Re: (rshsdepot) Re: Magazine Orange Blossom Special

["seth bramson" <sbramson_@_bellsouth.net>]

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Maloneguy_@_aol.com>

Friends:

I MAY be able to shed a little light on this, newbie to the hobby that I may 
be.  Pls see below.
>
> 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,

>>>Or the Florida Special, or the Miamian

 leave  behind the slush, icy wind and
> deprivation of northern winter climes and  disembark two or three days 
> later

>>>Depending on what era and what train, the next day

 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) ".

>>Not exactly.  The railroad was the Seaboard Air Line Railroad or Railway, 
>>depending on in or out of bankruptcy and they were anything but an 
>>"air-line."  (In railroad parlance that meant straight and fast.  They 
>>were FAR more curvy than the ACL/FEC.)

> 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.

>>>I THINK the 1954 season was the last season.

 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.

>>>For some reason I THINK it may have been '54 but it is possible, of 
>>>course, that Mr. Goolsby is correct.

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!

>>>Next you are here, in the vile wild of nawth Cuber, just call us and we 
>>>will be happy to show you Florida Special, Miamian, Havana Special, 
>>>Silver Meatball, Silver Star, Silver Comet and OBS menus.



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

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1421
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org