Classic Train Songs<sup><small>TM</small></sup>


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Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains(tm)

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Big Indoor Trains(tm)

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Classic Train Songs

Paul dressed in period clothes for a event at the Clark County (Ohio) Historical Society.

Hi, I'm Paul Race, a folksinger and train-lover from my youth, and I operate several large web sites about folk music and trains (see the matrix at the bottom of this page). But this is the only one where those interests really collide.

This page contains a sort of library of songs that I think every railfan should know and that almost every railfan already enjoys. I started out just publishing links to Amazon clips to some of my favorite versions of several songs, with the idea of coming back later and adding more songs. But the ancient folk-singer and amateur historian in me insisted I tell the story of each song as well, and provide the sheet music if it's available (and not under copyright). So instead of adding more songs, I started telling the story of the songs I've already listed, dedicating a page to each song. A few songs don't have their own pages yet, and there are many more songs to add. But I think providing the history of the song (and in many cases, the history behind the song) will make this feature more useful to people in the long run.

For now I'm leaving a few of my favorite song clips on this page for easy access. But if you want to hear more clips, read the lyrics, learn the history, and (in some cases) see You-tube videos of famous folks performing the songs, click on the link to take you to each page.

If you have a favorite train song, or a favorite performer that you'd like to see added next, please contact me and I'll try to track them down. Also, if you don't see the link for a particular song, hit refresh - it seems like Amazon can never populate all of the links at the same time.

Update for 2017 - Amazon keeps breaking links to the recordings we are featuring on these pages. And quite a few Youtube videos we once featured have been blocked by the record companies. In most cases, the link has just moved or it has been reintroduced under a slightly different naame. If you search on Amazon or YouTube you can still find it.

In the meantime, we have several "new" old songs in the works. So check back.

City of New Orleans

Steve Goodman's song was inspired by a train ride he took during the ill-fated McGovern campaign of 1972. But the song wasn't heard much on the radio until Steve pitched the song to folksinger Arlo Guthrie, and the rest is history. Two great sound clips of the song are listed on this page. But there are many more sound clips and other resources on the City of New Orleans page. To learn more about the song, see the lyrics, and hear many more clips, please click here.

City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman Song by the original composer, who wrote the song when traveling with McGovern's presidential campaign in 1972
City of New Orleans - Willie Nelson Willie's classic take on this favorite

Wabash Cannonball

The Wabash River flows through Indiana and borders Illinois. The various iterations of the Wabash Railroad reached several midwestern states, but were most concentrated in northern Illinois. So why does the song "Wasbash Cannonball" talk about the train running from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in some versions to Santa Fe? Because it's a "tall tale of a song" written decades before any train was ever called the "Wabash Cannonball." For a more complete history, more sound clips, and links to some very powerful YouTube performances, please click here.


Wabash Cannonball - Willie Nelson Willie's classic vocal over a western swing accompaniment.
Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff A traditional "Smoky Mountain" style arrangement, with harmonica and train whistle.

Orange Blossom Special

The Orange Blossom Special was a real train that was advertised as a quick link to the south for folks in the Northeast. It is memorialized in song, or - more precisely - songs. There are words that are seldom sung, and a fiddle solo that (like the "Wildwood Flower" guitar solo) has become better known than the original song.

For a more sound clips, lyrics, history, and links to popular YouTube performances, please click here.

Orange Blossom Special - Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys Bill's interpretation was the best known version for many years, featuring fiddler Art Wooten.
Orange Blossom Special - Charlie Daniels The fiddle's on fire in this live performance - a serious toe-tapper.
Orange Blossom Special - Johnny Cash A harmonica-centered version with the words, and the Tennessee Three's persistant backing. Taped live at Folsom Prison

Casey Jones

This is one of the world's most popular railroad songs, written by a black railroad worker who knew Casey and had seen him in action. It has been "covered" by serious artists, and cheezed up by folks who thought it was a kids' song, but it is still a great, historical song. For more information, more mp3 clips, and links to popular YouTube performances, please click here.


Casey Jones - Tom Rush This verion has a nice up-tempo folksy sound. It includes verses borrowed from other train songs.
Casey Jones - Craig Duncan A very nice, traditional instrumental arrangement with fiddle and flat-picked guitar solos.

Rock Island Line

Some folks propose that this song was used for bragging song about industries like factories and mines as well as railroads. Eventually, Hudy "Leadbelly" Ledbetter recorded a version that included a story about a train engineer at a toll gate, and the "Rock Island Line" became permanently attached to the tune. Pete Seeger helped bring it to the world's attention, and the song became a "staple" of the Folk Revival, recorded with and without the story by dozens of popular artists. Its influence reached across the ocean, becoming one of Skiffle artist Lonnie Donnegan's biggest hits. For a description of this song's history and links to popular YouTube performances, please click here.

Rock Island Line - The Weavers From the group that kick-started America's Folk music revival, back when Pete Seeger had hair
Rock Island Line - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee An original folk duo's take.

Rock Island Line - Johnny Cash
- this version tells the story as well as singing the verses.

Click to here a sample clip of this song.

This Train (Don't Carry No Gamblers)

This traditional gospel song finds its way into a lot of train song collections because it is so catchy and easy to sing along to. For more clips and a free downloadable MP3 by former Byrd Roger McGuinn, click here


This Train - Peter, Paul and Mary From their debut album. Mary Travers, Noel Paul Stookey, and Peter Yarrow bring carefully-crafted harmonies to this old spiritual.
This Train - Big Bill Broonzy Worth a listen. From a live folk concert, Broonzy uses a flat-picked guitar with a blues-style walking bass line.

Engine, Engine Number 9

This song was written in 1965 by country singer/songwriter Roger Miller, based on a children's rhyme.For more information click here

Because this song is still under copyright, I can't legally post the whole song or the sheet music for it. However, you can sample the song and or download the whole song from Amazon.

Engine, Engine Number 9 - Roger Miller
- the original artist.

Freight Train

This song was written in the early 1900s by a fourteen-year-old girl named Elizabeth Cotton. Forty years later, she happened to get a job as a domestic for the Seeger family. And several years later she picked up the guitar again and sang a song that would otherwise have been forgotten. For the whole story, and several nice versions, click here

Freight Train - Elizabeth Cotton - the original artist.
Freight Train - Peter, Paul, and Mary - their 1963 cover with all of their great harmonies and picking.

Down by the Station

This children's song was around before it became rewritten as a swing hit and made popular by folks like Tommy Dorsey. Today it's hard to find many listenable versions, but it still has a lot of potential. It's also stirred up a lot of hard questions like "Is it 'puffing billies' or 'puffer bellies?" For the whole story, and several versions, click here

Down by the Station - Tommy Dorsey - who publicized Ricks and Gaillard's version with a very clever arrangement.
Down by the Station - Slim Galliard - Galliard's own version of this song

King of the Road

Technically this song is about a hobo, not about trains, but I kept tripping over it when I was writing up Roger Miller's "Engine, Engine Number Nine" (above). This was one of Miller's best-loved songs and it is certainly the song that was most often covered well by other artists.

For more information click here

King of the Road - Roger Miller - the original artist.
King of the Road - Dean Martin - who made this song famous
King of the Road - Randy Travis - whose faithful cover was one of the best.

Miscellaneous Songs and Performances I Like

Long Train Runnin' - Doobie Brothers
Doobie Brothers' hit, remastered

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."

And please stay in touch!

- Paul Race

All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.
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