Let ‘em debate, says Rockfordian on the train

September 26th, 2008 at 12:24am Chuck Sweeny

It’s 7:13 p.m., and we are being called to board Train # 59, “The City of New Orleans.” Because Scott and I both have ordered roomettes, we get to waltz ahead of the coach passengers, who growl under their breaths as the Amtrak personnel wave us through the crowd.

As we get on, Terry, who’s in charge of the sleeping cars, shows us how to work the various lights and switches in our roomettes. He has “gotten the memo” from Amtrak management that two reporters are to be riding tonight. Terry says that  anything we want, just call. We assure him we need nothing special.

This is a train with a famous name, but for many years under the Illinois Central’s ownership it was the “cheap train”, an all-coach train for poor people going between the Deep South and Chicago. Begun in 1947, it replaced another IC train called The Creole. Railroaders call this train the “Chicken Bone” because of the fried chicken that used to be taken on board by numerous passengers. That doesn’t happen nowadays, but the name stuck.

The exclusive, all-Pullman IC train to New Orleans was the Panama Limited, a name Amtrak kept in 1971 when it took over passenger trains from the railroads. In 1981, when Arlo Guthrie’s recording of Steve Goodman’s song became a hit, Amtrak renamed the Panama “the City of New Orleans,” to bask in the popularity of the song.

Scott and I make our way to the dining car, where we find an actual Rockfordian. She’s Lynda Liberatore of Churchill’s Grove. She’s bound for Jackson, Miss., taking her grandson “to meet her sister.” Her grandson’s mom and dad are coming from Dallas to pick him up.

As she enjoys some cajun-style cuisine, Liberatore tells me she’s a singer in the Sweet Adelines, a well-known Rockford group. I tell her I’ve probably heard her sing because I’ve heard the Adelines perform a time or two.

So, does she think we’re in a dire financial crisis, as our leaders have told us?

“Absolutely. We’re just going to borrow the money (for the bailout of failed banks) from somewhere else and it will be paid back by the taxpayers,” she says, dryly.

Liberatore believes Friday’s debate between Barack Obama and John McCain should go on.

“Let ‘em debate. Everything needs to be out there on the table,” she says.

When she goes to the polls Nov. 4, Liberatore will vote for John McCain. As with other McCain voters I’ve talked to, she admires his military experience and his strength under torture as a POW in North Vietnam.

“I guess I’m just a Republican at heart. I’m thrilled that he picked Sarah Palin. She’s a family gal, seems very intelligent and down to earth. She has good morals.”

Scott and I have dinner; he has steak, I have catfish. We’re surprised to discover it’s included in the price of the sleeping car ticket.

This train used to have both a club car and an observation car. Now it’s just the diner, two coaches, two sleepers and an engine. They stop serving dinner at 10 p.m., but the car stays open all night. I bring my laptop in and begin blogging.

The assistant conductor explains that the train used to be on time all the time, but a sinkhole developed under the tracks in Memphis. Canadian National, which owns the line, is reluctant to prioritize fixing the problem because it does not have many freights on the line. Since April, The City of New Orleans has been forced to make a complicated detour around the affected line in Memphis, throwing the schedule out the window. I wonder how late we’ll be getting into New Orleans. The assistant conductor doesn’t know. “Depends.”

SCOTT MORGAN | RRSTAR.COM
Lynda Liberatore of Rockford and her grandson Jaiden Richey, 3, of Irving, Tex. watch out the window Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, on the City of New Orleans Amtrak train between Chicago and New Orleans, La.

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