I've been poring over this for a couple of weeks now but have yet to come up with an answer: what route did Sam take, traveling by train from New York City to St. Louis, sitting up in a smoking car for two or three days and nights. I have traced lines from New York City to Albany and to Dunkirk; from New Jersey to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. The closest I've gotten him to St. Louis is to Terre Haute. If it was his intention to go to Muscatine, in the first place, the train to Chicago should have been his first choice.