When Hurricane Katrina devastated the American shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 it took out bridges and sections of railway between New Orleans in Louisiana, the lively home of jazz music, and the colonial city of Mobile, Alabama.
Now, 20 years on, the 145-mile line with a journey time of 3hr 43m across marshland along the Deep South’s coast has reopened – and it’s proving popular, with two good-value services a day (£18 one way).
Already an extra carriage is being added on some weekends, and its success is being seen as a post-Katrina rebirth.
You hear the ‘Mardi Gras Service’, operated by America’s national train company Amtrak, before you see it. We are boarding in charming Mobile, the original home of the Mardi Gras celebrations.
The train horns have been blasting in the morning – as they were the night before as we sampled oysters on the city’s vibrant Dauphin Street – the sound echoing across Mobile’s grid of antebellum houses.
We ascend the steps to the train by the lazily flowing River Mobile, where two huge red, white and blue locomotives are attached to three gleaming stainless-steel carriages: Two ‘coach’ class (standard) carriages and one business class.
A dining area serves hot dogs, breakfast burritos, Michelob beers and Hurricane cocktails (a punchy, red, fruity New Orleans concoction featuring rum).
You’re soon rolling out of Mobile – at 6.05am – with the sunrise casting golden light across pine trees along the river.
Train expert Tom Chesshyre jumped on board the Amtrak Alabama-New Orleans railway
The train has two ‘coach’ class (standard) carriages available for passengers
The views during the journey are especially picturesque, Tom says
We’re in business for this ride, heading for the city of Biloxi in Mississippi, the first of two planned stops to New Orleans.
The journey is 1h 18m. It’s a relaxing way to travel, drinking coffee, the horn blasting regularly. James, the bow tie-wearing conductor, tells us: ‘I worked all over [on Amtrak]… Chicago, Michigan, Milwaukee – but this is just beautiful.’
He’s referring in particular to the final stretch along the Gulf of Mexico (or ‘Gulf of America’ as President Donald Trump calls it) into New Orleans.
But first there’s an enjoyable day exploring Biloxi, with its bustling casinos and Ground Zero Blues Club, co-owned by actor Morgan Freeman.
Biloxi was hit hard by Katrina, with 6,000-plus buildings destroyed and at least 53 lives lost. The city ‘looked like a bomb had hit it’, said one shellshocked resident.
Yet restoration since then has been staggering. You would hardly guess it had been virtually wiped out two decades ago.
We spin onwards, travelling in coach class this time. The train rattles forth before stopping 54 minutes later at a sleepy neighbourhood of single-storey houses with rocking chairs on porches leading to a cluster of live-music seafront bars.
Bay St Louis enjoys pretty beaches, a laid-back atmosphere as well as the 100 Men Hall, a former black community hall and music venue, where performers have included James Brown and Ray Charles.
Tom’s journey kicks off in Mobile, the original home of the Mardi Gras celebrations
The seats are comfortable and relaxing – and Tom travels in style
Live music is still occasionally played, and it’s a good enough reason to stop in the city – the shrimp tacos at the Blind Tiger bar by the marina in close second.
The final ride into New Orleans is captivating – you soon find yourself traversing swampland with flickering seabirds, and golden reeds. It is, quite simply, wonderful.
Once you cross the swamp, you enter New Orleans and watch a metropolis arise – truck depots, concrete plants, cheap-looking motels, highway flyovers, storm surge barriers and levees.
But then you are in the home of Mardi Gras. The thrills and spills of the French Quarter await: Hurricane cocktails aplenty… thankfully, no hurricanes for real.
Tom Chesshyre is the author of Slow Trains Around Britain.
