What's the best train song?

[Anonymous]

As a fan of Johnny Cash for nearly 50 years, I guess I have two dozen and more 'favorites'.
The song that has the most driving railroad beat, ( to me), is:

"Texas 1947"....

...written by Guy Clark, and as recorded by Johnny Cash on his "Look At Them Beans" Columbia LP.
I do like all the train songs by Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Waylon Jennings, Hank Snow, Gord Lightfoot, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmie Rodgers, Boxcar Willie, and all the rest....
There ain't no BAD train songs.[:D]
regards;
Mike

[Anonymous]

What about "Driving the Last Spike" by Genesis? In the early 1800’s, large groups of mainly unskilled labourers built england’s railways. the cost in human terms alone was very high...

Leaving my family behind me
Not knowing what lay ahead
Waving goodbye, as I left them in tears
Remembering all we’d said

I looked to the sky, I offered my prayers
I asked him for guidance and strength
But the simple beliefs of a simple man
Lay in his hands, and on my head

I gave everything that they wanted
But still they wanted more
We sweat and we toiled
Good men lost their lives
I don’t think they knew what for

I sold them my heart
I sold them my soul
I gave everything I had
Ah but they couldn’t break my spirit
My dignity fought back,
Fightback
Can you hear me
Can you see
Don’t you hear me
Don’t you see

We worked in gangs for all we were worth
The young boys pulling the wagons
We were digging the tunnel, shifting the earth
It was then that it happened.

No-one knew how the cracks appeared
But as it fell they all disappeared
Stone fell like rain

Can you hear me,
Can you see
Don’t you hear me
Can you breathe

The smoke cleared, the dust it settled
No one knew how many had died
All around there were broken men
They’d said it was safe, they’d lied
You could hear the cries, you could smell the fear
But good fortune that day was mine
And it occurred to me the heart of a good man
It seems is hard to find.

Can you hear me,
Can you see
Don’t you hear me
Don’t you see

We worked, how we worked like
The devil for our pay
Through the wind, through the snow,
And through the rain

Blasting and cutting through gods country like a knife
Sweat stinging my eyes, there has to be a better life

Ah but I can hear my childrens’ cry
I can see the tears in their eyes
Memories of those I’ve left behind
Still ringing in my ears
Will I ever go back again
Will I ever see her face again
I’ll never forget that night
As they waved goodbye to their fathers

We came from the north,
And we came from the south
With picks and with spades
And a new kind of order
Showing no fear of what lies up ahead
They’ll never see the likes of us again

Driving the last spike,
Lifting and laying the track
With blistering hands,
The sun burning your back

Oh but I can hear my childrens’ cry
I can see the tears in their eyes
Memories of those I’ve left behind
Still ringing in my ears
Well I’ll always remember that night,
As they waved goodbye to their fathers

We followed the rail, we slept under the stars
Digging in darkness, and living with danger
Showing no fear of what lies up ahead
They’ll never see the likes of us again

Can you hear me
Can you see
Don’t you hear me
Don’t you see

[Anonymous]

Wreck of the Old 97
Folsom Prison Blues


Enough said,
Greg

[Anonymous]

It's not train related. Though, it does mention a train. But, a good song, anyway. I call it "The greatest country song". But, believe the real title is "You don't ever call me by my name" by David Alan Coe.

My favorite verse:

"I was drunk, the day my mama, got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain, ain, ain,
But, before I could get to the station, in my pickup truck
She got runned over, by a dam...(darned) ol' train"

And about "City of New Orleans". The only version I've heard the most is by Willie Nelson. The others are probably just as good.

Erdle, or, RDL

[PennsyHoosier]

"All Stops Train" by Stan Mohawk and the Big Tyres

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Not a train song.... but if you don't picture a driving steam locomotive rolling across the plains while listening to Molly Hatchet's "Dreams I'll Never See" then there are some issues...

Good stuff....

[georgev]

I'll put up a couple more that I don't think have been mentioned:

Midnight Flyer, by the Eagles.
Steel Rail Blues, by Gordon Lightfoot

georgev

[camarokid]

"City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie.

[cwclark]

how about..Orange Blossum Special....

[mikebonellisr]

No Randy,But I DID have one,years ago with the engine in the tender[I think]It's just that the song is stuck in my mind.

[rrinker]

You don;t have one of those HIDEOUS Tyco 0-8-0 Chattanooga Choo-Choos, do you?


And poor Steve Goodman, everyone says they love "City of New Orleans" but always someone else's version. Goodman is the one who wrote it. I like his original version every bit as much as Arlo's version, and one of the BEST versions I ever heard is by Randy Scruggs and John Prine.

--Randy

[mikebonellisr]

I find myself whistleing or humming "Chattanoga Cho-Cho" when running my trains.

[lyctus]

Ooops ! That should read Knopfler !

[lyctus]

I got a Mark Knoffler (of Dire Straits fame) DVD "A night in London" for my birthday last and it has a rendition of Gravy Train on it that'll knock off your sox - man it moves - the impression of a train in full flight is awesome. Check it out !

