Arlo Guthrie – The City Of New Orleans lyrics

My dad was a railway mailman on the City of New Orleans during the Depression until he was drafted (retired as a Colonel). I believe that it laid over in Kankakee. (Yes, there is such a place. Had a helluva prime rib there once.) He and a buddy would, by the grace of the owner, sleep on hot summer nights in the local movie house, which was "air cooled" (Not air-conditioned, but "cooled." The theater had a huge fan that blew into stacks of hay with "cool" water dripping through them. His turn ended in Memphis, so he never really got to see the city of NewOrleans.

This song is actually about the 'City of New Orleans' passenger train that started service in 1850 as the premier line on the Illinois Central Railroad, and was absorbed by Canadian National Railroad in 1998. It still operates today on the same route it used in in 1850; Chicago, Illinois to New Orleans, Louisiana. The first stanza of the song makes it clear that what is being sung about is the train known as 'The City of New Orleans', and nothing else:

'Riding on the City of New Orleans, Illinois Central Monday morning rail. Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders, Three conductors and 25 sacks of mail. Good morning America, how are you? Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son.'

The only deviation of service for the Illinois Central was during the Civil War, and 'The City of New Orleans' was put in storage and replaced with cargo trains that went as far as Cairo, Illinois and a Union Camp named 'Camp Defiance'. It mainly was used as a supply train to take Union Troops and goods to 'Camp Defiance', and carry freed slaves to northern States. After the Civil War, the tracks were repaired that the Confederate troops destroyed leading to New Orleans, and the 'City of New Orleans' was brought back to the rails and has been in service every since.

The design of the train has changed over time and the ownership, but it's still the same old 'City of New Orleans' passenger service as operated by Illinois Central in 1850. Sadly, the train does not stop in Cairo any more, and the old Illinois Central depot was destroyed in Cairo. Recently, while doing road work at the site of that old IC Depot in Cairo. city workers discovered rooms under the sidewalk that had been used to house slaves until they could be put on the train and shipped north. 'The City of New Orleans' has an illustrious past, and shows no sign of leaving us any time soon.

This song is very poignant to me and I first fell in love with it around 1973 I was a freshman in high school so it always takes me back to that time. It is about change and loss, and mourning time, which is why it speaks to my heart.

The City of New Orleans carried black people out of the Jim Crow South into the North where they could find jobs and lead normal lives. Leaving friends, family and the only world they knew, Black people experienced both sorrow and excitement as they escaped their lives of poverty and indignities, looking forward to opportunities for education and meaningful work.

I first heard this song after a railroad freak friend called my attention to it. He loved it, and so did I! Part of the reason is that I like trains, and more importantly, LOVE NEW ORLEANS! He unfortunately died an early death due to a severe illness, and is not forgotten. I asked that it be played at his funeral, but was told that licensing issues were involved, so it could ot be played. R.I.P. FWHJr. You are missed!