1936 passenger service from Philadelphia to Tampa?

[mkghost]

I'm working on a novel where a recuperating mother and her children take a train from Philadelphia to Tampa in 1936. I know this was before the Silver Meteor began. Was there a direct train from Phila to Tampa in 1936? What was it called? And what was the schedule like? (# hours it took, day and time left/arrived) and what would the accomodations have looked like? Was there an observation car and would someone sitting there have been served coffee by a waiter?  Answers to any of these questions would be very much appreciated. I want to make this as accurate as possible. It's based on real people...  Thanks!

[Deggesty]

There definitely was through service to St. Petersburg from the Northeast at the time of your novel.

I do not have a Seaboard timetable for that period, but I do have a Coast LIne timetable dated 4/29/34, and there may not have been much difference. I do have a question: is the trip during the winter season or after the winter season, for there was more service to both coasts during the winter season.

Would your people leave Philadelphia just before midnight and spend two nights on the train, or leave about noon, and arrive the next afternoon in time for the evening meal?

The Havana Special (which left the 30th Street station at 11:57 at night) had a 10 section, 2 compartment, drawing room sleeper to St. Petersburg as well as coaches and dining cars; there was a New York-Miami lounge car that was in the middle of the train. The train was split in Jacksonville the next evening, with sections going to Miami, Tampa/Sarasota, and St. Petersburg, and they arrived at their destinations the next morning.

The Miamian/Gulf Coast Limited (its last trip from New York was on 5/10) left Philadelphia at 12:21 n the afternoon, and arrived in St. Petersburg at 6:00 the next afternoon. It also was split in Jacksonville, the next morning. It had a 2 compartment, drawing room lounge and a 10-2-1 to St. Petersburg, as well as diner service and coaches.

The Tamiami, which made its first trip on 5/11 and ran on almost the same schedule, had an observation car between Washington and Tampa, which could be used from about 3:00 in the afternoon until about 8:00 the next morning; there was no lounge car into St. Petersburg. There was also a 10-2-1 sleeper to St. Petersburg, as well as coaches and a diner.

I hope this helps you.

[mkghost]

Deggesty:

Thanks for your quick reply!  The trip would have been in the winter of 1935-6. My guess is around January. I did some more digging: is it possible it could have been the Orange Blossom Express? It left NYC and did stop in Philadelphia and one portion of it did go through Tampa to St Petersberg.

I have an odd additional question if it is: I've been to Tampa Union Station. It looks like it was the end of the line, not a midway stop to anywhere but, when I looked at the schedule for the Orange Blossom Express, Tampa wasn't the last stop. Does that mean trains would pull in and then back out? Or have the tracks around the Tampa station changed that much?

[Deggesty]

Yes, the Orange Blossom Special was in winter service during tthe 1935-36 season. Even though I do not have an SAL timetable of that period, I am confident that it stopped at the 30th Street station in Philadelphia. As to accomodations, it probably had a full range of sleeping accomodations from sections through compartments to drawing rooms, and there definitely was lounge service; an observation car would have gone on to Miami after the train was split between the St. Petersburg and Miami sections in Wildwood.

The station in Tampa is a stub station, so if the train was not turned and backed into the station it was backed out before proceeding on to St. Petersburg. It may well have been that the train was backed into the station for the benefit of the first class pasengers, so they would not have had to walk almost the length of the train. The only time that I went through Tampa, in February of 1971 as I was on my way to Venice, the train was turned and backed in before the cars for Venice were cut off.

[timz]

I have a Feb 1936 Guide at home if you want schedule details. Philadelphia to Tampa took 24-26 hours.

Suspect there was no "train" from Philadelphia to Tampa-- i.e. no train that ran the whole way intact. They'd split part of the Miami train off at Jacksonville or someplace.

[Deggesty]

Timz, can you go ahead and give him the SAL times, with equipment from your Guide?

Yes, I know of no SAL train that went just to St. Petersburg, though there were some that went to Miami only (as the Silver Meteor was for a time after it was inaugurated, and the Silver Star was except during the winter season, and the Orange Blossom Special was in its last years {too old to be split anymore?}). The usual practice was to split/combine the east coast and west coast sections in Wildwood.

[daveklepper]

During the winter, even before streamliners and diesels, the top winter NY - Florida trains were the ACL's Florida Special and the SAL's Orange Blossm Special.  I think in 1935 both had St. Pete sections but am not certain.

[rcdrye]

1941 OG equipment list for the Orange Blossom Special shows no coaches.

PRR 117 RF&P 7 SAL 7 (Miami) 307 (St Petersburg via Tampa) 507 (Tampa-Venice)

Philadelphia (30th St.) 2:29PM

Tampa (Union Station) 10:05AM next day

Miami section

 Club

 sleeper-lounge

 4 sleepers (sections bedrooms, compartments, drawing rooms)

 Diner

West coast section

 3 sleepers Ny-St. Petersburg (sections bedrooms compartments, Drawing Rooms)

 1 sleeper NY-Venice (Sections, Compartments, Drawing Room)

 Diner