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Wilbur Giddens is best
remembered for his 1928 ride from Avon Park to Lake Wales via
the Orange Blossom Special. Only he wasn't on the
train; he was under it!
Red Murphy, Mike Underwood and Gibbons were returning home
around midnight in their Ford Touring Car, just about the time
for the Orange Blossom Special to come chugging through town.
The boys had spent the evening drinking "white lightning" and
were paying more attention to their harmonica playing than their
driving.
While on Main Street in Avon Park, they failed to see
the train crossing until it was too late. "The boy who was
driving had a few dips and I told him to slow down because the
train might be coming," later recalled Giddens, who was 17 or 18
at the time.
Sure enough, the train and the car collided, with the car striking
the slow moving train on the side and becoming partially wedged
under the wheels. Murphy and Underwood jumped out on the
right side of the car and scrambled to safety. Giddens
jumped out on the left, but was knocked under the train by the
car's running board.
To avoid being run over, Giddens grabbed onto a rod beneath a
Pullman car and hung on for dear life. "It wasn't too bad
till we got to Pleasant Street, when they started going fast,"
he said.
He relaxed for a second at one point - and hit the
cross ties. After that, he pulled himself up into the
framework and prepared for what he thought would be a long ride.
"I got all set for Wildwood. I knew they would have to
stop there," he said.
"But they must have gotten word because the engineer stopped the
train at East Lake Wales." When the train stopped, Giddens
crawled out to a waiting conductor. He was taken to a
doctor's office where he was treated for minor injuries and sent
home.
On returning to Avon Park, he was asked a few questions but
his trip was soon forgotten. "I guess it may have been
scary to someone standing there watching it, but I was too busy
holding on to be scared," he said. "I've had a lot
of narrow escapes during my life I've had to squirm out of.
This wasn't that different."
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3
N. Museum Avenue
