Re: (rshsdepot) Re: Magazine Orange Blossom Special

[Maloneguy_@_aol.com]

People may fantasize now of traveling to the Amazon,  the Orient or even the 
moon, but for many in the first half of the  century, the big dream was to get 
on The Orange Blossom Special, leave  behind the slush, icy wind and 
deprivation of northern winter climes and  disembark two or three days later in sunny 
Florida.  This Seaboard  Route traveled through many orange groves, and in 
days before air  conditioning this was a heady experience for the  passengers.    
   See why Seaboard's " Orange Blossom  Special" railroad train was called an 
"_Air Line_ 
(http://celebrate2000.polkonline.com/stories/112699/his_jax.shtml) ".  
According to a query answered by Larry Goolsby in the  ACL & SAL HS Archives: 
"The Orange Blossom Special ran from 1925 to 1953, except during  World War 
II.  It was a fast, luxury, all-Pullman winter  season-only train that catered 
to wealthy travelers from the northeast  to Florida resorts.  During its 
heyday it was favored by such  celebrities as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  It 
was operated by  the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and went from New York to 
Philadelphia,  Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, 
and  Miami.  A section of the train also went to Tampa and St.  Petersburg on 
Florida's west coast.  (New York to Florida trains  went down the east coast 
and not via any Midwestern  cities.)    
The OBS began running at the peak of the Florida boom years and  did well 
until the Great Depression.  After the Depression the  train did make a comeback 
by offering air-conditioned cars and the first  diesel-electric passenger 
locomotives in the southeast.  After its  suspension during WW2, the train 
returned to run a few more years after  the war, but competition from cars, planes 
and newer trains on both the  Seaboard and its competitor, the Atlantic Coast 
Line, no longer  justified its continuing operation.  The last run was in April  
1953.  The Orange Blossom Special was one of the country's most  famous 
trains, and the country and western song about it, written in  1938, is still well 
known." 
You can bet the meals served in the Orange Blossom's  dining car were 
fantastic, too.  I'd like to see a menu! 
Think of Florida (or maybe California if you live west  of the Rockies) as 
you try our _Orange  Blossom Special Muffins_ 
(http://sneakykitchen.com/Recipes/orange_muffins.htm)  and _Orangey  Scrambled Eggs_ 
(http://sneakykitchen.com/Recipes/orangey_eggs.htm) ).        (http://sneakykitchen.com/myavon/index.htm) 
 
 (http://sneakykitchen.com/fullerbrush/earn.htm)  


Don

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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