The Illinois Central's City Of New Orleans

"The Illinois Central may have only been a moderately sized Class I system but its passenger services were legendary. While the railroad’s flagship train was the Panama Limited, it’s super luxurious service between New Orleans and Chicago, its fabled City of New Orleans, which plied the same route as the Panama became its most legendary train. While the Panama was all about luxury and first class traveling the City of New Orleans, similar to that of the California Zephyr, was meant to be a vacationing experience that anyone could enjoy. The City of New Orleans would earn renowned status when Steve Goodman wrote that famous song immortalizing the train, City of New Orleans, in 1970 (performed by Arlo Guthrie). Today, due the immense popularity brought to the train by Mr. Goodman’s hit song, Amtrak revived the City of New Orleans in 1981 after a brief hiatus when it was initially discontinued upon the railroad’s startup in 1971."

This information and more can be found at: http://www.american-rails.com/city-of-new-orleans.html