Anyone old enough to remember rail travel will also remember late-night trains that were timed for arrival in distant cities, and the songs they inspired.
"Midnight Train to Georgia" was written by Jim Weatherly (1943-2021) as "Midnight Plane to Houston, which he originally recorded as a Country song in 1970. It was reworked as "Midnight Train to Georgia" and recorded in 1973 by Cissy Houston (Whitney's mother), who said "my people didn't take planes." It was released again in 1974 by Gladys Night and the Pips. The latter version became a number one hit, and is remembered as the nearly definitive version. Other nighttime railroad songs follow.
Audio only:
The famous 30 Rock sketch seems unavailable for embedding, but there is this:
Trying again to embed it (will see if it works this time):