thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance". and remember, you can't take it with you. ♪♪ oh, yeah. ♪♪ >> it's the greatest sports facility that anyone has ever conceived. >> he gives houston the astrodome... >> it's a home run! >> ...and circles his empire in style. >> hofheinz approached that railcar like he did everything else -- it had a "wow" effect. >> oh, my. look at this, robert! >> could it be this guy's ticket to easy street... >> [ sighs ] >> ...or... >> but, um... >> ...has that train left the station? >> you didn't know that? >> [ chuckling ] no, i didn't. ♪♪ [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]

>> i'm jamie colby in south houston, texas, on my way to meet an heir who wrote me. he said he had an incredible and highly valuable inheritance linking him to a texas legend and, by the way, a baseball team that won its first world series in 2017. >> my name is robert harper. when my father died in 2012, i inherited a customized luxury railcar, and there's some really colorful texas history behind it, and i still don't know what the heck to do with it. >> hi, i'm jamie. >> robert harper. it's a pleasure to meet you. welcome to south houston. >> okay. robert leads me into a warehouse to show me his strange inheritance. what is it exactly? >> it's a full-size railcar -- 44 feet long, 12 feet wide. it weighs 50,000 pounds. it sat here for 41 years. it belonged to

judge roy hofheinz. judgewho,you ask? roy hofheinz, a boy wonder who had his own law firm at age 19, became a county judge, pioneered fm radio, and was elected mayor of houston in 1952. from the mayor's office, "the judge," as he was known, promises to transform houston from an oil-boom town into a big-time metropolis. a fellow entrepreneur named welcome wilson befriends his honor. >> he was a bigger-than-life person. he was flamboyant, tall, good-looking. >> but after two terms of knocking heads with the city council, hofheinz is ousted from office. so the fast-talkin', cigar-chompin' promoter begins channeling his boundless energy into something new -- major league baseball. >> i think the judge saw the

recognition you could get from other cities when you were part of that league. part of being a major-league city is having a major league baseball team. >> but hofheinz knows that houston's swampy summer weather could be a deal breaker. >> houston is gulf coast through and through. we are hot. we are humid. playing baseball outside is challenging. >> roy's solution -- think outside the box andinsidea dome. >> this will be the greatest concert hall in the world, it's the greatest convention hall in the world, and, by all means, it's the greatest sports facility or entertainment facility that anyone has ever conceived. >> in 1960, hofheinz's pitch helps houston land its bid for an mlb expansion team. they're named the colt .45s, but would later become the astros -- a nod to the city's nasa space center. >> the spanking-new astrodome is the new $31 million home of the

houston astros. >> yes, the astrodome -- the first domed stadium ever. >> it was the biggest air-conditioned space in the world. think about that. >> what kind of things did he put in there that were a "wow"? >> well, the scoreboard was one thing. >> the scoreboard is a $2 million item that's a show in itself. >> standing 18 stories high and covering 9 acres, the astrodome is also one of the first stadiums to offer luxury box seating. >> a place for relaxation and entertainment. ♪♪ standing room only. >> on april 9, 1965, the astrodome hosts its first major league baseball game with the hometown astros taking on mickey mantle and the new york yankees. >> the yankees' big guns. >> special opening night guests... >> also in attendance that night -- president lyndon johnson, ladybird johnson, and businessman welcome wilson, all watching from the judge's

private suite. >> mickey mantle, and he's back -- one of the big [indistinct] wynn backs up. >> we beat the new york yankees, for heaven sakes. >> it's a home run! >> mantle, he hit a home run, but we still beat 'em. >> was it the first indoor home run? >> yeah. >> the crowd must have been electric. >> absolutely. no doubt about that. >> in that crowd, far away from the judge's box, is 12-year-old robert harper, who's watching the game with his family. >> it was probably one of the best days of my life. i can't describe what the feeling was. i mean, it was so big and so bright that it was almost unimaginable. they called it "the eighth wonder of the world," and it truly was. ♪♪ >> but the dome is not without issues. after outfielders begin losing sight of fly balls in the glare coming off the dome's translucent roof panels, hofheinz paints over a large portion of the roof.

