One of the best railroad songs NOT involving actual railroading:
Tom Rush, Panama Limited.
And a couple of good railroad-themed tone poems:
Arthur Honegger, Pacific 231
Gerry Mulligan, K4 Pacific (from 'The Age of Steam')
I nominate "Southern Pacific" by Neil Young.
Ed
Baltimore & Ohio
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Driving the Last Spike, Genesis.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
One of the most underappreciated guitar players of any genre is the late Jerry Reed. This is the only performance of 'Wabash Cannonball' that I could find:
There are very few renditions of 'Orange Blossom Special' that appeal to me. Here is one by Seatrain, featuring the amazing Richard Greene on violin:
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Harvest Train by Tamarack (1991) - most 'inside' lyric: "I curse you William C. van Horn" - who else would understand that ?
Lyrics to Harvest Train
By the time I heard that evening train he was gone, gone, gone Headed for those fields of grain in the far Saskatchewan
Oh the times they were so hard and the fish were few Oh, what's a Maritimer gonna do
Oh my heart, the C.P.R. has taken Every good man in Nova Scotia Gone away on that Harvest Train to the Prairie's Golden Ocean Far from me (Far from me)
Oh I had sensed his restlessness ever since the autumn came all those trains were headed west they were calling out his name
Oh every time I heard that whistle blow I wondered if it was his time to go Oh my heart ...
I curse you William C. van Horn you don't know what you've done you've taken my man from the place he was born left me here with his new son
Oh the prairies always seemed so far away before now the railway's come and made them close as an "All aboard!"
Oh my heart ...
- Paul North.
Put me down for " you can hear the whistle blowing 500 miles by peter, Paul and Mary
My favorite railroad song is "Fireball mail," sung by Hank Snow (or anyone else good). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-bK0Y-00I
Another is "City of New Orleans" as sung by Arlo Guthrie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg8bKjXmE-s
As a lad I loved the theme to the TV show "Casey Jones." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig3GcDBjQN4
And the classic folk song "John Henry" remains as profound a piece of music as any our country has produced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66r3zZoO4dQ&spfreload=10
The railroad runs through the middle of the house...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BYdTrkWoo
And I've always loved Gerry Mulligan's "K4 Pacific" mentioned by Wizlish
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
The O.P. has it right. Nobody --- including Steve's friend Arlo --- ever sang a finer version of "City of New Orleans" than the writer, Steve Goodman. Try to find an unaccompanied version, with just Steve and his guitar.
In deference to "City of New Orleans", I understand Gordon Lightfoot jokingly referred to his "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" as the second best railroad song ever written. Joking or not, he was probably right.
I would also offer for your consideration any railroad song by Bruce "Utah" Phillips. His version of "Wabash Cannonball", paired with his "Tolono" is moving. "Daddy What's a Train" is a classic. "Starlight On The Rails", a poem with musical accompaniment, will stir your soul, and "Old Buddy Goodnight" will bring you to tears: "There's some things worse than dyin' alone, and one of 'em's livin' that way." Phillips was a true poet.
Tom
P.S. MikeF90, I like Seatrain's version of "Orange Blossom Special", but have you heard the version Vassar Clements did on the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album?
So many. For starters:
"Big Midnight Special," the version by Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper
"Lonesome Whistle," by Hank Williams
"Ben Dewberry's Final Run," by Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman
"Streamlined Cannonball," by Roy Acuff
"Railroad Lady," by Lefty Frizzell
"Lonesome Joe," by Roy Acuff
"Sunshine Special," by Roy Acuff
"The Last Ride," by Hank Snow
"I'm Movin' On," by Hank Snow
"Cherokee Fiddle," by Johnny Lee
Yes, and "In the Baggage Coach Ahead," by Mac Wiseman!
"The Engineer's Child," by many, from Vernon Dalhart thru Hank Snow
"Hummingbird," by Johnnie & Jack
"The Gambler," by Kenny Rogers
"Waiting for a Train," by Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman
"Life's Railway to Heaven," by many
"The Bluegrass Express," by the Osborne Brothers
"Wreck of the Old 97," by many
"Night Train to Memphis," by Roy Acuff
"Bringin' in the Georgia Mail," by Charlie Monroe and many others
"Southern Dixie Flyer," by Marty Robbins
"Teardrops Falling in the Snow," by Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper; also by Porter Wagoner
Thanks a lot for getting us started, Shoot180! (I'll be kept up tonight remembering 20 more.)
Dakota Fred,
My Bro, Mi Amigo,
Every one of your list's entries bears fomdness from my recollections of '40's, 50's and later.
How 'bout some from the 30's. Of course that circles the singin' brakeman, Jimmie Rogers songbook; I want to through in 2 recordings of what I think are original music.
A western oriented singing group from the depession-wracked eastern U.S. went to California maybe "riding on the rods."
2 songs came out: "Way Out There" and "One More Ride."
The railroad references are faultless, after listening if you're not there, then listen to the (really) the yodeling.
It replicates the classic and required crossing warning whistle/horn sound.
Roy Rogers may have been in that group of the original "Son's of the Pioneers."
"Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash; also "The midnight Special"
http://www.johnnycashonline.com/music/story-songs-of-the-trains-and-rivers
http://www.thespoon.com/trainhop/songs.html
Check out this list of 23, with commentary about each one, some with multiple artists:
http://harpers.org/blog/2014/06/the-twenty-three-best-train-songs-ever-written-maybe/
Look a yonder comin'Comin' down that railroad trackHey- look a ynder comin'Comin' down that railraod trackIt's the Orange Blossom SpecialBringin' my baby back...
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Paul of Covington The railroad runs through the middle of the house... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BYdTrkWoo And I've always loved Gerry Mulligan's "K4 Pacific" mentioned by Wizlish
i have not heard that song in 50 years! My daughters have always thought I made it up. Thank you for posting it.
Let me add " The Wreck of C&O #5" sung by Pick Temple. (Those who grew up in the DC area in the 1950's will remember Pick).
I'm kind of partial to Johnny Cash's first hit "Hey Porter" from the early fifties on the Sun Records label.
There was a song about the Rock Island that came out in the early fifties--which declared that the eastbound train was on a westbound track and the northbound train was on a southbound track. Knowing the routes of the Rock Island, I knew such was possible.
The only lyrics I could find this morning with mention of track direction was sung by Johnny Cash (and he did not know where the road went), but there is no mention of eastbound/westbound.
Johnny
A couple of favorites of mine: ".. Mystery Train..." By Elvis from early stuff in the 1950's and then there was "...Frankfort Special..." after he came back from Germany '60's. The one I wish he had done was an old gospel song: "...Glory Train.." . Never heard him do more than just a few bars, but you knew what it was when he was humming it.
Mean Old Frisco Blues , Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter
Golden Rocket Hank Snow
Railroad Bum Jim Reeves
efftenxrfe Dakota Fred, My Bro, Mi Amigo, Every one of your list's entries bears fomdness from my recollections of '40's, 50's and later. How 'bout some from the 30's. Of course that circles the singin' brakeman, Jimmie Rogers songbook; I want to through in 2 recordings of what I think are original music. A western oriented singing group from the depession-wracked eastern U.S. went to California maybe "riding on the rods." 2 songs came out: "Way Out There" and "One More Ride." The railroad references are faultless, after listening if you're not there, then listen to the (really) the yodeling. It replicates the classic and required crossing warning whistle/horn sound. Roy Rogers may have been in that group of the original "Son's of the Pioneers."
Hi, Eff,
I detect a fellow old-time C&W fan -- and glad for the company! One of the best hobby mixes I know blends old-time C&W and railroads.
