The City of New Orleans

As some of you know, I grew up listening to country music.  Dad had it playing in the garage while he would work on the car, work outside, and of course riding in the pick-up truck.  Some of my fondest memories are linked to country songs.  Recently Amy came across a free sample CD, and on it was a song performed by country great Willy Nelson entitled "The City of New Orleans".  Written by Steve Goodman in 1970, the song recreates the experience of riding this train from Northern Illinois all the way to New Orleans, Louisiana.  

I've listed some of the verses to the song below, as well as a couple of pictures of the train as it appeared throughout history.  For the complete lyrics click HERE .  If you have never heard the song, you can watch it performed on Youtube HERE.

And the sons of pullman porters

       And the sons of engineers

       Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.

       Mothers with their babes asleep,

       Are rockin' to the gentle beat

       And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

By the way, the train is still in service.  Amtrak bought the route back in the 70's, and they still make the trip.  If I can find someone to go, I would love to at least take a short ride.  Checking their site, it looks like I could ride The City of New Orleans from Effingham to Carbondale for about $30.00 which would include lunch.  Now that would be a small price to experience such a great part of American folk song history!