>> ...acrylic coating to cut down the glare. >> did it work? >> it worked. but then the grass started dying. >> ah. >> so and this shows you hofheinz's creativity. he went to monsanto chemical company and asked them to invent an artificial grass. they said, "we'll call it 'astroturf.'" of course, it became world famous. >> in 1968, looking to expand the astrodome experience, the judge spends $25 million to open a one-of-a-kind amusement park on 57 acres budding up to the stadium. it's name? you guessed it -- astroworld. >> astroworld was our theme park. it had the big rides, it had the roller coasters, but it also had a carnival feel to it. >> circling the park is the 610 limited railroad. and roy wants his own private railcar for himself and its vip

guests. >> he commissioned harper goff, who had won an academy award in hollywood for set design, and when he built this railcar, he spared no expense. >> goff's design recalls the glorious luxury railcars of the whistle-stop era. >> it's like when you see the presidents in the olden days. they had the platform where they could talk to the crowd. so it's got a viewing platform in the front. >> hofheinz approached that railcar like he did everything else -- it had a "wow" effect. >> he left his mark. >> he made an impression wherever he went. >> but how does robert harper, a guy with no personal connection to roy hofheinz, inherit his fancy astroworld railcar? well, that's when this "strange inheritance" tale switches tracks. >> we didn't let people see it. >> top secret? >> well, we were guarding it.

>> and i get my vip ticket to board this texas relic. look at this, robert! wow! i mean, this is extravagant. >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. before painting the roof, what innovation did the astros first try to combat glare in the outfield -- move home plate to the other side of the stadium, produce clouds inside the dome, or play with different-colored baseballs? the answer after the break. we love our new home. there's so much space. we have a guestroom now. but we have aunts. you're slouching again, ted. expired. expired. expired. thanks, aunt bonnie. it's a lot of house. i hope you can keep it clean. at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save a lot of money. oh, teddy. did you get my friend request? oh. i'll have to check.

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24 hours, zero heartburn. [ bird caws ] >> so, what did the astros first try to combat glare in the outfield? it's c. they experiment with baseballs dyed yellow, orange, and pink, but struck out. >> you're out! >> here, in south houston, texas, robert harper is about to give me a tour inside his strange inheritance -- this 44-foot-long vip railcar that used to chug around the amusement park outside the astrodome. the harper family ends up with the car after its owner, texas legend roy hofheinz, suffers a debilitating stroke in 1970 and is forced to sell off parts of his astro empire. >> the judge made a lot of money, but he also lost a lot of

money. he leveraged every project against each other. he had just become overextended. >> in the late '70s, hofheinz sells astroworld to the six flags corporation. at the time, robert's dad is just entering the commercial-real-estate business and buying up land here in south houston for multiuse industrial buildings. through a mutual friend, he gets word that judge hofheinz is looking for a storage building large enough to house his beloved railcar. >> they called up my dad and said, "do you have a place that you haven't built a building yet?" so they brought the railroad car and set it down, and he built it around it. >> now, why did he have to build the building around the railcar? >> because it will not fit through the doors. >> [ laughs ] hofheinz has plans to eventually put the railcar on public display somewhere in houston, but before he's able to pull that off, he dies in 1982.

for the next decade, roy's widow continues to pay $240 a month rent on the facility... until bankruptcy forces her to liquidate assets in a fire sale, including the astroworld train car. robert's dad buys it. what did he pay? >> he paid about what you'd pay for a good car. >> about 10 grand at the time? >> probably close. he got a good deal. >> you bring your friends over? >> no, we didn't let people see it. >> in fact, robert tells me that just a handful of folks ever get a glimpse of it. 20 years later, in 2012, when his father dies, robert inherits the fancy train car. big step up. >> [ laughs ] yeah, it is a big step. >> thank you. is roy hofheinz's personal railcar really all that? oh, my [chuckles] gosh. you be the judge.

