No doubt.... there will be critics within the current-day Mudcat Forum....who proclaim that THEY know the correct chording for this song ...and that THIS version doesn't work for them (however, they are too busy chatting/catting or can't/won't post their better version).....others in the Forum will debate the phrase of "old black men" and ponder the predjudices of the past....however, IF you have a small semblance of an "ear for music" you can work out the correct timing for the chord breaks. Work hard....have fun..... be safe...and I hope this helps rather than hinders your quest.

Your humble servant _gargoyle

This is from the Arlo Guthrie version: (accented one beats)

Intro in G: two measures

G....../......D..../../...G///]
Riding on the City of New Orleans
Em......../.......C....../.......G///]
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
G......./........D....../........G......///}
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
....../Em....../.....D.........../......./G///]
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
../Em........./........../..../........Bm........./......./..../]
All along the southbound odyssey, the train pulls out of Kankakee
/D..../........../....../......../A///]
Rolls along past houses farms and fields
/Em....../........../......./..../Bm....../......../........./]
Passing trains that have no name, freight yards of old black men
/...D..../........D7
And graveyards of rusted automobiles.

Chorus:

/C...../.....D7.../..../..G......///]
Good morning America, how are you?
../..Em......../........C......../..../..G//D7,D9]
Say, don't you know me, I'm your native son.
....../.G........../........D..../...../Em....Em7....A7/]
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
....../..Bb.......C.......D..............D9..../G///}
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.