Your candidates are great ones I should have thought of myself. The Pioneers, especially Nolan and Spencer, knew their railroads AND the Old West.
Singing brakeman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbzc77Tz6PA
Green Light on the Southern by Tony Rice. One of the rare ones that seems to be accurate in the details. Unless I missed something.
"He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made People passing by they would stop and say Oh my that little country boy could play...."
Johnny B Goode By Chuck Berry
In other words, the sound of a steam locomotive is rock n roll! (or vice versa!)
Is a subway song eligible for this list ?
"Charley on the MTA" - http://ingeb.org/songs/letmetel.html (see the notes at the bottom).
For those who don't know it, here's the refrain:
Chorus: "Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn'd He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned."
Paul_D_North_Jr Is a subway song eligible for this list ? "Charley on the MTA" - http://ingeb.org/songs/letmetel.html (see the notes at the bottom). For those who don't know it, here's the refrain: Chorus: "Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn'd He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned." - Paul North.
I don't remember how the verse went (this was written more than sixty years ago), but the chorus, with its melody, is quite familiar.
Too bad Vernon Dalhart wasn't around to get paid for use of his "Old 97" melody on the MTA song.
. .
ACY Too bad Vernon Dalhart wasn't around to get paid for use of his "Old 97" melody on the MTA song.
Wanswheel:
Thanks so much!
I always thought Dalhart wrote the song, so I'm glad to see Grayson and Whitter get the credit. And I've never seen the full text of the lyrics before. Joe Brody (nicknamed Steve) was properly immortalized.
P.S. I'm always amused when I hear more modern singers who have learned the song from the Dalhart version. Instead of "lost his air brakes", they often say "lost his average" because Dalhart's pronunciation is a bit misleading.
Deggesty Paul_D_North_Jr Is a subway song eligible for this list ? "Charley on the MTA" - http://ingeb.org/songs/letmetel.html (see the notes at the bottom). For those who don't know it, here's the refrain: Chorus: "Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn'd He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned." - Paul North. I don't remember how the verse went (this was written more than sixty years ago), but the chorus, with its melody, is quite familiar.
"Charley's wife goes down To the Scollay Square station Every day at quarter past two And through the open window She hands Charley a sandwich As the train comes rumblin' through."
ACYP.S. MikeF90, I like Seatrain's version of "Orange Blossom Special", but have you heard the version Vassar Clements did on the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album?
To @16-567D3A, a big +10 for Pure Prairie League's 'Kansas City Southern': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O20XrApSuM
I've always liked the Grateful Dead's tribute to Casey Jones, but that lifestyle would not be tolerated on today's Class I's.
"The Wreck of the Old 97" by myself at karaoke night. It is the railroad song I sing more than any other.
James Coffey's "Legends of the Rails"
Not accurate and kind of cheesy, but the nostolgia has always appealed to me.
Mike F90: Sending you a P.M.
Like I did the last time this topic popped up here, I submit this little-known tribute to the brave laborers who left their homes and families and everything they knew in order to scratch out some sort of living while building the early railways of Britain. Starts out with a bit of sentimental build-up, carving the right of way and laying the track, and then the train finally gets moving at about 5:50:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTkooJV7xx0
And to see the kind of rail visuals Phil and the boys incorporated in the live performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFW5_yLB5VA
Rock Island Line - 1950's Johnny Horton and/or Johnny Cash versions
City of New Orleans - 1970's Steve Goodman and/or Arlo Guthrie versions
Can’t You See - 1970's The Marshall Tucker Band (considered among the top five Southern Rock songs ever, the band is from Spartanburg SC so the "southbound all the way to Georgia" is most likely the Southern)
Driver 8 - 1980's R.E.M. (Southern Crescent is mentioned in the song, Chessie System is shown in the video, the band is from Athens GA)
Steel Rail blues gordon Lightfoot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izSCwP_4YGU
1. Blues in The Night, Ella Fitzgerald, 1961. Uses the sound of trains to define the Blues inthe Night
I'll go with another one by James Coffey. "Ghosts of the Rails."
"Rail and machine
Fire, smoke and steam.."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUxhhjq9_mQ
I just remembered another one, a lullabye written by Malvina Reynolds: Morningtown Ride, most famously done by the Seekers in 1968.
wanswheel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaB5320ZftE
Holy smoke, I looked at the timetable and it's from the old New Jersey and New York (Erie) Railroad, now New Jersey Transit's Pascack Valley Line! All the stops are pretty much today as they were then, the differences being today's trains start in Hoboken and terminate in Spring Valley, the line beyond abandoned.
Amazing. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
You suppose the songwriters or the publisher were commuters on that line?
An addendum: There's an old movie from about 1930 or so that takes place on the Southern Pacific called "Other Men's Women," originally "The Steel Highway" starring Grant Withers, Regis Toomey, James Cagney, Mary Astor, and Joan Blondell where some railroaders are sitting in a yard office singing "On the 5:15." It shows up on Turner Classic Movies from time to time.
Reminds me that the Who had a 5:15 song too, on Quadrophenia...
Choo Choo Ch'boogie
Ramrod,
My admiration has no limits now. An inventory of favored tunes and lyrics, railroad oriented, vast and varied, Ya' got it.
A couple that I'd throw into the mix:
The Stanley Brother's Orange Blossom Special,
Hank Snow's The Wreck of the Old 97.
Roy Acuff's Wabash Cannonball
Hobo Bill's Last Ride, Hank Snow
and The Sons of the Pioneers' "Way Out There" and "One Last Ride."
Ernest Tubbs sang about a hobo in Texas trying to get home, "if you haven't got a nickle" said the brakeman...
The "Singing Brakeman," everything he sang evoked his era...Jimmie Rogers....the '20s to the '30s.
There are song writers and songs, so many....let's honor them...
brakeman
I'm speechless, Chuck.
"I Thought About You" (Music by Jimmy Van Heusen, Lyrics by Johnny Mercer") (listed by ramrod)
I took a trip on a trainAnd I thought about youI passed a shadowy laneAnd I thought about youTwo or three cars parked under the starsA winding streamMoon shining down on some little townAnd with each beam, same old dreamAnd every stop that we made, oh, I thought about you
and when I pulled down the shade then I really felt blue
I peeked through the crack and looked at the trackThe one going back to youAnd what did I do? I thought about you.
Speaking of Not Rock or Country, here's "Ain't No Brakeman" performed by the great bluesman John Mayall:
Lyrics by Fontaine Brown: http://www.lyrics.net/lyric/9916497
UPDATE: posted too soon, here's the same song covered by Coco Montoya with superior railroad related video:
UPDATE TWO: don't know if this has been posted already, but Wikipedia wants your input: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_train_songs
Could be a very long topic, this ....
peter paul and mary, Freight Train, This Train (don't carry no gamblers) 1965?
CNSFWhat? No one's nominated Liz Phair's 'Baby Got Going' yet? Can't believe it.
I may have missed it, but I do not recall that anyone has mentioned "Gonna take a sentimental journey."
Mel McDaniel -Let It Roll
http://youtu.be/vUxlKIOVXqc
My favorites are any & all of them, sad to glad. Any song about trains and rails helps keep alive a part of our history.
"Why Do They All Take The Night Boat To Albany and Grab The Next Train To New York?"
"Hey Engineer"
User carnej1 proposes starting a list of railroad-related 'prog rock' songs, with the initial example of Kraftwerk's 'Trans Europ Express'
Here's the original studio version ('Trans Europa Express') which you may not have heard:
Maybe that's not purely 'progressive', as carnej1 indicated, but it's good enough to be here.
