I found this gem on youtube. singer is Charlie Hope who writes and sings mostly for children. Its got a nice steam locomotive beat to it…I like it…Your kids might like it too…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKlHABc8HTE
Anyone else know of any good train songs?
Gerry Mulligan’s K-4 PACIFIC really grabs me.
Oh , yeah , I like the song , too . It sounds kind-a happy . I also like the little one dancing - I always enjoy seeing children happy , they have such a radiant innocence about their happiness : it’s pure , clear and without deceit . (On the other hand to see one cry with relatives uncaring can make me furious!)
Uhm … that Big Boy seems to be on road testing on the Swiss Railways …? Is that part of Swiss preparing for EU financial collapse when they rather sell their home generated electricity to
Great train songs? Well we’ve all got out favorites, mine happen to be the following, and in no particular order:
“Casey Jones”, the Johnny Cash version. Almost like being in the cab. And Johnnys version is so good it almost makes you forget what’s going to happen. Almost.
“Ride This Train”, also by Johnny Cash. Kind of obscure, but if you remember the TV show I’m sure you remember the “Ride This Train” storytelling segment.
A 19th Century piece by Johann Strauss called “Bahn Frei”. “Bahn Frei” is the German equivalent of “Highball!” A rollicking piece of music!
“City of New Orleans.” There’s three versions I like, the Steve Goodman original, the famous Arlo Guthrie version, and a cover by Willie Nelson backed up by Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. Don’t know which one I like best.
“Chattanooga Choo-Choo” The immortal Glenn Miller at his best! For a real treat, there’s an extended version done in the movie “Sun Valley Serenade”, topped off with a dance number by the incredible Nicholas Brothers. I’ll tell you, I don’t know how we could have won World War Two without the B-17, the P-51, the M-1 rifle, and swing music!
Yes…those are all great songs! Thanks for posting…
Ha ha…some of those innocent little ones can make their relatives cry too…
Thanks, Juniatha, for Arlo Guthrie’s “The City of New Orleans.” Every time I hear it, from the first time (in 1972) to today, it reminds me of my last trip on the IC’s City of New Orleans.
In April of ‘70, I had planned to ride the through sleeper from St. Louis to New Orleans, leaving St. Louis the day before I did leave–but the Wabash Cannon Ball, which I took from Detroit to St. Louis did not get me to St. Louis on time to make the connection (among other things, we came up on a freight that had broken in two, and before it was put back together and everything checked, someone passing by stepped in between two cars and closed an anglecock. That the train to Detroit had come in late the night before and the crews were called out on short rest would not have mattered but for the delay caused by the freight’s problems; as it was, the dogcatcher was at the right place at the right time with the relief crews, so that did not delay us).
The animated video of the train was good–except it did not show a dome coach but did show an observation car and lounge car, which no longer were operated.
As to the operation of this particular run, we did not arrive in New Orleans until in the morning because of electrical problems on all three units of the engine. At Fulton, Ky., an electrician came on board, but he was unable to get the matter resolved, and at Dyersburg, Tenn., two Geeps were put on the point. They just could not make the scheduled time of the train, and we left Memphis about four hours late (no changing of cars, though) and arrived in New Orleans between six and seven hours late. To make sure that I made it to Tuscaloosa the same day, I detrained at Carrollton Ave. (until Amtrak came along, all inbound and outbound trains stopped there), and caught the Southern Crescent there.
I have always like the reference to “fathers’ magic carpet made of steel”–especially since I had ridden on a pass several times (my father
@ Ulrich :
quote : >> Ha ha…some of those innocent little ones can make their relatives cry too… <<
Ha-ha-ha - if they cry it is at least some reaction ! Why have children if they don’t care for them ? Usually it’s not that hard to find out what’s the trouble and fix it . You can make children understand if you let them know you’re there and you take them serious . It’s really simple , don’t know what the fuss is about ‘they make me mad’ and all that . I’ve seen so many parents not giving a dime if their children cry their lungs out or not it’s unbelievable ! They just don’t hear it and they don’t care why or what’s wrong - terrible . Hearts of stone , minds half dead ! It’s no joke , I think it’s a sign of the times and it’s damn serious ! What people do you think such children will become ?
Well, I posted this one before, but here’s my new favorite. It replaced “Fireball Mail” by Roy Acuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV9j1LqLYMU
“Rail and Machine Fire, Smoke and Steam”.
I do not believe anyone has ever said it better.
Well…speaking of trains and kids, I never understood how my own interest in trains would ever be of any value to me (beyond just being interested). I discovered that on the day I became a parent. Both my son and my daughter are avid train fans…we hang out at all the good train watching spots around Toronto on weekends…and I’m sure that in 20 years from now those will be among my best memories. Sometimes understanding does come along in its own time.
