I heard mine while waiting in the drive through lane at Mickey Ds. It was a version of The City of New Orleans by Willie Nelson who I didn’t know had recorded this song. It was Arlo Guthrie who made a hit recording of this song in the early 1970s.
I am curious about what are other model railroaders favorite train songs are.
DRIVER 8 by REM. One of the best train songs ever!
Once a year, some friends and I get together as a band, called “The Baggage Room Boys.” We play at a thresherman’s reunion which are pretty common throughout the midwest. The one we go to has a 2’ guage steam engine which pulls passengers around a 1/4 mile loop, and there is an old abandoned Great Northern depot on the site, where we sit in the baggage room and play. We play any song we can think of that is named after a train, has the word train in it, or is generally about trains. Some of the songs we sing include “The Wreck of the Old 97,” “In The Pines,” “Charlie and the MTA,” “The Wabash Cannonball,” “The Orange Blossom Special,” and many, many others. We play together for about 3 hours and generally have a great time. Folks come in and while they are waiting for a ride on the train, they listen to us. I don’t know if I could pick a favorite song, there are so many good ones.
And one of the other days of that weekend, I get to be an engineer and/or fireman on the little steam engine. Quite a great time. [tup]
FT
P.S. Whoever came up with the list of smileys to insert here? There is one with a cowboy hat, one with a chef’s cap, one with a dunce cap, one with a sailor’s cap, one with a pirate’s hat, but none with an engineer’s cap. Something wrong with that picture.
I’d forgotten about The Wabash Cannonball. I remember Dizzy Dean singing it during CBS’s Game of the Week broadcasts. I haven’t heard it in many years.
Sentimental Journey.
I ran a similar post a year ago and got lots of good songs. I will be interested if any new ones show up. I collected a bunch of them and made a CD that I play in the train room.
My Baby Thinks She’s A Train - The Triffids
Holes In The Road - Deborah Conway
Hang Out Your Heart - Kate & Anna McGarrigle
The Big Wheel - XTC
Steeltown - Red Guitars
Fast Train - The Plums
Train Train by Blackfoot.or can’t you see by the Marshall Tucker Band
John Mayer’s latest album has a song called “Stop This Train” that has a “chug-chug” rhythm to it…but it’s not really about trains; the “train” in the song is a metaphor for time.
Any votes for the Chatanooga Choo-Choo?
I’ve always liked “Daddy, What’s a Train?” by Utah Phillips, or pretty much anything else by him. So much of is repetoire is train-related. “Moose Turd Pie” isn’t a song, more of a story, but it’s about working on a track crew and who gets to be the cook.
This topic has been done before in much repetition, and here are two similar threads on the same topic that I can remember from years past:
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/339774/ShowPost.aspx
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/1/545198/ShowPost.aspx#545198
I still like the theme song to the old TV show Petticoat Junction.
Has anyone played the computer game: Railroad Tycoon 2 ? I personally think the music/songs used in that game are the epitomy of old west rail. If you haven’t heard it, I urge you to buy a copy, even if its just for the MP3’s! (no thats not a sales pitch, just a recommendation[:)] )
one of my personal favorites is Flogging Mollys “Far Away Boys” About an Irish Immagrant building the Trans contintional railroad.
Greetings,
Any links to a collection of Railroading songs? I would like to hear some of these. It could also be neat to have them playing through a speaker in or under a sceen on the layout.
Christopher
My hands down favorite has to be The City of New Orleans - either by Willie Nelson or Arlo Guthrie. My favorite line from that song has to be:
"And the sons of Pullman Porters and the sons of Engineers, ride their father’s magic carpet made of steel"
Recently, my 80 year old mother-in-law gave me a recording (78 rpm vinyl no less!) of The Wreck of the old 97. I had never heard it before and didn’t realize that The Man Who Never Returned (a 60s comedy song about a person who gets stuck on an MTA train because of a rate hike) was based on the tune of The Wreck of the Old 97.
Rounding out my list, who could forget the theme to Petticoat Junction?
-George
Just as an example of what I was talking about in the previous post of mine, I obtained permission from the composer (A while ago) for these two tracks. I am posting links to them here so you can here what the music for Railroad Tycoon 2 is:
I think that there are lots of ‘ambient background’ music that is useable on this CD-ROM!
Although not necessarly my favorite is ‘‘Locomotion’’ by Grand Funk Rail Road Many more
I agree with Art Hill, I also hava made a CD I listen too while running/working on my RR. At least I did until the laptop died and had to go to the PC hospital, I might get it back this weekend. Mike
My favorite: 900 miles (old black country blues)
"If this train runs me right, I’ll be home tomorrow night,
For I’m nine hundred miles from my home,
An’ I hate to hear that lonesome whistle blow…"
I’ve always been curious about the historical accuracy of the song City of New Orleans.
Did the IC’s City of New Orleans have a morning departure from Chicago and arrive in New Orleans the following morning?
Did it change cars in Memphis?
The web link URL below shows a New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (NOUPT) time table from April 16, 1954. Daily service of The City of New Orleans No. 1 arrived in New Orleans at 12:15 AM from Chicago, and The City of New Orleans No. 2 departed New Orleans at 7:15 AM enroute to Chicago. The typical trip was 19 hours 30 minutes, so the Chicago departure time can be calculated back to 4:45 PM the day before.
http://lrs.railstuff.net/h/h-pass-1954-no.htm
Currently Amtrak runs The City of New Orleans No. 59 from Chicago to New Orleans on daily departures from Chicago at 8:00 PM and arrival in New Orleans at 3:32 PM the next day.
And Amtrak runs The City of New Orleans No. 58 from New Orleans to Chicago on daily departures from New Orleans at 1:45 PM and arrival at Chicago the next day at 9:00 AM.