Maybe I missed it, but no one mentioned Woody Guthrie's " This Train is Bound for Glory." Another one I like is "Dixie Cannonball" as done by Gene Autry, and "Mystery Pacific" done by Django Reinhardt. Asleep at the Wheel did a dynamite version of "Choo Choo Ch'boogie" in the 70s. Hell, anything by Johnny Cash and if it doesn't mention trains, so what?
For Train song:it has to be City of New Orleans-Arlo Guthrie version. Dad loved it and he died a year later, so that song has many memories for me.
Railroad song-can't think of any that are favorites-but do like Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. Some of these mentioned I have never heard.
Baggage Car Ahead-had never heard it but Mom said that was a reminder of her father's casket in Frisco baggage car. Her mom had to present his pass when they loaded the casket. He was buried in St. James, MO on the Frisco main and there was one car filled with friends and family that all worked for Frisco-no revenue for that car.
It's not really a "train" song as such, but Gene Autry has a song called "The Ballad of Jimmy Rogers."
My Lord, I don't know how I could have forgotten this song (and it really isn't a 'railroad' song per se), but I was over in the Passenger thread reading about the sleeperless westbound trains, and it reminded me...
As with 'Panama Limited', hard to hear this and not be moved.
Rock island Line by Johnny Cash on Sun Records
A couple of topical references:
"200 miles an hour on that Washington DC run...
And at one time the presence of oil trains was downright nostalgic...
Gads, hard question! Trinity River Bottoms Boomer will just comment.
City of New Orleans version by Arlo Guthrie is by far the best! C&W singer Sunny James recorded "68 Rock Island Line", George Hamilton IV recorded Canadian Pacific which was on his LP Steel Rail Blues. For us Bible Pounders, the great gosple hymn, Life is Like a Mountain Railroad (also recorded by GHIV).
Hard to pick a favorite. Steam Locomotive Man Steele Craver (Six Flags over Texas) liked Kraftwerk's TransEurop Express and couldn't get it in the States. Lucky for him I live in Germany....what you won't do for a friend! It is a neat song though. Wonder how many other countries have railroad related songs?
Much as I love Arlo's version, I still prefer the original City of New Orleans, as written and performed by Steve Goodman.
Arlo changed the lyrics a bit. He said "They ride their fathers' magic carpet made of steel. And mothers with their babes asleep go rockin' to the gentle beat; the rhythm of the rails is all they feel."
Steve's original lyric was "They ride their fathers' magic carpet made of steam. And mothers with their babes asleep go rockin' to the gentle beat; the rhythm of the rails is all they dream."
Steel and feel don't carry the same wistful, ethereal connotation as steam and dream. Steel is hard and cold; steam is soft and warm; dream is more appealing to the senses than feel, which is vague and nonspecific. Arlo's piano also doesn't seem quite as appropriate as Steve's guitar (with fiddle on his studio release).
There seems to be a consensus that the John Denver version is the worst. He changed "old black men" to "old gray men", and made other changes that Steve, for one, hated.
Maybe it's just personal taste, or maybe I'm partial to Steve's version because I heard it first --- probably before Arlo heard it.
No matter who did it, if "City" isn't the greatest American railroad song, we can agree that it's certainly among the very best. John Denver messed it up, but even he couldn't ruin it.
(edited)
I nominate "Wagon Wheel" by Bob Dylan. Not clearly in one of your categories unless "southbound train" could be specific enough. Great train feel and rhythms.
I like Sheena Easton's "Morning Train (9 - 5)." A wonderful video was made which was filmed at a British railway museum.
Chaka Kahn's "Through the Fire" does not have any railroad content, but a very nice video was filmed in Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal.
"Take The A Train" composed by Billy Strayhorn and performed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra is an unapologic celebration of mass transit and urbanism.
I've been entertaining professionally (singing, playing guitar and harmonica) as a sideline to my railroad career for 43 years. For a long time I was actually billed as the "singing conductor" (Jimmy Rogers was a boomer brakeman, and never stayed around long enough to get promoted: I did). I can sing a railroad song at the drop of a hat. Over the years I'd say my favorites are:
City of New Orleans
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Wreck of the Old 97
Waiting for a Train
Life's Railway to Heaven
Wreck of Number Nine
I've written a passle of railroad songs myself, including "Big Mike Heney" (about the builder of the White Pass & Yukon Route), "Life on the Railroad", "The McKenzie Wreck", and "Freight Train Rambles". Many of these were recorded on my 1993 album "Life on the Railroad" which was actually advertised for sale in TRAINS magazine for a while back in the mid-1990s. I also played with Utah Philips long long ago at the Juneau Folk Festival in the old Armory Building. He was a real character. Moose Turd Pie...
My 5 year old granddaughter Adelle has just learned the words to "Big Mike Heney" from one of my old CDs. Her mother told me that she woke up singing the line from the song,"give me dynamite and snoose, I'll build a railroad straight to hell" the other day. Forgive me, Father, for I have passed on the wild free spirit of the railroad business as told in our songs to her!
Enjoy the songs about the trains, wherever they may be sung.
Steve Hites
Skagway, Alaska
Midnight Train To Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips
Train, Train by Blackfoot
Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne, and I'm hopping on it now for including it.
Monkey and the Engineer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdfiXBlwTsQ
Steve
I've heard several songs
Johnny Cash: Hey Porter, Wabash cannonball, Wreck of Old 97
Kenny Rogers: Gambler
Steve Goodman and Willie Nelson: City of new Orleans
Alabama: Ride The Train
Alan Jackson: Freight Train
Various bluegrass songs: John Henry, Glendale Train, Orange Blossom Special, Freight Train, Life's Railway to Heaven
A lot of good songs. I can even play some of them on guitar.
Blue Water Line-The Brothers Four
Down by the Station-The Four Preps
My favorite is Merle Haggard's "Miner's Silver Ghost".
Someone else may have mentioned it but Hobos Lullaby, Emmylou Harris and/or Woody Guthrie for me.
Wanswheel's last post was most appropriate. B.B. King passed away yesterday at the age of 89.
Today is the birthday of Buce (Utah) Phillips, born in 1935; left us in 2008. He wrote "Starlight on the Rails", "Old Buddy, Good Night", and many other songs and poems about railroads and the hobo life.
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Johnny McCollums' "Santa Fe All The Way," one of the best rail songs of the modern era.
You can find it easily on You Tube. I still can't figure out how to make a link to You Tube work. Computers aren't smart, they aren't dumb, they're just MEAN.
Firelock76 I still can't figure out how to make a link to You Tube work. Computers aren't smart, they aren't dumb, they're just MEAN.
You must have ticked off your computer somehow. I suspect you do not have cats.
How about this?
1) Go to the YouTube video in question. Select the URL that appears in your browser as the clip is playing.
2) Reply to a post. Go to the place within the text of the post where you want the video to appear. In the toolbar above the window you're entering text in, click on the little picture of a video (it's directly under the 'strikethrough' button to the right of B-I-U for formatting). Then paste the video URL into the box that comes up selected.
When you click OK, the video is automatically linked into a window.
You can also use the 'link' tool (the little picture of a chain - how cute!) to insert the video URL so that it's clickable ('highlighted in blue') but this isn't as direct as having the video appear right there in the post.
That's the one brother! And thanks for the advice!
PS: No, I (we) don't have cats. We have Basset Hounds, the closest you can come to having a cat and still have a dog!
23 best railroad songs from Harpers magazine http://harpers.org/blog/2014/06/the-twenty-three-best-train-songs-ever-written-maybe/
Great thread. Here are a couple great ones that got missed, or at least I didn't see.