like traveling back in time. unbelievable. look at this place! >> the judge did nothing but the best. >> i can see that. look at this beautiful couch. i mean, this is extravagant! it's all stained glass. >> oh, he loved stained glass. he has an office, wet bar. has 'frigeration. it's air conditioned. it has running water. has a pipe organ. >> what? do you think, in that office, some big deals might've been made? >> i think so. >> fancy schmancy! look at that sink! oh, my goodness. matches the wallpaper and marble. wow, put in the jacuzzi, and i'm taking it home. robert, it's really something. this railcar is definitely a posh time capsule, but robert tells me that, after storing it all these years, he thinks it's time to sell. >> i'm in love with it, but i

don't want to leave the burden on my daughter to get rid of it. >> big decision. you sure you won't regret getting rid of it? >> it's been in the family forever, but it needs to go somewhere because there's nobody else that could take care of it. >> any takers? >> nobody's known about it until you. [ laughs ] >> so, i figure i'll ask around. >> there is definitely a market for private railcars. you can purchase a vintage railcar and tack that train car on the back of an amtrak train and go basically wherever amtrak goes in the u.s. >> oh, i love it. what does it cost? >> here's another quiz question. before air force one, there was u.s. car no. 1. which president was it built for -- coolige, hoover, or fdr? the answer when we return.

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♪♪ >> so, which president was u.s. car no. 1 built for? it's fdr. it had heavy armor plating, bulletproof windows, and two secret escape hatches. >> robert harper is looking to off-load his strange inheritance -- this swanky vip railcar that once circled the astroworld amusement park next to the astrodome and belonged to stadium founder and team owner roy hofheinz. to help him explore his options, we meet with railroad-equipment appraiser davidson ward, who tells us that the most famous industrialists in america used to have their own private railcars. >> cornelius vanderbilt made all of his millions in the railroad industry. people like j.p. morgan had his own private railcar.

if you had a meeting in chicago in 1912 and you lived in new york, you wouldn't fly there. you would take a palatial railcar all the way from station to station. >> and some folks of means still do it. >> there is definitely a market for private railcars. >> you mean now? >> well, now, yeah, exactly. you can purchase a vintage railcar. you can upgrade the railcar to meet amtrak mechanical standards and tack that train car on the back of an amtrak train... and go basically wherever amtrak goes in the u.s. >> oh, i love it. nothing like seeing the country by rail. what does it cost? >> amtrak charges just under $3 per mile to go from a to b. >> how many of these are there? >> there are probably between 100 and 300 of these private railcars in different conditions in the united states. the people that do it, by and large, are passionate about railroad history and passionate about the history of the individual railcar that they own. >> such turnkey cars typically sell for $300,000 to $400,000,

and they don't have the cool houston history that robert's has. so the equipment appraiser is eager to kick the steel wheels on this strange inheritance. there she is. >> yeah, it's incredible. you've got pin-striping. got a great railing here. this car seems very unique. to have a car that is a wooden construction like this on a steel frame, really, it's pretty much one of a kind. but, um... >> uh-oh! >> when you originally contacted me, i knew it was a private railcar, so i thought, "maybe this is one of the private railcars used behind amtrak for service across the united states." >> so, what's the problem? find out next. oh, no. >> i know. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com hi. i'm wolfgang puck when i started my online store wolfgang puck home i knew there would be a lot of orders to fill

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♪♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance."

>> 65-year-old robert harper is just learning from railroad-equipment appraiser davidson ward that his strange inheritance is not exactly what he thought. >> one thing i'm noticing here -- this is not a standard-gauge railcar. >> really? >> this is a narrow-gauge railcar. ♪♪ >> you didn't know that? >> [ chuckling ] no, i didn't. as big as it is, i assumed it was standard. >> that means robert's luxury railcar could never be used to travel the country today as a number of those amtrak-certified personal luxury cars do. >> amtrak operates over the freight railroads, and all the train tracks are 4 feet, 8½ inches apart. now, this railcar was built to a 3-foot gauge, or a narrow gauge, meaning there's no way this could ever become an amtrak-certified railcar. >> oh, no. >> i know. >> wow. >> yeah. and that definitely is gonna have an impact on the value of

the equipment. ♪♪ >> davidson tells us that narrow-gauge railroads were historically used in the western u.s., many of them in mining and forestry operations. and to this day, they're still in use in places like san francisco, where all those trolley cars are narrow gauge. >> there are a couple preserved 3-foot-gauge railroads... [ train whistle blows ] ...the durango & silverton... the cumbres & toltec in colorado. and those are preserved today as active heritage railroads. >> if someone wanted to buy this right now and you were asked to give an appraised value, the minimum price that you think you could get for it... >> if you say, "hey, we got to sell this thing in a week," what's someone gonna pay for it? maybe we're looking at $30,000 to $50,000. >> oh. >> yeah. >> mm. >> yeah. >> but robert'snotlooking to sell it in a week, so davidson thinks that, with a little time, patience, and marketing, he can

