A few years ago I came across the Milwaukee Road jingle *The Old Milwaukee Road". Looking up facts about the MONON I came across that fallen flag jingle “Up and down the Monon”.
II know many here have great memories, so I wonder how many more jingles existed, in particular for fallen flag railroads.
Santa Fe made quite a bit of mileage out of “On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe” in different versions, including the acoustic version in the unit-train commercial.
And then there is this song:
Southern Pacific has some songs, too, although I wouldn’t call them ‘jingles’ directly. On the other hand, they had a Neil Young song (which I don’t remember showing up in any of the ‘best railroad song’ threads)
The Jersey Central had one, went like this, sung to the tune of “Auld Lang Sine.”
I like the Jersey Central, the Reading and B&O.
I like the New York Central and the “Road of Phoebe Snow.”
The Pennsy and the 'Valley, and all roads great and small,
But my own Jersey Central, I love it best of all!
Didn’t know I could sing, did 'ja?
LOVE Johnny McCollum’s “Santa Fe All The Way,” one of the best railroad songs ever!
Wish the sound was better on that Neil Young song, the background’s overwhelming the vocals, can hardly understand what he’s saying.
By the way, did you know Neil’s an O-Gauger?
Why didn’t you make a recording of our vocal effort so we could judge your ability?[:)]
The only one I’ve ever heard is “It’s fun to ride the train today when the train you ride is Santa Fe” from the commercial with Chico.
How about…(to the tune of O Tannenbaum)
Powhatan, O Powhatan,
With the lovely J classes,
Powhatan, O powhatan,
Your locos are so massive,
Your headlight shines, upon the rails,
The heads will turn, as your whistle wails,
Powhatan, O powhatan,
You really moved the masses.
Think it will be a hit? [(-D]
I like it. However, I never saw the Powhatan Arrow with a J on the point. All I saw with J’s were the trains that came into Bristol.
I’ve written the parody version already (with some content not suited to a family-friendly forum!)
The successor to N&W made a witty version of an old Schoolhouse Rock number:
Yep can’t forget that one and of course the begind the scenes video…
Pretty good “Powhatan” song Becky, I’ll be singing it the next time I run my MTH little baby 611!
The New York subway had a ad jingle for their service to the 1964-1965 NY World’s Fair, “Part of the fun of the World’s Fair is the subway service that takes you there!” You can find it with a You Tube search.
If I remember the ad correctly, it had a good-looking and fun young lady in a white dress. Much better than the ‘usual’ models in ads of that era!
Thank you folks for your replies. I see there are quite a few and I guess there maybe more that were popular on radio commercials.
A great way to remember some of the Fallen Flags.
You remember correctly! Hard to believe she did the Fair in heels, though.
Even harder to believe she’s got to be in her 70’s now.
Firelock76
The New York subway had a ad jingle for their service to the 1964-1965 NY World’s Fair, “Part of the fun of the World’s Fair is the subway service that takes you there!”
If I remember the ad correctly, it had a good-looking and fun young lady in a white dress. Much better than the ‘usual’ models in ads of that era!
RME:
If we’re talking about the same spot (her boyfriend sort-of looked like the actor Bob Crane?), then I agree. That girl was absolutely LOVELY!
Here Mr. Latham, let me light up that link for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStZZ6hNweU
And you’re right, the boyfriend does have a strong resemblance to the late Bob Crane. I wonder how he got his hair like that? More than just a “little dab” of Brylcreem I suppose.
Off topic, but does anyone remember the Philip Morris cigarette commercial circa 1965? A cool businessman steps off a train in a small town station. It looked like an Alco pulling the short train, which could have been a mixed. I would have placed the scene in Wisconsin, I think a few mixed ran through small towns there.
Anyways, I was getting interested in trains and smoking at the same time. So I did smoke Philip Morris, also I smoked cigars and pipes. I’m happy to say I quit that foolishness before entering seminary.