Phil Gosney softcover
While Frisco's Meteor and Texas Special trains drew attention with their cross-country Pullman service from the East to the Southwest, the overlooked Kansas City-Florida Special provided a similar service from the West to the Southeast. Its Kansas City-Miami Pullman service lasted well into the 1950s. In its prime it shuffled Pullman sleeping cars from Denver to Tampa, from St Louis to Miami, St Louis to Pensacola and Denver to Birmingham. One of its most unusual offerings was a combination diner-lounge with an electric fireplace in the lounge. The much advertised curiosity was in Kansas City and St Louis for inspection at the respective Union Stations.
This 240+ page issue carries Pullman car data, maps, photos of stations along the way and the joint operations with the Southern, Seaboard and Florida East Coast lines. A dining car menu insert is a special benefit. Photos from Otto Perry, Joe Collias, Ivan Oaks, the official Frisco company photos, and from the Pullman Palace Car Collection are included. Contemporary photos from the collections of Ron Wagoner, Don Wirth, Steve Forrest and many others as well as the extensive collection of Kansas City-Florida Special history Phil Gosney.
Bill Pollard details the Wagner Sleeping Car Company connection. The St Louis relationship has been often overlooked in Frisco studies - with both daytime and overnight trains from St Louis to Memphis connecting with both the daytime Sunnyland and the overnight Kansas city-Memphis of the train.