find someone who values the car's rich houston history. >> the fact that this was the private railcar of judge hofheinz, i think the history is huge. there's more to it than just selling it to a private party without taking into consideration the history of it. >> good. >> robert's decision to sell might be coming at just the right time in houston. more than 50 years after roy hofheinz brought the team to town, the astros win their first-ever world series title. >> your 2017 world series champion astros! >> and the original home of the astros, that "eighth wonder of the world," it's getting a lot of attention, too. back in 2000, the astros moved from the astrodome to a new stadium, minute maid park. eight years later, the "dome" was shuttered and faced an uncertain future. but, today, new plans are emerging to reinvent the iconic

space. >> harris county owns the astrodome, and it's bought and paid for, so the leadership at the county level has said, "why not find a way to do something else with it? why not spend a little bit more money and allow it to be a contributing member of the community? it's already a beloved landmark." >> welcome wilson, judge hofheinz's old buddy and a board member of the astrodome conservancy group, says a modern relaunch is just around the corner. it just is amazing to me that so many people, even if they're not from this area, know his name and know about the astrodome story. will they in 10, 20 years? >> i think so. if we in the astrodome conservancy have our way, we think we can make a venue out of the astrodome yet. >> and his old friend's railcar? welcome thinks it deserves a place of honor in their

conservation efforts. >> i would hope that that would be a resting place for the railcar -- at the astrodome. >> so, more than 40 years after this train left the station... >> the spanking-new astrodome... >> ...robert hopes it can make a round trip back to where it all started. [ train whistle blows ] >> it'd be a nice place for the railcar to end because, to me, it's home where it deserves to be at home. it'd nice to bring out something that remembers the judge. ♪♪ >> taking a page out of roy hofheinz's playbook, executives at disneyland in california wanted a way to transport vip guests around their park. so, in 1974, they converted a narrow-gauge observation coach into a high-end parlour car complete with mahogany touches, stained glass windows, and red mohair seating. it was named lilly belle, after walt disney's wife, and carried japanese emperor hirohito on its

maiden trip. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. ♪♪ ♪♪ >> it's the circus, downsized. [ crowd cheering ] >> he's got the big top, the sideshow, the menagerie. >> and you can almost smell the popcorn and sawdust. >> made by a master whittler. >> he never used a jigsaw. he never used a lathe. it was always a pocketknife. >> boy, this knife has some mileage on it. >> but it comes with a jumbo-sized burden. >> he would usually cry and he'd say, "barbara, i don't know what to do."i didn't know what to do either. >> and now the big reveal. >> are you ready? okay, here we go. >> wow. ♪♪

[ bird squawks ] >> i'm jamie colby, on my way to see a family who wrote in about their strange inheritance. we're meeting in baraboo, wisconsin, which, not coincidentally, was once the winter headquarters of the famed ringling bros. circus. >> my name's barbara dickey. my father-in-law loved the circus, and he left me something that's had me jumping through hoops. >> barbara. i'm jamie. >> hi. it's so nice to meet you. >> so nice to meet you, too. you wrote me about this? >> i did. this is a miniature circus, hand-carved with a pocketknife by my father-in-law. >> a true 1-inch scale reproduction of a 1920s circus, to be precise, each piece painstakingly handcrafted by barbara's late father-in-law, william dickey.

the detail is fascinating. you can almost hear them playing their instruments. is there more? >> absolutely. >> how many pieces total? >> approximately 62,157 pieces. [ laughs ] it was his passion. it was his love. so it was just a lifelong work. >> a lifelong work that begins in the early 1900s, when the circus comes to bristol, virginia. in attendance, an artistic teenager, william t. dickey. >> the first time he went to the circus, he fell in love and he wanted to be there every time he had an opportunity. >> what do you think the thrill of it was for him? >> he loved the clowns, the popcorn and the cotton candy, and the music, and just the whole atmosphere. >> it's no surprise william is captivated. >> ladies and gentlemen... >> this is, after all, the golden era of the circus. >> it was a really huge event.

