We all are familiar with the “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” — musically, though not in fact.
In the 1940s, Tex Beneke sang “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The great song led the radio “Hit Parade” for months, and has survived for many decades.
The song went worldwide with U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines during World War II, catching on with people in many foreign countries. “Everyone” knew the “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.”
But most people outside Tennessee didn’t realize there was no “real” Chattanooga Choo-Choo leaving “the Pennsylvania Station” in New York, offering “dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer” — with your breakfast of “ham and eggs in Carolina.”
The catchy lyrics and the locomotive-like beat went all over the world — but never to Chattanooga on rails.
Now, however, for the umpteenth time, some people are talking about the possibility of having a high-speed “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” between Chattanooga and Atlanta, if not from “the Pennsylvania Station.”
But is it more than just “talk”?
Tracks and high-speed trains can cost many millions or even billions of dollars.
And how long would the trip take? Some would want to stop somewhere between the two cities, which would add to the time. Some would prefer that the train go from Chattanooga to Atlanta nonstop. But could a trip take less than an hour?
You can drive your own car, or go by bus, on Interstate 75 between Chattanooga and Atlanta in close to two hours — within legal speed limits — depending upon where you start and where you end up.
Flying between the cities takes about half an hour — not counting driving to and from the airports.
It might be “nice” to have a high-speed Chattanooga-to-Atlanta Choo-Choo. But would it “pay,” when you consider the costs of acquiring right of way, constructing the rails, operating the train, etc.? That’s a big question.
Nevertheless, it’s fun for folks in our area to talk about, or even dream of, a “real” Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
That doesn’t cost anything. Talk is cheap.
Meanwhile, you can head on down I-75 in your car — happily singing the “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” all the way.