Like The 309 Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Wastl 

Cover art for Like The 309 lyrics by Johnny Cash

I'm just wondering. Is the "309" just any random number for any random train or is it a reference to something I am not aware of?

309 comes from "Phantom 309" by Red Sovine. Cash's song is in a way a tribute to Sovine's song. Read my recent post, if you'd like. I added a link to a newspaper article.