According to Larry Goolsby's fine book on ACL postwar passenger trains, the Haines City-Clewiston FL branch hosted a leg of the Havana Special up until June 1954. Were the mixed trains No's 453-452 to Everglades (City) normally scheduled to meet up with the HS at Palmdale? Oddly, these mixed runs continued to run until October 1955, yet it doesn't look like they had any connection to other passenger runs after the Clewiston service ended fourteen months earlier. Previous to the Palmdale-Everglades mixed, was this line ever served by a full passenger train, possibly before WW2? Also, were these mixed runs ever known to occasionaly use cars other than the Jim Crow "divided" combines, like possibly an A-15,A-16, or 600- series combine late in their careers? I'm asking a lot, I know; Thanks for any and all replies!

-- Bob Venditti (bobvend@bellsouth.net), March 22, 2002

Answers

The trains south of Haines City, to Clewiston, were No.s 175-176. They don't appear to have ever been considered part of the Havana Special. Starting circa December 1941 there was a sleeping car from Jacksonville to Clewiston which ran in the west coast portion of the Havana Special to Haines City. The sleeper was dropped sometime between December 1950 and September 1951, probably at the end of the "season".

Passenger service on the ACL line from Palmdale to Everglades(City) was served by one roundtrip mixed train, except Sunday, crom circa 1926. This train, No.s 452-453, made connections with 175-176 at Palmdale. Prior to the completion of the line from Immokalee to Everglades, there had been a full passenger train running Monday-Wednesday-Friday.

Prior to March 1938, the ACL had run a seasonal train(Dec.-March), the "Scenic Highlander", alongside 175-176, as far as Sebring, which at various times included a sleeping car, a parlor car, or both, though in 1931 and 1933, probably because of the Depression, this first class accommodation didn't run. This extra train began running prior to the 1925 season.

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), March 22, 2002.