R.E.M. - Driver 8
Calexico - Minas de Cobre (For Better Metal)
The Pogues - Poor Paddy On The Railroad (cover)
A fun thread here,
Merle Haggard's "The Silver Ghost" was mentioned before and that song has stuck in my head since I was listening to it on vinyl in the 1970s. All the songs on his album "My Love Affair With Trains" are good ones.
Some additions I'd suggest:
Texas Eagle by Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band
Boxcars by Joe Ely
Georgia on a Fast Train by Billy Joe Shaver
Kansas City Southern by Turnpike Troubadours
No Train to Memphis by BR5-49
Off to go purchase some MP3s.
Stephen
The story of "The Wreck of the Old 97" has some interesting twists and turns. The book "Scalded to Death by the Steam" by Katie Letcher Kyle goes into some detail on it. For example, a lot of people think the engine was no. 97, but it was train no. 97, a fast mail train. (The engine was 1102, a 4-6-0.) "Old" was a term of familiarity, like "good old Charlie Brown", the train had only been running a few years at the time the wreck happened.
The melody was borrowed from the 1860's shipwreck song "The Ship That Never Return'd", which had been borrowed or parodied many times in the intervening years. Melodies often migrated from song to song back then - "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane", referencing slave shacks in the Old South, then "My Little Old Sod Shanty on my Claim" about an Old West homesteader, to "The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train".
No one really knows who wrote the lyrics - remember, publishing a song doesn't mean you wrote it!! Many performers picked up folk songs 'up in the hills' and recorded / published them as their own. One version is that a local man wrote the lyrics, perhaps as a poem more than a song. (The wreck happened on a Sunday afternoon, and many people saw it happen. Rescuers were on the scene quickly, and several photographs of the wreck taken soon after were published nationally.)
Henry Whittier from rural Virginia was the first person to record it after singing it regularly in his act for years. Some believe he inspired others to sing and record it, because his version was so bad that almost anyone could have done better. In any case, the song wasn't recorded until 20 years after the wreck, and most likely it is the work of several people, and could include lines from other songs woven into it.
Vernon Dahlhart's version was the one that made the song famous, partly because it was on the flip side of "The Prisoner's Song" which was a huge hit. ("If I had the wings of angel, over these prison walls I would fly.") Although he was from Texas, Dahlhart apparently "put on" a fake Southern accent in the recording, he doesn't sing in a noticeable accent in other recordings from the time. He does actually say "lost his average" not "lost his air brakes". Apparently "average" has to do with air brake pressure; by over-using the air brakes Broady lost air pressure and couldn't slow down when he really needed to.
The "black greasy fireman" wasn't African American, he was white but covered in coal dust and lubricating oil. Firemen were generically called "blacks", like engineers were "hoggers" and conductors "shacks". (If you are familiar with the 1970's movie "Emperor of the North", note that none of the characters have real names, they're only referred by their job nicknames or hobo 'monikers'.)
Vernon Dahlharts record was catalogued by Victor Records at the time under "Foreign Language", with the language noted as "Southern".
Anyway...I've always liked "I'm Movin' On" written and recorded by Hank Snow, but if I had to pick one it would be former L&N call boy Roy Acuff and "The Wabash Cannonball". Here's two versions 50 years apart (note that Pete "Bashful Brother Oswald" Kirby is playing dobro in both clips!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-gwQkJOphI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1i9DXaEYWI
Interestingly, Roy Acuff and his band, the Crazy Tennesseans, couldn't get on the Grand Ol' Opry at first. Judge Hay (who introduces him in the 1940 clip) thought they were "too modern" for the show. When Judge Hay was out with an extended illness, he was replaced by announcer David Stone, and it was Stone who first introduced Acuff on the show. Later Stone moved to the Twin Cities and hosted a local country music show called "The Sunset Valley Barn Dance", and later an early morning tv show with farm news and music videos (that he and his staff created) that I watched in the sixties.
As to the "Wreck of the Old 97," There is a division point named which means absolutely nothing to many people nowadays. I have heard, "You must get her into Atlanta on time" sung by someone who had no idea that Spencer, North Carolina (just above Salisbury) was as far as that engineer could run.
You'd have to be a railfan to know that Spencer NC was a division point on the old Southern Railway. Nowadays it's the home to the North Carolina Transportation Museum.
Then again, us railfans know everything, don't we?
ROBERT WILLISON Put me down for " you can hear the whistle blowing 500 miles by peter, Paul and Mary
Good song, Robert Willison! No arugments from me with this one as I have always enjoyed Peter, Paul and Mary! Here's one on my personal favorites... Dusty Boxcar Wall. It kind of haunts me everytime I hear it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Gz-SaIDak
The original version of The Wreck of Old 97 included the lines "This is not 38; but it's Old 97; You must get her into Spencer on time." However, it appears that early recording artists learned the song by ear, and not from written lyrics. They seem to have misheard the lyric as "into Center on time", and repeated the incorrect version on early recordings. A similar problem crops up with "It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville and a line on a three mile grade." I've heard Lynchburg's revered old name butchered into "Lanksbury" and several other ungraceful things. Maybe the worst of all is "...when he lost his air brakes; see what a jump he made." More than one singer would have us believe "he lost his average." Who knows what that is supposed to mean?
In Henry Whitter’s version, which Vernon Dalhart said he misunderstood, “air brakes” sounds to me like “ab bricks,” and probably close enough to “average” to Dalhart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8fUJT_ZNA
https://casetext.com/case/victor-talking-machine-co-v-george
Anyone else remember: I've Been Working on the Railroad very popular with kids when I was young:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkQQbRqLoCI
Rembering it prompted me to look up background info on the song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_Been_Working_on_the_Railroad
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
That's an interesting variation of "97". I don't think I've ever heard the engineer called Pete before. His actual name was Joseph A. Broady, but he went by the nickname Steve, for reasons evidently lost to history.
Buddy Get On Down The Line as recorded by the Kingston Trio.
wanswheel In Henry Whitter’s version, which Vernon Dalhart said he misunderstood, “air brakes” sounds to me like “ab bricks,” and probably close enough to “average” to Dalhart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8fUJT_ZNA https://casetext.com/case/victor-talking-machine-co-v-george
there is cd I have called Lonesome Whistle. It is bluegrass train songs. They are as follows:
wabash cannonball
john henry
city of new orleans
orange blossom special
train 45
wreck of the old 97
reuben's train
life's railway to heaven
glendale train
freight train
fireball mail
kansas city railroad blues
nine pound hammer
last train home
also like Alabama's song "Ride the Train"
Joe, funny you should conclude your list with "Last Train Home." I don't know whether you had Pat Metheny's version from 1987 in mind, but it's VERY much on my mind lately, what with Winterail's first gig in Corvallis, Oregon, now just under two months away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq5oqY3-vhg
My memory on this is a bit fuzzy, but I believe it was Ted Benson who first turned Railfan & Railroad editor Jim Boyd onto this song. Or perhaps Boyd simply caught it on the radio or MTV/VH1. Anyway, it soon became a prominent piece of background music for one of Boyd's more memorable multimedia slide shows.
Back then, after repeated viewings of that show at more venues than I could keep track of, the song began to wear a little thin on me, conjuring up images of ridiculously long road trips, long nights spent in the R&R offices during deadline week (because some folks were terrible procrastinators), late and tiresome nights at some rail group's chapter meeting, and so on.
