A Magic Carpet Made of Steel

It wasn't until the conductor shouted, "ALL ABOARD!" that I felt the sense of history, and then the song lyrics popped into my head:

Riding on the City of New Orleans
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail…

My 18-year-old son Brendan had just handed his ticket to the Amtrak conductor, and he stepped through the door of the passenger car, when the conductor did what they have done for well over one hundred years. It is a tribute to a time when train travel was the dominant and most modern means of mobility – the unique and time-honored custom of announcing the impending departure by shouting the announcement up and down the platform.

"ALL ABOARD!"

We were standing next to the tracks at the Amtrak station in Temple, Texas, and Brendan was boarding the Texas Eagle. This train had left Chicago the previous day on a 1300-mile journey, making twenty-four stops in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas before reaching Temple, with two more stops before San Antonio, Texas. We stood watching, just feet from a vintage Pullman car that is part of the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum in this Central Texas town. The whole thing struck me as a unique moment for Brendan – that he was taking part in history. 

The song that was now stuck in my head was the City of New Orleans, written in the early 1970's by Chicago native Steve Goodman. He wrote the song while traveling on the Illinois Central rail line out of his home city, and recorded it on his album Steve Goodman. Arlo Guthrie had a Top 20 hit with the song in 1972 from the album Hobo's Lullaby, and Willie Nelson had a #1 country hit and a Grammy Award in 1985 with the song (a year after Goodman died from leukemia at age 36.)

Yes, it's mass transit, but trains are different. Trains have been a popular means of travel for two hundred years in the U.S. – far longer than cars, buses, or airplanes. Railroads began as early as 1720, becoming the dominant form of mass transit in the early 1800's. Rail travel was comfortable, efficient, faster than any other method, increasingly affordable to many people, and remained the primary means of travel well into the 20th Century.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (The B&O, well-known from the Monopoly board game) was the first to offer passenger travel, in 1827. It took until 1869 before the first transcontinental railroad was completed, with a golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah. The Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met at that historic place, allowing much easier travel between the coasts than ever before. The building of railroads contributed to the spectacular growth and expansion of the United States, and so, rail travel is probably the single most important and historic means of mass transit in our history.

When air travel emerged as the most efficient way to go long distances, passenger railroads began a steady decline. While still in operation today, the number of regularly scheduled trains and stops has dramatically decreased. However, it is still possible to participate in the history of rail travel, by booking a trip on Amtrak.

I had not heard of Goodman when Guthrie's version of his song became popular. I was a regular AM radio listener back then, and it quickly became a favorite of mine, and my brother David and I performed the song when we worked as a duo in the 1980's. I assumed that Guthrie had written it, as it seemed to fit his style; I didn't learn that Goodman penned it until years after his death.

I thought about Goodman riding the train with the sights and sounds of this unique form of travel all around him as he crafted the lyrics of this classic song. Brendan was now in position to see, hear, and feel this unique experience. Having traveled by train several times in my youth, I also knew the sights and sounds, and I had long appreciated Goodman's fascinating lyrical imagery (with some tweaking by Arlo. *)

"While the sons of Pullman porters, 
and the sons of engineers,
ride their father's magic carpet made of steel…"

What an image that conjured – Brendan, the native son- coasting along on a carpet of steel rails, while his train rolled "along past houses, farms, and fields."

After he boarded the train, we got in the car and headed home. The lyrics of the song ran through my head, and we were curious about how he felt about his trip, so his sister Emily texted him, asking if he was enjoying the ride. 

His response was: "Look out the window. What you see is what I see."

Okay, so he didn't feel the uniqueness of the thing like I did. (Later that night, he told us via text that he had enjoyed the experience.)

We arrived at home, and I did a little research. I discovered that the City of New Orleans was still operating and, at the moment Brendan stepped onto his train, the more famous train was on its regular route, about 600 miles to the east, somewhere near Memphis, Tennessee ("… changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.")

Even if Brendan wasn't as excited about the experience as I was, riding a train is still a unique way to travel. Not everyone has this opportunity, as passenger trains are nowhere near as prevalent as in the past. Where once, trains connected every major city and many smaller towns, the number of routes and stops are a mere fraction of what they were in the heyday of rail travel. It is a sad possibility that passenger trains could soon disappear altogether.

One day soon, while we still can, the rest of us in the family are going to heed the famous "All Aboard!" call, and take a train trip, so if it does disappear, Emily will have had the chance to enjoy the experience of the train wheels, "... rumblin' 'neath the floor." For sure, Goodman's song will roll through my mind before, during, and after what will be a memorable trip – a celebration of American history.

* It should be noted that Goodman's original lyric in this verse was 'Daddy's', instead of 'father's', and 'steam' instead of 'steel.' Guthrie, Nelson, and others substituted those and a few other words which I like better than the original - with all due respect to Steve Goodman.

Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist. His books include: 'Twisted Logic: 50 Edgy Flash Fiction Stories', 'The Toughest Hundred Dollars & Other Rock & Roll Stories','A Sports Junkie', 'The Avery Appointment', 'Between the Fuzzy Parts'. His books are available in paperback and e-book.


He writes about sports for Season Tickets, food and travel on Miles & Meals, and music/guitars on The Backbeat.

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