Florida resort guests will soon have the privilege of touring the luxuriously appointed private railcar of John and Mable Ringling, which will be on display in September in the Circus Museum at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, just minutes from Longboat Key Club & Resort, an exclusive Southwest Florida resort.

Built in 1905 by the Pullman Co., the 79-foot railcar originally cost $11,325. Its overhaul, funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, cost $400,000.

The reconditioned railcar was delivered to the museum complex in mid-August, where a wall had to be knocked down to get the car onto a piece of rail track and into the Circus Museum, so Florida resort guests could eventually get a view.

Christened the Wisconsin by John Ringling in 1905, the railcar’s interior includes an observation room, three bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, bath and servants’ quarters. Fortunately, the original stained-glass transom windows of the car were intact. Florida resort guest enjoying a Florida beach vacation at Longboat Key Club & Resort will eventually be able to tour the Ringling’s opulent railcar.

Museum officials have set January 2009 as the official opening of the Wisconsin, which doubtless was the smallest of the Ringlings’ residences – a perfect bookend Ca’ d’Zan – the couple’s 66-acre estate and dream home on the Sarasota Bay – just minutes from Longboat Key Club & Resort, an exclusive Southwest Florida resort.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 am and is filed under Florida Resort. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.