But now, almost 30 years later, Metheny's "Last Train Home" is a real gem to my ears, and my heart. Not just because it's a musical masterpiece that I can finally appreciate in my older age, but because it brings back memories that I now cherish, whether it was those railfanning trips with Boyd and fellow R&R associate editor Mike Del Vecchio, or the visits to places from the East Coast to California where that Boyd slide show got shown, and I in turn got to meet up with countless folks whose photography and friendship still inspires me to this day.
P.S. In a nod to Winterail organizer and fellow prog rock follower Vic Neves, I submit the following piece by former Genesis guitarist and outspoken railway fan (especially when it involves steam) Steve Hackett.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddF62zLejy0
PPS: As a musical heads-up to any Trains/Kalmbach staffers who will be attending Winterail this March, just know that the pronunciation of "Oregon" in that one Steely Dan song is quite wrong. (I was told long ago that Keefe is a fan.)
ACY Wanswheel: That's an interesting variation of "97". I don't think I've ever heard the engineer called Pete before. His actual name was Joseph A. Broady, but he went by the nickname Steve, for reasons evidently lost to history. Tom
Steve Brodie was the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge (as a stunt) and survive, it happened in 1886. After that any man with the last name of Brodie, or a variation thereof, usually wound up with the nickname "Steve."
That lasted for years, along with the saying you don't hear anymore "Take a Brodie," usually meaning a bad fall or a slip.
Good old Merle is gone.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/06/23/ralph-stanley-bluegrass-legend-dead-89/86038242/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbaz_T6BN3g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2XwZTc7QHw
Euclid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbaz_T6BN3g
I forgot Emmylou was ever young.
Johnny Cash and the Stanley Brothers in 1964. It seems Led Zep infringed their song title.
Not exactly a song.
Moose turd pie.
https://youtu.be/0zb1qsVqjwg
wanswheel Euclid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbaz_T6BN3g I forgot Emmylou was ever young.
A couple years ago, they took a lot of her high quality early videos off of Youtube. I really like her early era circa 1977. This is an example, although not live and not a train song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3LQeRqTBK4
https://vimeo.com/3624087
I have a couple favorites.
1. Mystery Train - Elvis Presley
2. Cmon N Ride It - Quad City DJs
3. Little Red Caboose - Buckwheat Zydeco
4. The Train is Coming - Ken Boothe
5. Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
6. Life is Like a Mountain Railroad - Boxcar Willie
7. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight
8. Midnight Special - Johnny Rivers
9. Wreck of the Ole 97 - ????
10. Choo Choo Bugaloo - Buckwheat Zydeco
Inspired by the rhythm of train wheels:
And, for tree68, here is something extraordinary from the close of a Mass celebrating the Paris firefighters: Listen, and be moved.
There is a bluegrass song called Eastbound Freight Train. A live band used to sing it on the Sewanee Steam Special years ago. This train was pulled by none other than NS 611. It was also pulled at times by 1218.
Here is Milwaukee Blues, an old song by Charlie Poole sung here by Dom Flemons, formerly with the Carolina Chocolate Drops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf43lUsqnHw
I'm not a big fan of DVDs, butout here in Australia, the Post Office is trying to turn its shopfronts into stores with other products in order to remain open in the face of falling letter traffic (but expanding parcels business).
They sell a lot of stationery items, digital media and so on.
Anyway to return to relevance, they recently offered movie DVDs at $5 each, including several old Musicals, including "The Harvey Girls".
At that price I had to have one. As well as the full movie, there is a version of the full "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" with real stereo sound. The original production used multiple microphones which were separately recorded and have been combined in post production into good quality stereo.
There is also an interview with Director George Sidney where he speaks over the movie action as vision. Two points were that he described bringing the train down to Hollywood from Truckee by road in 1945 using war surplus aircraft transporters, and the various difficulties they faced. He also spoke about the final scene in the big production number where the cast were in the path of the locomotive cylinder drain cocks as it started. I'd noticed this but the director was fully aware of it at the time, and praised the cast.
The song won the Academy Award in 1946.
I was born in 1948, and I remember in the early 1950s that my Father would sing the chorus on occasions, but at the time I had no idea what it was all about.
M636C
Do you realize how hard it is to say, "The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"? Not sing it, say it.
Midnight Special by CCR.
Paul of Covington Do you realize how hard it is to say, "The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"? Not sing it, say it....
Do you realize how hard it is to say, "The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"? Not sing it, say it....
Darned near impossible...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 Paul of Covington Do you realize how hard it is to say, "The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"? Not sing it, say it.... Darned near impossible...
There is some comment in the director's discussion on the "Harvey Girls" DVD about the music for the big production number, how it was supposed to evoke the sound of a train but with syncopation that matched the railroad name.
These guys were real professionals, and the song didn't get an Oscar by accident.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/arts/music/john-loudermilk-dead.html?_r=0
R.I.P. Mr. Loudermilk.
As long as we're firing up this thread again ....
"Old Charlie stole the handle andThe train it won't stop goingNo way to slow down."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/arts/music/oscar-brand-folk-singer-whose-radio-show-twanged-for-decades-dies-at-96.html
I was always partial to Stonewall Jackson's "Smoke Along the Tracks" which was a big and long lasting hit on the local radio back when I was a teenager in 59-60. The Emmy Lou Harris cover of it was also good.
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/
Wanswheel- Remarakable win by the Cubs tonight..history! ...and my beloved Blackhawks came from behind by 2 goals with 2 minutes left to defeat Toronto 5-4 in a shootout.
Hard to believe but there was a time when I was as young as Steve Goodman in that clip...I think it was the Pleistocene.
Miningman I think it was the Pleistocene.
I think it was the Pleistocene.
Speaking of geology...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Schmitt
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17CONO.html
Miningman Hard to believe but there was a time when I was as young as Steve Goodman in that clip...I think it was the Pleistocene. Yes, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. I remember the first time I heard Steve singing "City" at the Quiet Knight. He also wrote The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request, but maybe this isn't the time for that song. Tom
Yes, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. I remember the first time I heard Steve singing "City" at the Quiet Knight. He also wrote The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request, but maybe this isn't the time for that song.
wanswheel
No wonder they give that guy the Nobel prize! A pome writer all right!
Dogs run free
Why not we?
(deleted verses)
Dogs have fun
well done
Hot dog bun
just trying to have me some fun
My sister's a nun
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/arts/music/bobby-vee-pop-idol-known-for-take-good-care-of-my-baby-dies-at-73.html
Hank Snow has always done my favorites but for something new, try "Steam and Steel" by Laurie Lewis. It contains 9 original songs and is available at midcontinent.org
"Kay Starr, a ferociously expressive singer whose ability to infuse swing, pop and country songs with her own indelible, bluesy stamp made her one of the most admired recording artists of her generation, died Nov. 3 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94."
"City of New Orleans" has been mentioned many times on this Forum as one of the best American RR songs. It was written by Steve Goodman and made famous by Arlo Guthrie and others. Many people have never heard Steve sing it. Now it's interesting that his voice is finally being heard around the world singing his"Go Cubs Go", which never got very much National exposure until this year. The really sad part of this World Series victory is that we may have lost forever the joy of hearing him sing "The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request".
ACY"City of New Orleans" has been mentioned many times on this Forum as one of the best American RR songs. It was written by Steve Goodman and made famous by Arlo Guthrie and others. Many people have never heard Steve sing it. Now it's interesting that his voice is finally being heard around the world singing his"Go Cubs Go", which never got very much National exposure until this year. The really sad part of this World Series victory is that we may have lost forever the joy of hearing him sing "The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request". Tom
Easily transfered to the Indians or the Browns.
BaltACD Easily transfered to the Indians or the Browns.
