(Source of image: Florida State Archives)

This vehicle received a high-level send-off in Tallahassee:  Florida Governor David Scholtz and his wife pose beside the Tallahassee Flyer, a doodlebug that provided passenger service. They are the third and fourth persons from the left.  On January 3, 1936, Mrs. Sholtz christened the train on its exhibition run between Tallahassee and Jacksonville.  The event was attended by other state government dignitaries, as well as by railroad officials. 

Doodlebugs frequently consisted of just one unit, a combination locomotive and passenger coach.  Railroads used the little vehicles in areas where traffic proved light and couldn't warrant a full train. 

Another Florida example of a doodlebug was one that ran on a line west of Gainesville.  The railroad served the little towns of Perry, Live Oak and Mayo.  One of its motor coaches carried passengers from 1917 to 1932.  Another doodlebug was purchased in 1937, but lasted only until 1940.

At least one doodlebug may still call Florida home.  According to several websites, the Mount Dora Scenic Railway runs the Dora Doodlebug on tracks north of Orlando.  The vehicle is a 50-passenger, self-propelled, gas-powered railcar for sightseers.  The organization also maintains the Mount Dora Cannonball, a 1913 locomotive that is the state's only operating standard-gauge steam engine.  

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