i mean, schools would shut down. businesses shut down. >> joe colossa, former ringling bros. trainmaster. [ whistle blows ] it was the great american family outing. >> absolutely. >> tight-wire act. >> i mean, disney world didn't exist back then, so, in a sense, disney world came to them. >> this fascination with the big top sparks a curious hobby with a small-but-avid following -- circus model building. enthusiasts even start their own >> the circus model builders association of america. >> with five members? >> oh, more than that. several hundred. >> really? including joe himself. yes, the circus model builders association of america still meets today. >> there's miniature circuses that are around the country. >> there are? >> there are. there's a group of folks that -- actually, that's their love. they build miniatures of the circus. >> it's that same love that

drives william dickey to create his own miniature big top. his grandson, clayton dickey, says it all starts with a pocketknife. a pocketknife? >> yes, ma'am. >> he never used a jigsaw. he never used a lathe or any kind of turning tools. it was always a pocketknife. >> boy, this knife has some mileage on it. william takes that pocketknife and puts it to a block of wood. did he see a drawing of something? did he have a blueprint? >> well, my dad always said that his dad always said was, "you carve away everything that's not >> and you're left with a horse? >> and then you're left with a horse. >> if only it's that simple. >> it took him years and years of practice to learn how to do everything right. >> by his late teens, william's creating detailed, intricate pieces. >> the man was a brilliant wood-carver. >> johnny trapino, another card-carrying member of the circus model builders association of america.

he says every circus model builder worth his penknife appreciates dickey's work. >> mr. dickey did all that with a single pocketknife, and that's absolutely amazing. >> william's circus grows to include hundreds of wooden animals... clowns... ringmasters, musicians... and delighted customers. then he adds even more tricks to his toolbox. >> his uncle was a blacksmith, and he made him an anvil. and he learned how to fashion metal. >> that metalwork becomes animal cages, chains, ladders, and even musical instruments. ♪♪ now he has enough pieces to set up an entire display.

he calls it dickey's circus. >> mr. dickey always said, when it was set up it had to sit on a platform at least 75 feet long by 14 feet wide. >> that's about as long as a tennis court. the grounds include 15 tents, highlighted by a 25-foot-wide big top with 10,000 seats. venture outside, and you'll find the menagerie, with lions, giraffes, hippos, snakes, zebras, camels, and elephants. continue your journey past a freak sideshow and a parade. >> it's every little, intricate piece of an entire circus. >> and you can almost smell the popcorn and sawdust. ♪♪ >> dickey spends more than a decade of his youth on his masterpiece, but will anyone outside his small virginia town see it?

more than he ever imagines. next stops, atlantic city, manhattan, paris, and... >> it traveled to the >> the world's fair. >> yes. >> here's a"strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer after the break. so you want to make the best burger ever? then make it! that means selling everything. and eating nothing but cheese till you find the perfect slice... even if everyone asks you... another burger truck? don't listen to them! that means cooking day and night until you get... [ ding ] you got paid! that means adding people to the payroll. hi mom. that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses

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♪♪ >> so, circus lore holds that which is bad luck? it's "c." stagehands communicated by whistling. an extra tweet could be mistaken for a cue and cause an accident. >> by the 1930s, william dickey has spent more than a decade hand-carving this incredible 1-inch scale model he calls dickey's circus. what did mr. dickey bring to life? >> he's got everything -- the big top, the sideshow, where you'd see the freaks, and the menagerie, the midway. it's a piece of art, really. >> when dickey's circus goes on display around bristol, virginia, it catches the eye of pete moore, a wealthy circus-loving businessman.

>> who apparently had the financial means to help my grandfather get some places that he wouldn't have been able to get on his own. >> turns out mr. moore has some good connections. he begins promoting dickey's circus, and, in 1933, the businessman's able to book a monumental gig, the world's fair. the world's fair. chicago world's fair. >> that's incredible. >> yes. >> nearly 40 million people visit the chicago world's fair, enjoying exhibits such as dickey's circus and a futuristic sky ride. the little big top then heads across the atlantic for another huge booking, the famed paris exposition. it goes on to be shown at the museum of the city of new york and along the boardwalk in atlantic city, new jersey. the little circus that could. >> yes. but it's not so little. >> william dickey himself is no