That's right; Rub it in.
Tom (Native of NE Ohio; Lived on Chicago's North Side for 10 years. Victim of indescribable angst this year).
ACY BaltACD Easily transfered to the Indians or the Browns. That's right; Rub it in. Tom (Native of NE Ohio; Lived on Chicago's North Side for 10 years. Victim of indescribable angst this year).
Just imagine the angst that will happen when we get a World Series between the Indians and Braves.
PS - I have family in NE Ohio, including one that lived for 20+ years in Chicago. I imagine he was conflicted too; but then he rooted for the White Sox when they won in 2005.
To put it all in perspective, it was a great series, running the full 7 games, with Game 7 going into extra innings. No significant bad calls or fights on the field or off. No rioting afterwards. The teams and the fans respected one another, no matter which team they represented. Now let's see what happens next year.
Would that the political contest could be so civil!
"Glendale Train" by New Riders of the Purple Sage
and..
"The Art of Catching Trains" spoken word over music by Rod McKuen (as quoted in my profile)
"Freight Train" by Chet Atkins (guitar instrumental)
"Rolling Steel" by yours truly (guitar instrumental)
"Long, Long, Short, Long" also by yours truly.
https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/leon-russell
I'd have to say City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie. Came out a couple of years before Dad died and he loved it, went and bought the 45 which I still have. I rode that train this past summer and our sleeper attendant played the Johnny Cash version on the speaker as we were coming into the city. Nice idea. Dad also had an old album of Johnny Cash railroad songs like Orange Blossom Special and others. Mom used to talk about the "baggage car ahead" and said her father's casket was put into the Frisco baggage car going to St. James, MO for burial. Her mom had to present his pass for free transport. There was a car filled with mourners from family and many co-workers.
I first heard "Softly By Tracks" read by Garrison Keillor on his Writers Almanac radio show on 8/21/2001. It is track #5 on a CD titled "Poems of the Hobo Road" with music by Steve Cloutier done by Rasberry Hill Records with a theme of RRs and Hobos. For those of us that love steam it may stir your soul with the RR sounds. Actually, I plan on having it played at my funeral.
Poem: "Softly by Tracks," by Buzz Potter from Around the Jungle Fire (The Hobo Press). Softly by Tracks
I stood by the main in the soft August rain
And watched as her headlight appeared
She crested the hill with a low moaning quill
Then proceeded through signals just cleared
She rolled down the main with a rumbling refrain
A song all the ramblers have known
The creaks and the groans and the low whistle moans
Remind us of yesterday’s homes
Oh, how many times have I heard those old chimes
When my church was the high iron trail
When the vision of youth responded to truth
Expressed in a steam engine’s wail
And the clunk of the gear brought a soft welling tear
As I stood there alone in the night
And I felt once again that deep yearning yen
That all us old ramblers must fight
Then she whistled a name that sounded the same
As a lover I knew long ago
I’d met her out there in the clean prairie air
In the rising sun’s soft warming glow
I’d seen her at night in a campfire’s light
I’d heard her soft call on the plains
I’d tasted her love in the rain from above
And slept with her often on trains
And the romance we knew I often review
And I savor the fond memory
Of the sweet cunning way that she led me astray
As soft as a south wind at sea
I remember her now but I can’t recall how
I lost her and she slipped away
She sometimes comes back when I stand by the track
Then she sings and I must look away
And the rivers and streams still carry my dreams
Out where the long freighters roll
And the memories gleam as the lone whistle scream
Still calls to my wandering soul
As the years roll on by, I still wonder why
I miss her and long for her so
And her name in the end was freedom, my friend
A lover that most never know
The train passes by and there’s mist in my eye
And it’s not from the soft falling rain
And I know I’ll be back to this place by the track
To watch freedom go by on the train
New info:you can go to the music streaming service Spotify and enter Buzz Porter or Softly By Tracks as a search to find the musical version. The album tracks are mislabeled, #5 with a time of 2:37 is the one you want. I know of no other free source.
As far as I'm concerned they're all the best.
One more: Josh Turner's "Long Black Train". Youtube B&W music video, TN Valley RR clips, has 15,000,000 views.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyRZTAmcW7c
I like that Josh Turner song "Long Black Train," but I DON'T like the idea the Devil's train is being pulled by a steam engine.
Steam engines aren't evil, diesels are evil. Steam engines are like big friendly dogs! Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands, Leonbergers, you name it.
Should have been pulled by an old, nasty, smelly, rusty Geep.
(My tongue's planted firmly in my cheeck right now, by the way.)
Firelock76Should have been pulled by an old, nasty, smelly, rusty Geep.
Geeps aren't evil. At least need a sleek, shiny SD45 running LHF. Kind of has the demon wings thing going for it.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Need a photo of that . . .
I found one, and it gets the idea across, but its on Pinterest (and I don't belong), so I can't get a link for everyone to see it. But try this one (Southern Rwy. SD45a 3114):
http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/14523222168894897/filePointer/14523222177771280/fodoid/14523222177771275/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/Southern-SD45-a.jpg
But thinking about it, wouldn't a GE with radiator 'wings' running long hood forward convey that effect better ? Take a look at this one (NS C39-8 #8558):
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/locomotive/images/5/55/NS_C39-8_Long-hood_forward.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130810051252
Or this one of #8583:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3844/14799910819_948de837cb_b.jpg
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-berry-dead.html
Excerpt from Rolling Stone
A bluesy allegory for sin with a locomotive rhythm-guitar line, "Down Bound Train" reflected Berry's deeply held religious beliefs. The lyrics describe a person who drank so much that he passed out only to awaken on a train lit by a brimstone lamp and barreling through sulphuric fumes – the engineer was "the Devil himself." "I could say my father, in many ways, really wrote the foundation for 'Down Bound Train' in his constant preaching of the horrors of hell once you've missed the blessings of salvation and heaven," Berry wrote in his autobiography. "So let it be known that I'm not alone to reap what I've sown in fire and brimstone because of my own bad traits that I've shown." He added that he still got a chill when he heard the song.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/chuck-berry-20-essential-songs-w472713/down-bound-train-w472734
A columnist on www.northjersey.com posted an interesting question...
"Is Chuck Berry the first rocker to die of old age?"
No matter. Take it easy Chuck, you're gonna be missed!
A columnist on www.northjersey.com posed an interesting question...
No matter. Take 'er easy Chuck, you're gonna be missed!
And thank you! Every time someone's "...strummin' to the rythym that the drivers made..." steam lives!
Has anyone considered nominating Willie Nelson's "She's A Railroad Lady"? It's a whimsical song that was nothing more than a filler to an album but it kind of neat. You can likely find it on You Tube.
Norm
Very nice Wanswheel.
Thanks for commenting Miningman. Who knew Glen Campbell had a coal mine?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Campbell,_Pennsylvania
Hey, let's kick this up a few notches above C&W and Rock into the Classical sphere...
Just to show steam's appeal has no borders, here's Andre Rieu performing Eduard Strauss' "Bahn Frei."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv-Z7z3YXQs
Es lebe Dampf!
And for those of you who thought it was just a TV theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtGUaScpSbg
Written in 1952.
Captain Kangaroo's theme! I remember it well! So that's what it's called!
Thanks, Tree68!
Terrific stuff Firelock76...what a find.
Now then, for all you Diesel aficionados, of which there are many on this forum, I challenge you to come up with a symphony orchestra and an audience who can instantly recognize and show enthusiasm for a Diesel locomotive. The "burbling Baldwin", "the opposed piston wheeze", "the 567th movement Dillworth lament" and I'm sure, the ever popular "F7 Covered Wagon Blockbuster".
