This, about December 16. was the traditional beginning of the wintertime Florida service for the snowbirds in the preAmtak days. That is the people who go south for the warmer weather especially in sleepers.
The season usually expired about April 24
This amounted to much juicier timetables in the winter. A given year round train which was, say, ten cars long in the summer might swell to 15 or more cars in the winter.
And in additional to extra cars on year round trains there were whole extra trains especially on the Atlantic Coast line from Boston and New York to Miami With names like Miamian, Florida Special and Vacationer. And the Southern RRs New Royal Palm from the Great Lakes to Florida
Again we are especially talking about sleeping cars and some trains even being all sleeper., And sometimes sleepers had to be borrowed from other lines making the trains looking even more interesting-
Anybody on here ever heard of the Orange Blossom Special? It was a winter time train on the Seaboard. though it bowed out in the very early 50s
Yep, trains from all over ,from New York, from Detroit and Cincinnati, from Chicago and St Louis and even from Kansas CIty.
Summer timetables looked very skinny and dull by comparison
That took a lot of cooperation for the many competing railroads to agree to the same calendar
The season usually expired about April 24
This amounted to much juicier timetables in the winter. A given year round train which was, say, ten cars long in the summer might swell to 15 or more cars in the winter.
And in additional to extra cars on year round trains there were whole extra trains especially on the Atlantic Coast line from Boston and New York to Miami With names like Miamian, Florida Special and Vacationer. And the Southern RRs New Royal Palm from the Great Lakes to Florida
Again we are especially talking about sleeping cars and some trains even being all sleeper., And sometimes sleepers had to be borrowed from other lines making the trains looking even more interesting-
Anybody on here ever heard of the Orange Blossom Special? It was a winter time train on the Seaboard. though it bowed out in the very early 50s
Yep, trains from all over ,from New York, from Detroit and Cincinnati, from Chicago and St Louis and even from Kansas CIty.
Summer timetables looked very skinny and dull by comparison
That took a lot of cooperation for the many competing railroads to agree to the same calendar
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