Famous American Trains in Folk Music
Wabash Cannonball, Midnight Special, City of New Orleans, and More
There are countless songs in American culture about trains, ranging from humorous songs such as “MTA” to musings on death such as “Freight Train.” A few named trains are lucky enough to have been immortalized in song, four of them will be covered below (though one notable is more myth than truth, and another’s location is a mystery). The trains are :
- The Wabash Cannonball
- The Midnight Special
- The Orange Blossom Special
- The City of New Orleans
Wabash Cannonball
First appearing sometime in the late 19th Century, "the Wabash Cannonball" is one of the most enduring folk songs in American culture. The tribute to a mythical train traveling on the very real Rock Island Line has stirred people for generations and has been covered many times over.
“The Wabash Cannonball” was first published in 1882 and titled “The Great Rock Island Route.” Despite the similarities in name, it is not to be confused with the song “Rock Island Line,” made famous by the legendary songster Lead Belly (although one version of “Rock Island Line” that the author has heard makes reference to “Wabash Cannonball”).
In 1904, a rewritten version called “Wabash Cannonball“ appeared, copywritten by William Kindt (csufresno.edu/folklore/ballads/R840.html).
Perhaps the best known version of “The Wabash Cannonball” came from the Carter Family in 1929. It also became one of the signature songs of Country Musician Roy Acuff. Woody Guthrie used the melody from “Wabash Cannonball” for his song “Grand Coulee Dam.”
Midnight Special
“The Midnight Special” has been known to cause confusion among some people. There are actually two trains called Midnight Special and no definative proof that either are the one in the song.
The most likely identity of the “Midnight Special” is an unnamed train out of Houston that would shine pass Sugarland Prison around midnight. Leadbelly was imprisoned in Sugarland “who along with other inmates, heard the Midnight Special as a symbol of both freedom from incarceration and the means by which friends and family came to visit” (Lornell, Kip. The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to American Folk. p 160).
The other train called the Midnight Special was a passenger train from Chicago to St. Louis and most likely had no effect on the song.
However, It should be noted that different versions of “Midnight Special” and derivatives place the train along the Illinois Central line, which would make the train the famed “Panama Limited” --sister train of the “City of New Orleans”-- which ran overnights and passed near Mississippi State Penitentiary, the Parchman Farm (american-rails.com/panama-limited.html).
Orange Blossom Special
“Orange Blossom Special” is one of the most famous bluegrass songs of all time, renowned for its energy and blistering fiddle part. “Orange Blossom Special” was written by Ervin T. Rouse in 1938 (enctoday.com/news/rouse-40828-nbsj-song-craven.html), and was made famous by Bill Monroe, the “father of bluegrass.”
As the name would imply, the “Orange Blossom Special” was inspired by the train of the same name. The Orange Blossom Special was a luxury train that ran between New York City and Miami from 1925 to 1953.
Since its first recording, “Orange Blossom Special” has been covered by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash (who replaced the fiddle part with harmonica), Bela Fleck, and String Cheese Incident.
City of New Orleans
To those of the Baby Boomer era and younger, the most popular folk song about trains would be Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans.” The slightly bittersweet verses, combined with the soaring chorus “Good morning America, how are ya?/ Don’t you know me, I’m your native son . . .” made “City of New Orleans” one of the most beloved songs of the hippie generation.
Steve Goodman passed his song on to folk singer/ icon Arlo Guthrie, and in 1972, Arlo included it on his album Hobo’s Lullaby (mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_arlo_guthries_city/). In 1984, Willie Nelson won a Grammy for his version of “City of New Orleans.” Since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, it has taken on new meaning and is now often covered as a tribute to the devastated city.
The train “City of New Orleans” was an Illinois Central train that ran along the length of its main line, from Chicago to New Orleans. It debuted in 1947 and run until the Spring of 1971. It was the daytime companion to its sister train, the all Pullman (sleeper) car, “the Panama Limited.”
The “City of New Orleans,” being a regular passenger train (as opposed to the “Panama Limited,” which was a luxury sleeper) was considerably cheaper than its counterpart (american-rails.com/city-of-new-orleans.html). Due to this, the “City of New Orleans” became very important in the second African American exodus from the American South, known as the Second Great Migration (inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm;jsessionid=f8303091281248306820528?migration=9&topic=1&bhcp=1).
Not coincidentally, the “City of New Orleans” followed a similar route along the Mississippi as U.S. Route 61, also known as “the Blues Highway” and immortalized in many songs, the best known being Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisted.” Like Highway 61, the “City of New Orleans (and the Panama Limited) was an important conduit for Blues and Folk music to travel North to Chicago, St. Louis, and Memphis.
Trains have a special place in American culture, and will always have a place in American song. The location of these trains above made them popular, but it was the songs about them that made them immortal.
A Steam Locomotive
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