left behind. Pachyderm poop is considered excellent fertilizer and early birds were positioned to “grab” their share.

As the Akron Beacon Journal noted at the time, “…a crew from the Midwest Railway Historical Foundation will shuttle the circus train back to the Baltimore & Ohio tracks at Howard Street.” That Foundation is still around today but has evolved into the Midwest Railway Preservation Society (MRPS). Their focus is maintaining and restoring historic trains.

But you might ask yourself, “how did those elephants travel on that train?”

It turns out that not just any train car is equipped to handle the weight of multiple 12,000 – 14,000 lb elephants.

But this June, you will have the opportunity to be seated in one of the same cars that brought those elephants to the Coliseum back in the day as part of our special “Steam in the Valley” train weekends. Don’t worry. We’ve totally cleaned and sanitized those cars. No elephant residue. Guaranteed!