Following the lead from gargoyle I checked with the good people of the Rock Island Line Technical Society and in summary:-

The preamble to the Rock Island Line is a shhhhhh - not true

The Rock Island Line never got further than a place called Eunice, Louisiana and it opened for business on Feb 1st 1908. It was planned to be extended to reach New Orleans but never made it. I guess somebody can put me straight here but it appears Eunice is miles from New Orleans. What's wuss is according to the knowledgeable there never was a tollbooth on any part of the railroad system in the USA. Freight was charged at different rates sure enough but there weren't no toll booth.

A couple of other interesting if not disturbing facts

A correspondent from Shreveport, Louisiana said

>>"One documentary of Huddie Ledbetter's life that I saw on cable TV shows him on a train that had recently departed Shreveport for East Texas and the scene depicted implied that he created, and sang, the "Rock Island Line" on board the train on that trip. The problem of course is that to my knowledge the Rock Island never came through, arrived at or departed from any depot in Shreveport, Louisiana."<<

And if that ain't all, a former telegrapher, dispatcher, and tower operator for L&A and SSW. pointed out a minor detail about the Wabash Cannonball.

>>She came down to Nashville one cold December day,
As she backed into the station, you could hear all the people say
There's a girl from Tennessee - she's long and she's tall
She came down from Birmingham on the Wabash Cannonball

Nashville or Birmingham never served by this train, or Wabash RR.

I guess if it rhymes, sing it. Good luck.<<

Interesting Huh?

So what do we do now guys and gals?

Don't go poking around for too many facts it can spoil a good lyric - Nah! Sod it! - Sing it anyway twice as loud and with as much stomp and go as you can muster - that's what I say. Facts - phooeee. Give us a song with a good chorus that everyone can join in with and stick the facts down the pan.

Ian