{"id":85,"date":"2012-02-12T16:48:14","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T21:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/?p=85"},"modified":"2012-08-16T07:50:08","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T11:50:08","slug":"orange-blossom-cannonball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/orange-blossom-cannonball\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange Blossom Cannonball"},"content":{"rendered":"

This has to be the most conflicted railroad image<\/strong> that words ever assembled. How do you assemble flowers into a weapon, anyway?<\/p>\n

No matter. The Orange Blossom Cannonball is gorgeous. Everybody must love a train like this. If you have seen an old train in a movie, this was it. Literally. The perfectly restored 1903 Baldwin 4-6-0 steam locomotive and its three 1912-vintage cars have been in more films than any other train. The list includes “3:10 to Yuma”, “Brother, Where Art Thou?”, “True Grit”, “Appaloosa”, “Rosewood”, “North and South (1985-86)” and all the way back to 1964’s “This Property Is Condemned”.<\/p>\n

The ride itself is great fun, with lively narration from one conductor, complete access to the train and information from all the train crew to satisfy your curiosity, a nice six-mile route through rural central Florida and even a turn-of-the-century town that matches its decor. It’s nothing like a Disney ride. This is real.<\/p>\n

Our winter home is halfway between Mount Dora and Tavares, where the Orange Blossom Cannonball is based, and we feel very lucky to hear the steam whistle a few miles away every weekend. Tavares is a charming little lakefront town recently self-proclaimed, “America’s Seaplane City” and it is, indeed, populated with seaplanes along the town docks. You can get here by almost any means you wish.<\/p>\n

As a history buff, I call this a star event. More information is here:<\/p>\n

www.orangeblossomcannonball.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n