...And of course don't forget to add in the extra's like Diesel exhaust fumes, oil spillage, and a horn somewhere between flatulance and the road runner.
Miningman Just to show steam's appeal has no borders, here's Andre Rieu performing Eduard Strauss' "Bahn Frei." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv-Z7z3YXQs Terrific stuff Firelock76...what a find. Now then, for all you Diesel aficionados, of which there are many on this forum, I challenge you to come up with a symphony orchestra and an audience who can instantly recognize and show enthusiasm for a Diesel locomotive. The "burbling Baldwin", "the opposed piston wheeze", "the 567th movement Dillworth lament" and I'm sure, the ever popular "F7 Covered Wagon Blockbuster". ...And of course don't forget to add in the extra's like Diesel exhaust fumes, oil spillage, and a horn somewhere between flatulance and the road runner.
Firelock76 Hey, let's kick this up a few notches above C&W and Rock into the Classical sphere... Just to show steam's appeal has no borders, here's Andre Rieu performing Eduard Strauss' "Bahn Frei." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv-Z7z3YXQs Es lebe Dampf!
Thanks, Firelock. I remember hearing it on the New Year's concert from Vienna, and had been thinking about looking for it, but procrastination won out in the end.
Thanks all for the appreciation!
P.D.Q. Bach! Holy smoke, I haven't thought about him (Peter Schikele) in years! We went to a P.D.Q. Bach concert when we were in college, more years ago than I care to think about. What a riot!
PS: Andre's got some smashing-looking women in his orchestra, doesn't he?
Well I have thrown the glove down in a challenge .., I'm thinking RME and CSSHEGEWISCH and several others... when the day comes that a symphony orchestra does tribute by mimicking a Diesel Locomotive along with special effects then that's the day I win the lotto.
For the benefit of you who do not know who P.D.Q Bach was, he was the only forgotten son of Johann Sebastian Bach. One of his compositions was "The Bicycle"--complete with a card secured to a fender strut. I am sure that he could have composed the "Diesel Locomotive" as it has been described in a previous post.
I hope I still have his definitive biography. My daughter, who has just moved from where we shared a house (I had the step-father apartment downstairs and she had the main floor; we shared the laundry room) has not yet unpacked all of my books.
What the hell? Any of you ever heard of BOX CAR WILLIE? His song, "I love the sound of a whistle" is a classic! I was VERY disappointed that he was not include in the railroad song article in the latest issue of TRAINS. Bad research by the writer. A VERY incomplete listing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYzHeuhZfuM
What about Merle Haggard's many train songs? Geez.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJUDxFOH0Pc&list=PLb_MG9S35Q-D1dJZFHSt_W2OfNOgCyw5I
DeggestyFor the benefit of you who do not know who P.D.Q Bach was, he was the only forgotten son of Johann Sebastian Bach. One of his compositions was "The Bicycle"--complete with a card secured to a fender strut. I am sure that he could have composed the "Diesel Locomotive" as it has been described in a previous post.
I think my favorite P.D.Q. Bach composition is his Iphigenia in Brooklyn. What great phun Herr Bach bequeathed to us!
MiningmanWell I have thrown the glove down in a challenge .., I'm thinking RME and CSSHEGEWISCH and several others... when the day comes that a symphony orchestra does tribute by mimicking a Diesel Locomotive along with special effects then that's the day I win the lotto.
Just remember that I'm holding you to funding the balance of the T1 Trust expense, including the buildings and the test and support vehicles, when (not if) this comes to pass.
I am not familiar with most Soviet Realist music (cf. the "Dnieper River Power Station") but I would not be surprised to find something that has railroads in it, and if written after the mid-Fifties this would 'officially' support dieselization in furtherance of explicit Party policies...
Perhaps ominously for the prospective payoff: there is a bluegrass band that did a song with a name like "Evening Train" which ends with a fiddle chord of the notes in a K5LA -- it sounds so exactly like it that I couldn't tell a significant difference. Expect something like this to work nicely if Gershwin could put flatulent Parisian taxi horns into a piece of classical music and be credited for it. Same for diesel growl, even if we lose that ol' familiar "clickety-clack" to CWR and maintenance profile grinding.
Note that the effect of diesel power can just as easily be evoked by the ABSENCE of chugging rhythms a la Pacific 2-3-1 (which is, according to Honegger (who may however have been fibbing a bit to a select audience of longhairs, a study in rhythms/tempi getting slower, rather than faster, to express intensity ... or quicker speed). There are a number of interesting compositional tropes that could be explored both in the rest of railroad sounds (listen to any good version of Gerry Mulligan's "K-4 Pacific" (sic) for some interesting takes on them).
All this not to say that the least steam engine runs rings around the best diesel for romance and variety. It's that I don't disparage diesels when I can't have steam, and I'm perfectly happy to see and have either -- or both, if it come to it -- at a given moment...
In honor of EHH
BaltACDIn honor of EHH ...
What we need to do is write appropriate lyrics to go with the old song "Oh they built the ship Titanic" -- I'll start it:
"Oh Mantle Ridge hired Hunter, investors for to screw,
And he thought he had precision that would make the cars go through,
But 'twas shortly that his play
Made the trains all stop and stay
It was sad when the great trick went down ... "
Not bad RME. Lets hope husbands and wives, little children lost their lives does not happen.
So little respect or wishing to succeed for EHH on any of these threads.
Maybe Schlimm and Ulrich, that's it. Certainly would appear he has gummed up the works. A great unraveling and untangling will need to ensue.
If this truly is a smash and grab, pump and dump that leaves CSX a mess then that will be a shameful legacy and he will get zero sympathy from anyone, from the White House on down. Those kind of plays are far more easily exposed these days and there are repercussions.
Still a head-scratcher as to why a multi multi millionaire with lousy health and a beautiful horse farm and wife just cannot forget about it all. Build a model railroad, fund the T1 Trust, anything, enjoy life.
As to holding me to account for the T1 Project and assorted goodies to go along...well I'm like Harry Oakes, the hero of Kirkland Lake, with relentless resolve to find the gold.....simple projections on the back of a napkin, a Brunton compass, maybe a Stereonet and some onion paper.
You just need to believe. Gold pretty steady bouncing slowly between $1200 to $1300 an ounce for some time now.
Steady as she goes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJn39Tt8EJo
Warren Zevon - Night Time in the Switching Yard
I'm glad somebody mentioned Panama Limited. It's always been a favorite song of mine, and I was surprised it wasn't mentioned in the article. However, despite that omission, I really enjoyed the story.
Johnny McCollum: Sante Fe All The Way
MiningmanLets hope husbands and wives, little children lost their lives does not happen.
It won't. The 'little children' line is changed to reflect on the result of Huntriasis on the prognosis for the Children's Fund ...
I'd have to say City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie. That song came out a few months before Dad died and he bought the .45 for us. We played it often and when I finally got to ride that train last summer, I thought of him and Mom riding along with me. We'd rode to NOLA years ago on IC but because of Dad's pass, we were not allowed on that train, but we still got there and the route was familiar to us.
MiningmanSo little respect or wishing to succeed for EHH on any of these threads. Maybe Schlimm and Ulrich, that's it.
I've always said he's no friend of rail workers but a sharp operator for ownership, which is the major function of a CEO.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
MiningmanSo little respect or wishing to succeed for EHH on any of these threads.
Most of us got sick of the EHH worshipping that lead up to the current situation.
Why does every thread have to turn into a discussion about you-know-who or the other you-know-who?