[ATSFCLIFF]

Many, but my favorite is "City of New Orleans" by Willie Nelson.
Cliff

[prewardude]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UpNorthBob

What was the title of that song Jimmy Rogers did?

"Standin' by the water tower
waitin' for a train
A thousand miles away from home
Standin' in the rain"
-----

Even had some yodeling - don't get no better than that.

Bob,

The title of that song is Waitin' For a Train, and it was recorded in 1928. You're right - it don't get no better than that! [;)]

[Texas Zepher]

Has to be be "City Of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie.

The first time I heard it was 1971 just as Amtrak took over, almost chokes me up.
I really miss the Super Chief. It was a twice a day ritual to go down to the track and watch it go by.

[Anonymous]

One of my favorite train songs is "City of New Orleans" performed by Willie Nelson. Here are some of the words.
"Good mornin' America, how are ya? Say don't you know me,
I'm your native son, I'm a train they call 'The City of New Orleans',
and I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done,

All along the south bound odyssey, the train pulls out of Kankakee
Past houses, farms, and fields, passing trains that have no names,
freight yards full of old black men, and the graveyards of rusting automobiles

Sayin' good mornin' America, how are ya? Say don't you know me,
I'm your native son, I'm a train they call 'The City of New Orleans',
and I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done"

There are others I like too. "Casey Jones", and "Folsom Prison Blues" are a couple. "Working on the railroad" will always be a classic. Well, at least to me, anyway.

[G60syncro]

All of this and nobody mentions Locomotive breath by Jethro Tull???

Jimi Hendrix's Hear my train 'a comin' is a pretty hot blues song as well!!

[Anonymous]

"RED Streamliner" - Little Feat

[jockellis]

Johnny Cash's rendition of "Casey Jones" makes you feel the rawness of 19th century railroading. And if you've ever ridden passenger rail just prior to AMTRAK, Arlo Guthrie does the same in "City of New Orleans". Whether they are the best, I couldn't say. But they are my favorites. My son's former scout master, Charles Allen, knew Casey's granddaughter, Pat Jones, who lives near Gainesville, GA and had her call me. It was quite a thrill to talk to a descendent of Jones.
Jock Ellis

[Anonymous]

i heard a song about "The Train That Carried Jimmie Rogers Home" People waited track side to pay tribute as he passed. Not sure how long of tour.

[lupo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock

"Bound for Hell" by Love & Rockets

There just aren't many gothic songs about trains, but that's the one...

This train, this train is bound for nowhere
This train, this train is bound for Hell!

how about "Train" by the Sisters of Mercy ?
http://www.andreweldritch.com/lyrics/train.htm
it wasn't called gothic when it was first released, but it sure does qualify in 2004 !

[PennsyHoosier]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Allen Jenkins

I did some research on the Rapid Eye Movement website. I'm looking to get that video, as it showed SD40-2's in North Georgia, around Athens, in the late eighties!

I saw REM in Chicago several times in the last half of the 80s. At one concert they opened with the searching headlight of a diesel, complete with the diesel horn blowing loud (it may have been one of those SD40-2s). It scared a fair portion of the crowed to death! [:O] But I was going out of my mind! I LOVED IT! [^]

[Anonymous]

Long Black Train by Jo***urner
Chatanooga Choo-Choo
I've been workin on the railroad
Down by the station
Little Red Cabbose (THE BEST in my opinion)

Little Red caboose, chug chug chug
Little Red caboose, chug chug chug
Little Red caboose behind the train
Smoke stack on it's back, back back back
Rumbling down the track, track, track
Little Red Caboose behind the train, train train!

Little Red caboose, chug chug chug
Little Red caboose, chug chug chug
Little Red caboose behind the train
Coming around the bend
Hanging on the end
Little Red caboose behind the TRAIN!

We did a play about that song during my kindergarden year. I was, THE Little Red Caboose. Proudest day of my life......*sniff sniff*..............[;)]

[Anonymous]

Southern Pacific by Neil Young off the REACTOR album. Hey... He's Canadian and he owns a lion's share of Lionel Trains.

[PennsyHoosier]

Jim, I know what you mean.

Cox, I used to live by Hank Snow, so I agree with you on that one. [:)]

[Cox 47]

Wabash Cannon Ball Roy Acuff Golden Rocket Hank Snow Rock Island Line Johnny Horton Bagadge Coach Ahead Hank Snow City of New Orleans Willy Nelson Choo Choo Ca Boogie Asleep At the Wheel I'v Been To Georiga on a Fast Train Billy Jo Sheaver Life is Like aMountain Railroad Mac Wiseman They all the best I was a Country DJ for 27 Years The OLd Casey DJ

[Anonymous]

Orange Blossom Special .....but not the instrumental. As it was sung by Johnny Cash (before the birth of many of my friends here on this forum). And, of course, he did not do the song with a fiddle, but with 2 different harmonicas hanging on his neck while playing guitar.

And, one of the best rock/blues songs ever....... Tuesday's Gone, by Lynyrd Skynyrd .......sung by a guy that got killed before the birth of alot of my pals here on this forum ...... Ronny Van Zant.

Man, I'm getting old.

Jim