showman and usually stays back in virginia. by now, he's married, raising two boys, and making a living as a mechanical engineer. one of those boys, bill, grows up and marries barbara, who discovers that the model circus is a great way to connect with her new father-in-law. what do you think it meant to him that you took in interest in his circus? >> he loved the circus and he loved for everybody else to love the circus, and that caused me to feel like i was a part of the family. >> over the years, mr. dickey keeps adding to and improving his miniature big top. you think he was a perfectionist when it came to this project? >> absolutely, he was. if there was anything wrong with a piece, he would not fix it or paint over it. he would throw it away and start over. >> you have any idea how many hours he worked on this? >> it's above 10,000. >> did mrs. dickey ever say, "come in here and spend time with the family"? >> she may have felt that way from time to time, but she also valued the circus and

appreciated it and was supportive. >> william retires to florida in the 1960s and begins the search for just the right place to put his signature achievement on permanent display. did you ever see him stressing out about where to house the circus? >> i know that he spent long hours writing to people, and, a lot of times, he got word back that circuses are a dime a dozen. and he would say, "they just don't know what we have." >> did mr. dickey ever try to sell it? >> not really. he always told us that he felt like it was worth quite a lot. >> $10,000? >> he said $100,000 at the time, and i think he insured it for that at one time. >> in 1972, william finally finds a place to pitch his tent. a tourist attraction in new hampshire called circus towne agrees to indefinitely showcase his miniature big top. >> he was totally happy and totally excited it was gonna have its permanent home in new hampshire.

>> what was your reaction? >> i was so thrilled. >> sadly, just days after the contract is signed, william dickey has a heart attack and dies at age 69. he never gets to see his circus in all its glory at circus towne, nor, as it turns out, will many others. >> i used to talk to my husband about it, and he would usually cry. and he'd say, "barbara, i don't know what to do." and i didn't know what to do either. >> here's another quiz question. which famous actor worked as a lion tamer before making it big? the answer when we return. ♪ ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin.

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>> so, which famous actor worked as a lion tamer? it's christopher walken, who, as a teen, performed in a traveling circus with a lioness named sheba. >> over the course of his life, william dickey hand-carves a 62,000-piece model circus. he dies in 1972. the miniature big top is willed to his son bill and daughter-in-law, barbara. was it an honor? >> it was an honor, yes, to have that as a part of the family heritage. >> but in 1975, circus towne, the tourist attraction where dickey's circus is on display, goes out of business. so the family packs it all away into a storage facility, thinking, "just for a little while." it needs a home. >> absolutely. we just felt like it needed to be seen. that's what it was created for.

>> did you feel like you were personally disappointing him if you didn't find a place for it? >> we did. >> it really shouldn't take that long, right? after all, the circus was once valued at $100,000. yet, the couple has zero luck finding anyone interested in displaying their strange inheritance. >> i used to talk to my husband about it, and he would usually cry. and he'd say, "barbara, i don't know what to do." and i didn't know what to do either. so we simply put out some feelers and waited. >> and waited. and waited. for how long? >> around 20 years. >> wait a minute. >> [ laughs ] >> you paid for storage for 20 years to store a model circus? >> wasn't that a burden? >> it became more so through time, because the rental price kept going up. >> so barbara and bill moved the circus into the family garage. another five years pass. when her husband, bill, dies, in

2002, barbara becomes the sole heir to her father-in-law's pride and joy, spread out across her garage. why didn't you call the salvation army and just say, "come and take my circus. i'll get a deduction." >> absolutely not. [ laughs ] we just love the circus too much to just let it go that way. >> in 2009, an eager buyer finally materializes. they'll take the entire circus for 25,000 bucks. that's a low-ball bid, says johnny trapino of the circus model builders association of america. >> a full display such as the dickey's circus or those of that size generally run about $40,000, $50,000, $60,000. these were built by master craftsmen. you have to find the right buyer for it, but the price usually holds. >> of course, finding the right buyer is always the catch. barbara, now a 62-year-old

widow, has been looking for one for 34 years! and the circus is packed up in her garage and ready to go. so she turns down the offer. would have been a good price, don't you think? >> we did not think so. we feel like it's an antique. we feel like it's one of a kind. we feel like it's a work of art. and we just couldn't let it go for that. >> soon, barbara's kids join in the quest to find the circus a permanent home. they've never actually seen the 60,000-plus pieces set up. so for them, it's about more than money, says her son, clayton. >> i feel like it's our responsibility to carry on the legacy of the people who have gone before us, and this is really all i have of my grandfather is the circus. this was his lifeblood. >> with the search now entering its fourth decade, the family redoubles their efforts. >> we started reaching out to many people, but everything just kinda fell through. >> was there pressure on all of

