Riding on the City of New Orleans

New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

Fifteen restless riders. I couldn’t help but notice that was the exact number of first-class passengers, including myself, being escorted to the sole sleeping car on the City of New Orleans at Chicago Union Station.

The lyrics of Steve Goodman’s “Riding on the City of New Orleans” –- made famous by folk-singer Arlo Guthrie -– had been playing in my head all day. I’d come to ride this train 35 years to the day -- May 1, 1971 -- after Amtrak came into being. Apparently, no one, including the railroad itself, was celebrating the anniversary except for me.

I’d been sitting in Amtrak’s spacious Metropolitan Lounge the past three hours, passing the time reading and watching the big-screen TV as it showed the CNN footage of the day’s immigrant rallies. I had just missed the Chicago rally, having arrived at the station as hundreds of sign-carrying demonstrators were catching Metra commuter trains home.

The sleeper was tacked on the end of tonight’s train like a lost caboose. The dining and lounge cars were up front, the source of my meals separated from me by three long coach cars. Departure from track 22 came right on time, at 8:00 p.m., as the two late-model Genesis II locomotives backed the train out of the station. The reverse move is necessary to get the train pointed south, down the old Illinois Central line, toward its namesake city.

After personal greetings from the car attendant, Filomena, we were called to dinner at precisely 8:25. Train 59 was already picking up speed, now headed in the right direction.

One of the pleasures of long-distance train travel is meeting new people in the dining car. The four-seat tables are generally filled by the stewards, encouraging strangers to engage in conversation. I was seated first at a new table, and was soon joined by a retired couple returning to Baton Rouge from North Dakota, where they’d attended the ceremony conferring a master’s degree upon their Air Force son. Alongside me sat a lean young man on his way home from Kentucky, where he had been on a job for Entergy. He was riding coach and would be getting off in the morning at Jackson, Miss. For the proud Baton Rouge parents, this was their first train trip in 15 years. The Entergy worker was making his first trip on the rails. They were enjoying it; he simply wanted to get home.

The City of New Orleans was one of the first Amtrak trains to adopt pre-cooked meals, which are now being rolled out to other long-distance trains. The food items are prepared ahead of time and re-heated onboard in convection ovens. The pork chops were tender and the rice pilaf was fluffy, but the green beans and broccoli were pale and limp. (Some things don’t reheat well. Same with next morning’s lifeless omelet. Stick to the French toast.) //UPDATE: May 31, 2006: Eggs will be cooked to order. See Amtrak's Refined Dining.//

I wanted to celebrate Amtrak At 35 with someone, but it was growing late by the time I finished dinner. The lounge car was empty and coach riders were already stretched out for sleep. I returned alone to my compartment.

The standard Superliner II bedroom is just wide enough for the person of average height –- me -- to stretch out. (I’m sure someone with a slide rule planned that at some point.) The lower berth is the preferred sleeper’s position, being wider and not requiring a climb up the ladder. During the day, it’s a comfortable divan. The bedroom also includes an armchair and the world’s smallest sink, complete with pushbutton water. A compartment within the compartment serves as the privy and the shower, providing you can figure out which button to push when. It’s a bit like RV travel, except you don’t have to worry about where to park.

It’s not as though I specifically remember May 1, 1971. I was 16, and I’d already been riding trains throughout the Northeast. With the arrival of Amtrak, very little changed immediately in this heavily traveled region, where we were spared the service cuts that affected famous trains such as the Panama Limited and City of Los Angeles. Amtrak retained just 184 trains, about half of what was running the day before they took over. The City of New Orleans survived the cut.

I sleep well on trains, but never on the first night. I am on a rush: the energy of motion, the excitement of the journey, the expectation of the destination. Filomena came by to make up my berth. A no-nonsense, square-built Scot, she hasn’t lost a dram of her accent despite 35 years in America. She had, however, lost her Lakeview condo and everything in it during Hurricane Katrina. Like many I would meet during the coming days in New Orleans, Filomena simply wanted her home rebuilt so she could get on with her life. With the bed made and the door shut, I slid under the blanket and read my book for another hour.

In the dark of an Illinois night, we sped from Kankakee through Gilman and Ratoul, stopping for a few minutes in Champaign. I turned out the reading light and closed my eyes. A train at night is all about audio: a 5.1 surround-sound mix of steel wheels rolling along cold rails, clanging over switchpoints, the diesel’s air horn blaring plaintively for unnamed crossings.

At 11:15, as we pulled out of Mattoon, the southern Illinois sky lit up. It seemed as if strobe lights were being set off all around the train at random and incessant intervals. Rain sizzled along the roof just above my head. The storm sweetened the soundtrack; eventually, the rhythm overcame me and I drifted off.

I woke up early to an unfamiliar sound: the clickety-clack of jointed rail. It’s been years since I’ve heard that; most mainline tracks inhabited now by passenger trains are formed of continuously-welded rail. Smoother, but without the soothing cadence.

