The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression were particularly hard on the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). The railroad declared bankruptcy and was in receivership by September 1931, just 18 years after Henry Morrison Flagler's death. Bus service began to be substituted for trains on the branches in 1932, and the Key West Extension was abandoned after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. However, streamliners terminating in Miami nevertheless plied the rails between 1939 and 1968, including such famous trains as The Champion and The Florida Special jointly operated with the Atlantic Coast Line. Adding to the woes was the Cuban embargo, thus reducing a significant portion of FEC's revenue.
