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Artist’s depiction of “The Great Triple Stage of RAILROADS ON PARADE.”
unmatched blend of luxury and convenience. Equal time was given to from New York en route to his Washington inauguration. (That scene
touting the railroad’s reputation as the nation’s transportation work- featured a “March of the Patriotic Girls.”) A somber follow-up note was
horse, delivering goods and raw materials from coast to coast. A massive added for the 1940 run, depicting Lincoln’s funeral train and a crowd
World’s Fair display provided an ideal means of celebrating railway of sobbing mourners.
successes of the past, as well as heralding its dreams for the future. The Eventually, the pageant pulled into “the modern terminal of today
person charged with making those dreams a reality: Edward – the concourse of a large railroad station in the city of New York.”
Hungerford, who billed himself as the “foremost railfan of the country.” (A reviewer of the time enthusiastically described this as a “wild melee.”)
Hungerford was no newcomer to the pageant trail. Previous Another up-to-date note, added for 1940: “Luxuryland,” an
assignments included the 1936-37 Great Lakes Exposition “especially devised and constructed Pullman car, part
in Cleveland, and the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933-34. sleeper and part lounge car.” Star-to-be Betty Garrett
For the 1939 Fair, Hungerford envisioned his enjoyed the lavish surroundings, while audiences
biggest show yet – what he called “A Fantasia on Rail enjoyed her mock-striptease to the tune of Pullman
Transport.” Blues, by noted Broadway composer Kurt Weill.
That “Fantasia” took some doing. In addition to
the 250 cast members, there were 100 more people Tuning Things Up
working as musicians and crew in the company. Weill’s participation in Railroads On Parade is
And, unlike Andrew Lloyd Webber’s train- one reason the pageant has continued to attract the
centered musical Starlight Express, which debuted on interest of music and theatre lovers. A Weill score? For
Broadway decades later, the trains seen in Railroads an outdoor pageant? At a fair? Why haven’t we heard
were real ones. Instead of roller-skating actors decked about this before? (More on that later!)
out in train regalia, Railroads On Parade featured 20 Acclaimed in his native Germany for his landmark
actual steam locomotives clackety-clacking their way across The Threepenny Opera (Mack the Knife and that shark
the enormous double-tracked outdoor stage. Add in horses, A souvenir of the day: with all the pretty teeth, but no Bobby Darin), Weill
cattle, canal boats, covered wagons, and Pullman cars, plus a brass token heralding was in the process of adapting his style for American
a cameo appearance by Abraham Lincoln, and Hungerford Railroads On Parade. ears. Coupled with original songs, such as Mile After
had a pageant guaranteed to please. As one reviewer put it, The token reverse has Mile, were familiarfolk tunes including This Train Is
“Railroads On Parade deserves a 21-gun salute!” Fairgoers an image of Bound for Glory and I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.
added their own salute, pouring in for the 4-a-day perform- the Statue of Liberty. Weill dubbed Railroads On Parade a “circus opera” due
ances. Tickets were just 25 cents for afternoon matinees, 80 to its musical and performance challenges. Onstage performers were
cents for evening shows. With 4,000 seats filled at almost every presen- impossible to hear over the combined noise level of locomotives,
tation, Railroads readily made up its $2,500-a-day operating expense, wagons, and assorted livestock. The problem was solved by placing a
justifying the estimated $3 million spent in creating the show and its performance ensemble and the orchestra underneath the stage.
exhibit environment. The amplified sound
Hungerford’s 70-minute epic began with scenes of pre-rail trans- was then piped through
portation (those ships and horses), and the first railroad (a horse-drawn speakers that were
car “gaily making its way from Boston Town to Dedham Plain”). situated throughout
History-making stops along the path to the present included “The the theatre above.
Overland Trail;” “The Gold Rush;” “The Wedding of the Rails” (cele- (Good diction was
brating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad); and paramount: narrator
Lincoln’s onstage moment in the sun, re-enacting his 1861 departure Ellen Love speaks with

Something else to see, after attending Railroads On
Parade: “Historic Locomotives in ‘The Yard’.”
The ancient train engines and cars were on display in
A color-enhanced cover and inside pages for 1940 promotional brochure for the pageant’s second season. an area adjoining the pageant grounds.

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