Help me put together a “train song” playlist

Check out Rounder Records for several volumes of great train songs sung by original artists. Great starting point.

Southern Pacific by Neil Young

City of New Orleans written by Goodman, and recorded by John Denver, Willie Nelson and other famous singers. Arnold

Rock Island Line, Blue Train, Hey Porter, or Wreck of the Old 97 by Johnny Cash during his Sun recording sessions. 

City Of New Orleans-Arlo Guthrie 

Wabash Cannonball-Roy Acuff

King of the Road and Boogie Woogie Choo choo train

How's this... 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN...

Tolono by U. Utah Phillips

I was headed for Tolono on the Wabash Cannonball,
Norfolk and Western all the way.
St. Louis down the line, Detroit somewhere behind
I thought I heard that old conductor say

No round trip ticket, you're on the final run.
This Cannonball is never comin' back.
Tomorrow she'll just be another memory,
And an echo down a rusty railroad track.

I got off at Tolono, just below Champagne
A flagstop on the edge of yesterday
The whistle blew a song, I whispered "So long"
Waved my hand and slowly walked away

No round trip ticket, you're on the final run.
This Cannonball is never comin' back.
Tomorrow she'll just be another memory,
And an echo down a rusty railroad track.

I think about tomorrow, wonder why it is
We give up all the things we love the most
Goodbye, you old hog. I'll have to ride the Dog
Till they build a subway coast to coast.

Arlington Guthrie or Willie Nelson, City of New Orleans.

various artists, Wabash Cannonball

Breakdown, by Jack Johnson

I hope this old train breaks down
then I could take a walk around
and, see what there is to see
time is just a melody
With all the people in the street
walking as fast as their feet can take them
I just roll through town
And though my windows got a view
Well the frame im looking through
seems to have no concern for me now
so for now I

I need this
old train to breakdown
oh please just
let me please breakdown

Well this engine screams out loud
Saying this beat gonna crawl westbound
so I dont even make a sound
Because its gunna sting me when I leave this town
And all the people in the street
that i'll never get to meet
if these tracks dont bend somehow
and I got no time
that I got to get to
where I dont need to be

Check out "My love affair with trains" by Merle Haggard plus two more railroad albums by Haggard.

Fireball Mail, written by Fred Rose and first recorded by Roy Acuff - video includes vintage head end footage and lyrics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPn_6dz_G_o&t

and

Song Of The Rails, written by John A. McGee and performed by the Henry King Orchestra and Chorus -

video with Monon footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIfJ5X8yDTU and

lyrics: https://lyricsplayground.com/a.../songoftherails.html

Ralph Two (aka Ralph Stanley II) Train Songs.

https://youtu.be/PZjwIoo6wd4

Petticoat Junction opening and closing theme songs written by Curt Massey and Paul Henning and sang by Curt Massey.

One After 909 written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney while performed by The Beatles

Waiting for Your Train to Get In by Paul McCartney

Waiting for the Ghost Train by Madness

Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne

Train, Train - Blackfoot

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends opening and closing theme songs.

Thomas Theme Song (Any of the character theme songs)

The Freedom Train written by Irving Berlin and sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.

The AFT theme song, All Aboard America, written by Steve Lemberg and sung by Igor Glenn.

Folsom Prison Blues

Wreck of the Old 97

City of New Orleans

The Ballad of John Henry

Rock Island Line

The Ballad of Casey Jones

Orange Blossom Special

Ridin' the Rails

Hey Porter

Wabash Cannon Ball 

Train Kept a Rollin'

Crazy Train

Mitch 

For something a lot less commercialized...go here...be sure to check out the “track listings“ notes tab...these were not recorded in a studio I understand...but were field recordings...

https://www.floridamemory.com/...list/train.php#notes

Howard

Hoeveel Treinen by De Dijk

Regards

Fred

Grateful Dead - Big Railroad Blues

"Well I went to the depot, I'd never got there on time
Went down to the depot, I'd never got there on time
Well the train done left, she's a rollin' down the line"

Grateful Dead - I Know You Rider

"I wish I was a headlight, on a north bound train, 
I'd shine my light through the cool Colorado rain"

For Christmas, try Dan Hicks - Santas Got a brand new choo choo

Little Feat - Red Streamliner

Midnight train to Georgia by Gadys Knight and the Pips

One toke over the line by Brewer and Shipley

2 more 

TAKE THE A TRAIN as performed by Duke Ellington 

Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot 

The Monkey and the Engineer by the Grateful Dead

Jason Aldean “Night Train”

Hank Snow: The Last Ride

Jim Reeves: A Railroad Bum

You're welcome.

Andre

Long Black Train-Josh Turner

Smokestack Lightning - Howlin Wolf

Regards

Fred

Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin

Levon Helm - A Train Robbery

John Fogerty - Train of Fools

Cream....Traintime

Jimi Hendrix.....Hear My Train A'comin

Grand Funk Railroad......The Loco-Motion 

Grand Funk Railroad.....The Railroad.

Some rock songs that mentions trains,if already not listed.

Train,train : Blackfoot

Tuesdays Gone : Lynard Skynard

Crazy Train : Black Sabbath (Ozzy)

Who are you : The Who

Some country songs .

Gone : Montgomery Gentry

I like : Tom T. Hall

Them Engineer's don't wave anymore : Tom T.Hall

Long Black Train : Josh Turner

And about a thousand other country songs 

Railroad Man by the EELS

https://youtu.be/YWjAgtoo6aQ

New Riders Purple Sage _ Glendale Train

Orange Blossom Special Seatrain

Orange Blossom Special Mark O'Connor & Boston Pops

Mitch 

"Can't You See" - Marshall Tucker Band

"Locomotive Breath" - Jethro Tull

New River Train/Vernon Dalhart and others

Pan American/Hankshaw Hawkins and others

Note that Vernon Dalhart did a large number of railroad related tunes, among them The  Wreck of the  Royal Palms Express. The flip side of New River Train is a very syrupy song about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Check out all these other OGR Forum train song threads over the years.

A few recently rediscovered by this railfan were Merle Haggard renditions of Jimmie Rodgers tunes, Train Whistle Blues and Waiting for a Train; Tom Russell's The Santa Fe at Midnight; and Hank Williams' (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle or Hank Jr.'s cover.

What, me worry?