you to do something? >> yes, but we just didn't have the means or know how, and there wasn't any way for us to meet anybody to get it set up. >> then someone discovers the internet. >> what was the dickey's reaction when you said, "i live in the ringling mansion"? what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. we love our new home. there's so much space. we have a guestroom now. but we have aunts. you're slouching again, ted. expired. expired. expired. thanks, aunt bonnie. it's a lot of house. i hope you can keep it clean. at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save a lot of money. oh, teddy. did you get my friend request? oh. i'll have to check. aunt joni's here! for bundling made easy, go to geico.com hello?!

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you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your $75 credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/bike. >> now back to "strange inheritance." ♪♪ >> it's a 100-year-old masterwork of whittling that toured the world. but for almost 40 years, the 62,000-piece dickey's circus has sat in storage. it's the strange inheritance of the artist's devoted daughter-in-law, barbara dickey, whose son, clayton, has joined her quest to find someone, somewhere, to display it. >> i feel as if the circus is a

brother, and i know that it would be a dishonor to my family for me to allow anything bad to happen to it. >> so clayton sets up a facebook page to help promote the model big top. what happened? >> nothing for a long time. >> six years, in fact. then, in 2016, former ringling trainmaster joe colossa stumbles across the page. >> they had mentioned that they were looking for a home for the dickey's circus. >> did you have a home that could accommodate it? >> i think we do, yes. >> why? where do you live? >> the al ringling mansion. >> turns out joe is also the new co-owner of the al ringling mansion, right here in baraboo, wisconsin, which was once the winter home of the famous circus. joe's looking for new exhibits for his tourist attraction, like miniature circuses. what was the dickeys' reaction

when you said, "i have the space, i have the expertise, and i live in the ringling mansion"? >> i think they were a little apprehensive at first. "you're what? you're where?" >> [ laughs ] >> and, of course, i was standoffish, because it's ours and it's our baby. >> you feel that strongly? >> absolutely. >> joe wins over the dickeys, who agree to loan out the circus for three years. in october 2017, just months after the real ringling bros. circus has its final show after 146 years in business, the tents of dickey's circus are pitched for the first time in four decades. >> it was overwhelming. just an unbelievable amount of parts. it was about five days of intensive work. >> when fully set up, the circus takes up most of the ballroom. and, today, barbara finally gets to see her strange inheritance assembled as her father-in-law

intended. are you ready? >> uh...yes. >> [ laughs ] >> okay, here we go. and, remember, clayton has never seen his grandfather's complete masterpiece... >> wow. >> ...arrayed across a proper fairgrounds. it's overwhelming, right, barbara? come here and take a look at this. this is your legacy, your inheritance. >> this is glorious. >> i mean, it's something, my whole life, that i've thought about and heard about, you know? and it's real. it's not just in pictures and in boxes, and now it's a little overwhelming. ♪♪ >> the dickeys have really done something incredible. something incredible that will now delight thousands of others, as the century-old circus opens to the public once again. you think william knows that it's all together again? >> [ laughs ] we'd like to think so. and we know he'd be so excited

to think that it's at the ringling mansion. that's great, too, yeah. ♪♪ >> a boy falls in love with the magic of the circus, spends his life whittling his very own version of the big top, only to carve out his own place in circus history. >> it's an amazing work of art by a man with no formal training, a boy in the mountains who loved the circus. ♪♪ >> there's a bit of lore about young william dickey that his family says is true. when he was 10, the story goes, the curious boy wandered into the menagerie tent, opened a cage of dosing lions, and fell asleep with them. when the keeper returned, he screamed, provoking a feline uproar. little william awoke from his slumber and walked out of the cage without a scratch. close call or tall tale?

you decide. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. [ crowd cheering ] (upbeat music) (alec) what's up, everybody? it's alec. it's the night before i travel to oklahoma for my filming session. i love seeing my boy, kaleb. so excited to finally go to somewhere new. i can't live without my shoes. broke my leg this weekend. so it makes it harder to move. also gotta bring this thing. i have a hard time choosing which one. don't worry. i got a couple. i like really the pattern on this one, but i also really like the texture and color on this one. guess what? you're coming along with me. let's go! (kaleb) here we go.