We were approaching Memphis. It was a few minutes after 6:00 a.m. and #59 was still running on time. After breakfast, and a shower in the compartment (needing to practice my button-pushing), I sat back to follow the sweet Southern landscape with its lush forests of red maple, willow oak and loblolly pine. Shallow ponds and creeks dotted the woods. I wanted to jump off the train and go for a long hike. Too bad my gear was back in California.

The first signs of hurricane damage appeared just south of Jackson, Miss. At first, a few broken tree limbs; then, tangled and dead trees, becoming more common as we rolled toward Louisiana.

Further on, we entered bayou country south of Hammond, and once again I heard Arlo in my head. Riding on the City of New Orleans/Illinois Central Monday morning rail. Except that the Illinois Central was bought by the Canadian National in 1998. It seems odd to think of riding on rails owned by a Canadian company way down here in the deep South; globalization has even reached the Louisiana swamps.

The last few miles of a long train ride are all about anticipation and sadness, the excitement of reaching your destination and disappointment at the journey’s end. Travel by train is unlike driving or flying: it takes you to your destination by way of an in-between place, a place without time or hurry. And I was in no hurry to leave that place.

New Orleans is perhaps the quintessential American city: a crossroads of diverse cultures, the birthplace of jazz, a city now hurting but holding tightly to its traditions of food, music and hospitality. The damaged homes of Carrollton and the scarred roof of the Superdome were easily visible as Train 59 approached its final station, arriving about 45 minutes early. (Congratulations, Canadian National, you’ve done a fine job getting us down the road in good time.) The City of New Orleans is, in its way, the quintessential American train, running straight through the heartland, tracking the great Mississippi, conveying the blues of the Delta, connecting cornfields, cotton fields and catfish farms.

I may have been the only one on the train who recognized it, but I thought that was worthy of celebration.

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Amtrak's California Zephyr: The Way West

Comments

[Cliff]

Daniel,

Great article about your ride on the City of New Orleans. I'm curious to try the new "Diner Lite" service now that it will be on all trains (May 24th). In March, I rode the California Zephyr for a day to have the "real" food one last time, then wrote an article for my local paper: http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/04/10/homeroom/doc44382fe4d9087455107406.txt

Just a tidbit of info about your trip in general. I'm GLAD to know your sleeper was on the end of a train "like a caboose." It's supposed to be like that, as it was in the old days, because it is a quieter ride and you in less danger if the train should wreck (only what First Class should expect, right?). However, I am perplexed as to why the diner and lounge were at the front of the train. 99% of the time, the diner is the closest car to the sleepers so First Class passengers don't have far to go.

[Katie Hunter]

I enjoyed your article. I am taking my first long train ride in December 2007, from Raleigh, NC to Dallas, TX, by way of DC and Chicago. We, too, are going first class. I am way more looking forward to the going and coming, than I am to our destination. I hope to see lots of Christmas lights along the track. My grandfather worked 40 years as a Civil Engineer for Southern Railway. I used to ride Southern a lot as a child, but only short distances - from Charlotte, NC to Greenville, SC.

[Adam Auxier]

The City of New Orleans always received equipment from the bottom of the barrel under Amtrak, a consequence of being one of the last long distance trains to depart Chicago. It is frequently a test bunny for various Amtrak ideas, largely because the clientele is very dependent on the train and will likely weather any changes Amtrak can throw at them. In the 80's it was no more diner, hello dinette. Goodbye long distance coaches, enjoy your amfleet, diner-lite, etc. One bright period was the run-through with the Empire Builder in the late 90's, for once 59 looked like a respectable train. My father was a ticket agent on this route until 1995 and I spent my childhood in Depots in Centralia, Carbondale, Effingham, Mattoon and Champaign. Thanks for the article.

[Jen]

Thank you for that most descriptive and personal look at Amtrak, and riding to New Orleans. I hope to make this very trip come December (stay away, Hurricanes) and wondered just what it would be like. You've answered some of my questions.

[Bill from Cincinnti]

I am due to take my first train ride in 30 years!! As a kid, my family tood the "Royal Palm" from Cincinnati to West Palm Beach each Xmas to visit my grandparents. Now, I get to finally take the "City" to New Orleans from Chicago (taking the bus there to catch train). I cannot wait to look out of the window of my bedroom and see all the small towns and middle of no where places during the night. It will be like being a kid again. Long live the trains.

[Paul]

I am from Baton Rouge and the City of New Orleans is very accessible to me due to the close proximity of Baton Rouge to New Orleans and Hammond. I love to take it to Chicago for a quick three-day trip several times a year. One of Amtrak's newer ideas that they have been testing on the "City" since early 2008 is the new Cross Country Cafe car. It is a combination diner and lounge. In this new system, the diner portion of the car is reserved for Sleeper passengers only and coach passengers must use the lounge section of the car. Both sections of the car offer the full menu as well as the lounge menu. The lounge section of the car also as fewer tables than the diner section. I travel by Sleeper most of the time anyway and the diner section is almost considered to be a first-class section.