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IC's CoNO was an all-coach day schedule that left CHI in AM and got to NOL about midnight. It was an impressive and very fast train that carried an extra service charge for seats. IC had secondary schedules as well, including a train called the Chicasaw (which the railroaders referred to as the "Chicken Bone"--you figure out why, and remember the era). The PL was all-Pullman with parlor car service to Champaign, that left CHI after the workday and arrived NOL about 9:30 AM if I recall correctly. When Reistrup and Alan Boyd ran IC, they added coaches but, fearing pax revolts, called them a separate train, the Magnolia Star, that coincidentally ran on the same schedule as and in "close proximity" to the Panama (i.e., coupled on the front of it-so they really didn't fool anybody on the service downgrade). The current CoNO runs on a much slower schedule than the PL, and a comparison to the PL schedule is like comparing the Lake Shore's to the Century's--the only thing they have in common is that part of the run is overnight. Old hands are still known to refer to the CoNO as the "Chicken Bone", a name it assumed in IC days when the namesake train was discontinued. The refurb of Memphis Central Station is nice and was desperately needed, and can you think of a safer place to park than a Police lot??? And if "CoNO" is the only exposure you have had to Steve Goodman's work, you need to pick up some of his other stuff, which is witty, pointed and generally timely even today. For example, his "Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" is hilarious and still very appropriate (except for the part about the lights at Wrigley).
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