City of New Orleans Route Guide

Chicago, Illinois to New Orleans, Louisiana
Amtrak Train Numbers 58 (northbound) and 59 (southbound)

map of City of New Orleans Route from Chicago to New Orleans

Numbers 1-19 on the map represent all the scheduled stops this train makes.  Using the links below, you can choose to take the complete virtual trip from Chicago to New Orleans or you can hop on the train at any station along the route and proceed in either direction from there.  Each "station stop" includes a photo of the station, a local street map, local transportation options, and links to many more items of local interest.  Between station stop pages there are detailed station to station maps and links to all of the counties that you pass through along the way.  Just click on one or more of these links to discover more about the territory where our musical heritage runs deep.

Clicking any link below will open a separate browser window (or another tab on your browser) where you'll find the route guide.  Climb aboard, and then.....
click the "next" next-arrow (toward New Orleans) or "previous" previous-arrow (toward Chicago) arrow on any page of the guide to take the virtual rail journey at your leisure.  Enjoy the ride!

If you want to start with the first slide of this route guide, click here -

- or click a link below to start at any station along the route.

Stations on Amtrak's City of New Orleans Route

Note that once you get on the train, clicking on Overview Button takes you to a separate "Route Overview Page" within the Guide. So, instead of returning to this page to select another station stop, you may alternatively choose to select other station stops from there.

Amtrak Route Description

The following has been extracted from Amtrak's "City of New Orleans" Route Description.  Ramblin' Ray's Route Rhetoric will come later!

"Your journey on the City of New Orleans takes you through the heart of our nation's musical heritage - from Chicago with its world-class Chicago Symphony Orchestra and still vibrant electric blues scene, to Beale Street in Memphis. Then, travel the history-laden musical crossroads of Mississippi to New Orleans - the birthplace of jazz. You'll be riding in the shadows of giants of American music like Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Elvis Presley."

The published rail travel distance between Chicago and New Orleans via the City of New Orleans is 926 miles and the published rail travel time is 18 hours and 27 minutes.

Ray says that the popular song "City of New Orleans" was written by the late Steve Goodman and popularized by Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie. It was released in 1972 in the album "Hobo's Lullaby". Willie also sings a popular version.