Murphy Siding Why does every thread have to turn into a discussion about you-know-who or the other you-know-who?
Someone with time on their hands could do a count, but looks like a large number of posts are related in some way to those two guys or to GCC/AGW. Take those out and mostly you've got watching paint schemes dry and songs/cartoons.
schlimm Murphy Siding Why does every thread have to turn into a discussion about you-know-who or the other you-know-who? Someone with time on their hands could do a count, but looks like a large number of posts are related in some way to those two guys or to GCC/AGW. Take those out and mostly you've got watching paint schemes dry and songs/cartoons.
Murphy SidingDoes that mean that interest in trains and railroading is at low tide?
And after low tide comes Blondie and High Tide
Thanks for the Blondie video Schlimm, reminded me of something...
As far as train themes go, how could we have forgotten this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgoRD5Ua_7Y
And let me point out this "train" is pulled by a steam locomotive!
Please, no "EHH" stuff on this thread. This should be a happy place.
Found something else interesting, while not strictly a train song it uses railroad imagery to get its point across.
From the Hutchinson Family Singers in 1844 came this, "Get Off The Track! A Song For Emancipation." Probably one of the earliest railroad themed songs in this country. If the melody sounds familiar, it's "Old Dan Tucker."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyoC-JccYcc
LNER Hercule Poirot
Firelock76- That is one heck of a find. Terrific.
Thanks Miningman!
Schlimm, that "Poirot" opening is an Art Deco delight!
One verison I had not heard
https://www.facebook.com/LegacyRecordings/videos/10153032109182996/
Might as well hear Steve Goodman play it.
Also from 1970.Casey Jones
And one for Ulrich and Volker and another for other truckers.
Norm, I love 'ya buddy, but take a deep breath and calm down...
Remember General Robert E. Lee's rule for student behavior at Washington College...
"We have only one rule here, that every student be a gentleman."
While Arlo Guthrie was the one that made the song well-known, I still personally prefer Steve's version. Nothing against Arlo, but I think Steve's simpler voice matched the mood of the song better.
There's Steve's, Arlo's, and a great live version done by Willie Nelson, backed up by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson when they were performing together as "The Highwaymen." Honestly I can't say which one I prefer, they're all good.
There's a video of Steve Goodman doing "City" in concert in 1982 and backed up by a young Vince Gill. It was on You Tube for the longest time but seems to have disappeared. Wish I could find it again, it was GOOD!
I learned of the existence of Steve Goodman by watching Austin City Limits a few months after my father died.
His "Go Cubs Go" song is played after every home game win. He was a big fan, even when they were the "Lovable Losers"
Firelock76 Norm, I love 'ya buddy, but take a deep breath and calm down... Remember General Robert E. Lee's rule for student behavior at Washington College... "We have only one rule here, that every student be a gentleman."
I am calm, but when one self-annointed 'perfesser' here keeps insulting those he considers those of lesser education than himself I will keep challenging him.The man(?) keeps on insulting others. The two PHD's I know would have a fit with his attitude toward others. It is fine to be well educatated but lording it over others because you think they are beneath you gets old quickly. Having a PHD does not make one an expert on everything.
Were I to know schlimm personally I would likely respect his opinions related to his field of expertise. OTOH, on the keyboard he does not come across well. On an aviation forum we had a similar personality, a very competent flight instructor who was also a very skilled MD who came across as a fool when typing. The lack of facial expression contributed to the total lack of respect he earned on that forum.
I, like most posters here, am not well informed on matters related to the railroads but do have a few friends who ply the trade. Most of those friends are signal maintainers or MOW workers so I have little knowledge of train crews and what they do every day.
Thanks for the critique Firelock, but I don't think I'm out of line rebutting schlimm's arguments. The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Norm, I've got no problems with folks disagreeing, it's when they get nasty I do have a problem. Last year I took Schlimm to task for some accusations he made at another poster, but no need to go into that.
It's for the same reason I don't bother with "talking head" shows on the various news channels anymore. I enjoy hearing both sides discussing calmly the various issues of the day, but when they turn into screaming matches I lose interest. I suppose broadcasters consider screaming matches good television but I don't, if that puts me in the minority so be it.
I believe we can disagree without being disagreeable. Maybe that puts me in the minority as well.
I'll say this much, over on the "Classic Toy Trains" Forum (of which I'm a contributor from time to time) don't ever get out of line! They'll shut you down and lock the thread in a New York second! No argument with them there.
Thanks for not taking the critique personally, I appreciate it.
Say, how's about another song from ol' Johnny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqZnGpWFcqM
Not one of his better-known ones, hope everyone likes it.
Firelock76- Did you notice Castle Rock right at the end.
Does Dave Klepper know about this? !!!! What a find.
Someone phone Israel.
I sure did!
The film that goes along with the song is from a Denver and Rio Grande Railroad promotional film around 1940 called "Desert Empire," which is a travelogue of the Rio Grande's route from Denver to Salt Lake City. Very interesting film and quite a time capsule.
It's on a DVD set I purchased several years ago called "Railroads, Tracks Across America." There's 36 vintage railroad promo films in the collection. I got mine at Target, but I've also seen it for sale at Wal-Marts, supermarkets, and other places that sell DVD's. I think outfits that sell railroadiana and other rail collectables sell it as well. It was darn reasonable too, the price was less than $15 as I recall.
"Desert Empire" is posted on You Tube, I've been trying to link it for everyone but today I'm having no luck, for some damn reason. "Computers aren't smart, computer's aren't dumb, computers are just MEAN!"
Just search "you tube desert empire" and it should pop right up.
Nov. 28, 1938. “Actress Mary Livingstone, husband actor/comedian Jack Benny and announcer Don Wilson board a train for New York to do two broadcasts and to Christmas shop.”
That's it! Thanks Wanswheel! You da' man!
Minor point, I don't think that 1948 date is correct, but no matter, it's a fun film.
Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 17, 1939
George F. Dodge, director of public relations, and Carlton T. Sills, advertising and publicity director for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, paused in Salt Lake City Thursday en route from Denver to the Pacific coast. The railroad officials describe the company's exhibit in the Vacationland building at the San Francisco world's fair. Numerous dioramas, illuminated maps, models, photographs and paintings in the exhibit will advertise Utah beauty spots and historical points. The historical film "Desert Empire" will be shown daily in a 50-seat theater erected by the railroad as part of its exhibit.
https://books.google.com/books?id=0nVCAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA688&dq=%22railroads+at+golden+gate+fair%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhvbymxebVAhUi74MKHZ6IB8QQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22railroads%20at%20golden%20gate%20fair%22&f=true
https://archive.org/stream/offboo00gold#page/n0/mode/2up
I am so glad you enjoyed the railroads and music articles in the September issue of Trains. Please keep this thread on topic. We will not tolerate attacks on fellow posters. I'd hate to shut down an otherwise lighthearted discussion. Thank you.
Angela Pusztai-Pasternak, Production Editor, Trains Magazine
Angela,
It would not seem the same if our resident 'perfessor' wasn't attacking those who disagree with him. Thanks for your input but is a day late and a dollar short.
Norm48327 Angela, It would not seem the same if our resident 'perfessor' wasn't attacking those who disagree with him. Thanks for your input but is a day late and a dollar short.
I must have missed something, (or something got deleted?). How in the world does a thread titled "Best Railroad Songs" lead to playground fights?
Wanswheel- Now I have that Harvey and Johnson "Railroad Blues" in my head all day..on the highway howling like a dog.
Crossed the border at the height of the partial eclipse where I was, but still pretty cool. Taking a coffee break on home rails.
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