I could upset the whole Norman Rockwell/Charles Kuralt ideal of your story by relating what I saw spraypainted on the side of a freight train going up the tracks running parallel to ILL-Rt.48 on a trip up to Macon for a POWRi show a few years ago, but it's not exactly "G" rated.
What I CAN say on here is that that long freight train actually made better time that I did, thanks to all those little towns and their 30 mph speed limits.