Pan-American

Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to:

See also

Pan-American (train)

The Pan-American was a passenger train operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) between Cincinnati, Ohio and New Orleans, Louisiana. It operated from 1921 until 1971. From 1921 to 1965 a section served Memphis, Tennessee via Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Pan-American was the L&N's flagship train until the introduction of the Humming Bird in 1946. Its name honored the substantial traffic the L&N carried to and from the seaports on the Gulf of Mexico. The Pan-American was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971.

History

The L&N introduced the Pan-American on December 5, 1921. A section of the train diverged at Bowling Green, Kentucky to serve Memphis, Tennessee. At the outset the train carried both sleepers and coaches, and was noteworthy for its all-steel construction in an era when wood heavyweight coaches were still common. The name honored the substantial traffic the L&N carried to and from the seaports on the Gulf of Mexico. It covered the 921 miles (1,482 km) from Cincinnati to New Orleans in 26 hours, soon shortened to exactly 24 hours. The train proved popular with the traveling public, and in 1925 was re-equipped as an "All-Pullman" (no coaches) train. The economic pressures of the Great Depression forced the Pan-American to start carrying coaches again in 1933.

Pan American (Hank Williams song)

"Pan American" is a song written and recorded by Hank Williams. It was his final single on Sterling Records after moving to MGM in April 1947.

Background

"Pan American" was Williams' attempt to rewrite Roy Acuff's immensely popular version of the Carter Family's "Wabash Cannonball." Along with the church, Acuff was arguably Williams' biggest musical influence; in 1952 he insisted to Ralph Gleason, "He's the biggest singer this music ever knew. You booked him and you didn't worry about crowds. For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God." "Pan American" was about the Pan American Clipper, a train that ran daily on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from Cincinnati to New Orleans via Montgomery, highballing it through Greenville and other small towns that Hank knew very well. The song was recorded in Nashville with Fred Rose producing. Williams was backed by Tommy Jackson (fiddle), Dale "Smokey" Lohman (steel guitar), Zeke Turner (electric guitar), and Louis Innis (bass). The single did not chart.