City of New Orleans Route Guide
Chicago, Illinois to New
Orleans, Louisiana
Amtrak
Train Numbers 58 (northbound) and
59 (southbound)
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. Just select and click on one of the stations below to discover more about the territory where our musical heritage runs deep.
Stations on Amtrak's City of New Orleans Route
Illinois |
Kentucky |
Mississippi |
| 1 Chicago (CHI) | 9 Fulton (FTN) | 12 Greenwood (GWD) |
| 2 Homewood (HMW) |
|
13 Yazoo City (YAZ) |
| 3 Kankakee (KKI) |
Tennessee |
14 Jackson (JAN) |
| 4 Champaign-Urbana (CHM) | 10 Newbern-Dyersburg (NBN) | 15 Hazlehurst (HAZ) |
| 5 Mattoon (MAT) | 11 Memphis (MEM) | 16 Brookhaven (BRH) |
| 7 Centralia (CEN) | 17 McComb (MCB) | |
| 8 Carbondale (CDL) |
|
|
Louisiana |
||
|
|
18 Hammond (HMD) | |
| 19 New Orleans (NOL) |
|
Once on board.... click "next" 
(toward New Orleans) or
"previous" 
(toward Chicago)
to take
the virtual rail journey at your leisure.
Click on 
at any time to go
to the "Route Guide Overview
Page" where you may again jump to any station along the route.
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.
Enjoy the Ride!
Amtrak Route Description
The following has been extracted from Amtrak's "City of New Orleans" Route Description.
"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 May 2010 published rail travel distance between Chicago and New Orleans via the City of New Orleans is 934 miles and the published rail travel time is 19 hours and 32 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.
