Orange Blossom Special

The Orange Blossom Special ran between New York and Miami between 1925 and 1953, with a long break during WWII. Rich folks who wanted to escape to a warmer climate in the winter especially appreciated the deluxe Pullman-manufactured cars and restaurant-style meals. The train was the Seaboard line's greatest claim to fame, even though it was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad north of Washington DC.

The song written about this train is notable for several reasons. Best know as an instrumental fiddle tune, it really did have words when it was written back in 1938 by Ervin T. Rouse. (Later, "Chubby" Wise also claimed to have contributed, but according to old time "Blue Grass Boy" Gene Christian, the song was already copyrighted by Rouse before Wise even encountered it.). It is unique in that the song changes keys between the verse and the chorus. It typically starts in E major, so the fiddler can squeeze in some bluesy train-whistle sounds. If the words are sung, the song stays in E for them. But when it's time for the toe-tapping instrumental chorus, the song steps down to A major, until it's time for more verses or train whistles.

Johnny Cash tinkered with tradition in 1965 when he recorded the song, not only with the words, but also with harmonicas instead of a fiddle. Yes, that's plural. One harmonica doesn't have all the notes you need to do the melody justice, but two harmonicas, a fourth apart, do. In the video below, you can see Johnny glancing at the harp in his hand to make certain he's starting out with the right one.

To see sheet music for the traditional fiddle part, click here

If you have a favorite train song, or a favorite performer that I've left out, please contact me and I'll try to track him or her down. Also, if you don't see the link for a particular song, hit refresh - it seems like Amazon can never populate all of the links at the same time.

Well look a-yonder comin'
Comin' on down the track
Well look a-yonder comin'
Comin' on down the track
It's the Orange Blossom Special
Bringin' my baby back

Well talk about her ramblin'
She's the fastest train on the line
Well talk about her travellin'
She's the fastest train on the line
She's the Orange Blossom Special
Rollin' down the Seaboard line

Well, I'm going down to Florida
Get some sand in my shoes
Or maybe California
Get some sand in my shoes
I'll ride the Orange Blossom Special
And lose those New York blues

You-Tube Videos of This Song

So I list some more. These are the ones that are good today.

If you click on a link and there's nothing there, type the artist name and song title into the YouTube, and you'll usually find the video or something similar.

The first link will take you to a recording of Flatt & Scruggs' band playing this song with a slideshow of group photos. Sorry I don't know which fiddle player this was for sure. The second link will take you to Mikayla Roach, who was nine when the video was made, playing the most common version of the fiddle solo. The third link will take you to Johnny Cash's famous San Quentin performance. Johnny sings the words, then plays the fiddle solo on harmonicas. The fourth video is Charlie Daniels' band riffing on the fiddle tune.

• Flatt & Scruggs' Band

• Mikayla Roach, who was nine when the video was made, playing the most common version of the fiddle solo.

• Johnny Cash - recorded at San Quentin

• Charlie Daniels Band - riffing on the fiddle tune.

Click here to return to the Classic Train Songs page.

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race

All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted ? 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.
Classic Train Songs(tm) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about this page or this site, please contact us.