Thanks for posting…I like it too. I wonder if someone will ever write a song about a GE ES4400CW grinding up a grade with a string of double stacks… I love the chanting rhythmic sound of those engines when they’re opened wide up…
@ firelock
Oh , my goodness , the Chattanooga Choo-Choo – how could I forget that one ! It was a favorite of my father’s – although mom never got fully convinced it wasn’t just because of the Andrew Sisters …
http://www.mp3lyrics.org/t/the-andrews-sisters/the-chattanooga/
Pardon me, boy, Is this the choo choo?
Track twenty-nine
Boy, you can give me a shine
I can afford
To board a Chattanooga choo choo
I’ve got my fare
And just a trifle to spare
You leave the Pennsylvania Station 'bout a quarter to four
Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore
Dinner in the diner
Nothing could be finer
I saw the movie “Harvey Girls” recently, starring Judy Garland.
I think it dates to 1939 and is in colour. It was made using a Virginia and Truckee 4-4-0 as “number 49”. The big production number covers the arrival and departure of the train with the cast marching alongside the train as it leaves until it accelerates away…
Do yuh hear that whistle down the line?
I figure that it’s engine number forty nine,
She’s the only one that’ll sound that way.
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.
See the ol’ smoke risin’ ‘round the bend,
I reckon that she knows she’s gonna meet a friend,
Folks around these parts get the time o’ day
From the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.
Here she comes!
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
Hey, Jim, yuh better git the rig!
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
She’s got a list o’ passengers that’s pretty big
And they’ll all want lifts to Brown’s Hotel,
‘Cause lots o’ them been travelin’ for quite a spell,
All the way to Californiay,
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.
The song was a big hit in the 1940s
Also we shouldn’t forget Johnnie B. Goode, the second verse…
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
The words probably mean more with the music…
M636C
As a child my parents collected antiques. I inherited a wind-up victrola record player with those quarter inch thick records. My favorite ( and I still know all the words) was the “Wreck of the Ole 97”.
“Bahn Frei” was apparently composed by Johann’s brother, Eduard Strauss. Johann’s work, particularly “Blue Danube,” was an early influence in my own musical tastes, thanks to its use in the soundtrack to “2001-A Space Odyssey.” That soundtrack, and the synthesizer work “Switched On Bach,” were heard by my very young ears (thanks, dad) long before I was listening to everything from Neil Young to Neil Diamond on the radio in the early 70s. Very long list of classical, country, folk, rock, pop, and other artists I could ramble on about here, but let me just list a handful of railroad-oriented tunes that come to mind.
“Driving the Last Spike,” by Genesis. Singer/drummer Phil Collins really did the lyrics and emotion right in this tribute to the early builders of England’s railways. Phil’s an avid train buff and made quite a few headlines in recent years by announcing he had put his musical career on hiatus in order to finish a model railroad he was building with his youngest son(s).
“Last Train to Istanbul,” by Steve Hackett, guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire who left Genesis in the late 70s. It’s off his recent “Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth” CD, steam train with Steve on the cover. Steve’s a train buff too, a bit more toward the vintage steam side of things. He managed to post frequent photos of his encounters with various forms of railroading during his recent world tour.
“Honky Tonk Train Blues,” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. A bluesy instrumental piano and horns piece. Perhaps a bit too eclectic for those who lean only toward Neil Young’s “Southern Pacific” or the Dead’s “Casey Jones.”
Here’s one from Murray McLaughlan…
From the 1973 movie “Emperor of the North” - see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070030/
“A Man and a Train”
Lyrics by Hal David
Music by Frank De Vol
Sung by Marty Robbins
Don’t start me talkin’ “Cause I’ll tell erverything I knows”. Jesse Fuller’s “The Monkey and the Engineer”, Hank William’s “Steel Rail Blues”, Bob Dylan riding down the double E with the moon lookin’ pretty… Flatt & Scruggs OBS and Doc Watson, and Seldom Scenes “Train From Poor Valley”, Tom Rush’s" Panama Limited" (he gets it rolling!!!). Then The Stones “there were two lights on behind” but forget the tune.
Glenn Miller had a jumpin’ band and I love all train related tunes, or ballads, or joyous songs, but it’s interesting how many have to do with departure, .lost loves, to the promised land, etc. And Gladys I love Ya for Midnight Train.
Train music has to be evocotive for me. Whether the Blues or R&B through Jazz (has Al Green ever recorded a train song, "cause I’d buy it) and if I was ever stranded on a desert island I’d hope it would be with Sam Cooke, Roberta Flack and Susan Sarandon. With some kind of music player to back us up of course.
RIX.
Good Lord, how could I forget these two!
Gordon Lightfoot’s “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”, a “song and story” about the building of the CPR.
Johnny McCulloms “Santa Fe All The Way”
Panama Limited by Tom Rush: