1.

My Love Affair With Trains

Dolly Parton

© Owepar Pub, BMI

Everytime I hear the sound of a train a comin' down that railroad track
I get that faraway look in my eye
And I'd like to throw my hammer down and take off to some distant town
And not even take the time to say goodbye

I've got to think about my babies about my job and my ol' lady
And how much she'd miss me if I's gone
And I love them more than anything but I got this feelin' near by trains
And some other wish I's on that train and gone

That train keeps a rollin' down the track
Bringin' my old mem'ries back
Makin' hobo blood boil in my veins
Revivin' my old love affair with trains

The nights ain't never long enough my wife keeps sayin' you get up
Or you'll be late to work and miss your ride
I grab my dinner bucket up and jump on the back of the ol' pickup truck
And I wonder if I'll jump that train tonight

And it wasn't long ago that I was free to jump that train and ride
But I gave it up to be a family man
And I don't suppose I'll ever go but when I hear that whistle blow
I think of my ol' love affair again

That train keeps a comin' down the track...
That train keeps a comin' down the track...

**********

2.

Union Station

Ronnie Reno

© Bucksnort Music, BMI

Blow whistle blow watch them ol' freight trains roll
As they roll through Union Station
They say they are tryin' to tear it down
It's a shame for so long it's been around
A tribute to our nation the historical Union Station

Blow whistle blow
Watch them ol' freight trains roll
As they roll through Union Station

Then new one will come it won't be the same
The old one's sure around but what's a shame
It's forsaking the ol' for the newer one
Just think what the ol' Union Station's done

Blow whistle blow
Watch them ol' freight trains roll
As they roll through Union Station
Mhm mhm mhm mhm
As they roll through Union Station

**********

3.

(# 10 country hit)

Here Comes The Freedom Train

Stephen Lemberg

© Vashti Music, ASCAP

All aboard America here comes the freedom train
All aboard America here comes the freedom train

The freedom train is rollin' down two hundred years of track
Two hundred years of glory never to turn back
The train is called America your ticket is a dream
That lit the torch of freedom for all the world to see

She left the station in Lexington in 1776
And rode to Philadelphia where the liberty bell was fixed
George Washington was the engineer John Adams shovelled coal
Ben Franklin punched the tickets Tom Jefferson added soul

All aboard America here comes the freedom train...

She rode to New Orleans the battle of 1812
With old Hickory at the throttle she drove the British out
The freedom train's a fine train the toughest the world had seen
Her whistle blows for liberty with a mighty head of steam

Wheels forged in sweaty Pittsburg rolled across the Mississipp'
From Texas to Missouri one real exciting trip
Then bang the track was broken smashed by a cannonball
The blue and grey divided will the nation stand or fall

All aboard America here comes the freedom train...

Then Honest Abe stepped into the cab and the wheels began to roll
Freedom train must never stop Republic never fall
To the bloody fields of Gettysburg the tears show in his eyes
He drove the train with fury the freedom train survived

Again the train rolled westward to California shores
To the deserts and to prairies even stronger than before
From Atlantic to Pacific she drove the rail with pride
She travelled a track to glory with the good Lord on her side

All aboard America here comes the freedom train...

There's much more to this story like Wilson and Roosevelt
They left the train to Truman who stoked it mighty well
Then of Dwight D Eisenhower and LBJ we sing
Two brothers known as Kennedy and Martin Luther King

And still the train rolls forward over history's rugged trail
Strengthened by the journey and the land beneath the rail
And you and I roll along and stroke the freedom fire
For we stand tall Americans all no honor can be higher

All aboard America here comes the freedom train...

**********

4.

So Long Train Whistle

Dave Kirby - Lew Quadling

© Tree Pub, BMI

Daddy's been a railroad man since he was twenty-one
Two years apprenticeship brakeman on the Denver run
Thirty he made fireman thirty-five an engineer
Now at sixty-five he's reached the end of his career

Daddy said he's glad it's over but he ain't foolin' me
Last night I overheard him singin' this sad old melody

So long train whistle so long hmm-hmm
This new generation has no need for you or I
We both served the nation long before it learned to fly
Nothin' lasts forever now it's our time to die
Lord hear that whistle cry

Daddy's not the only one the railroad lines have fired
The New York Central Limited has long since been retired
Chief is gone from Santa Fe the SP Lark as well
How soon the rest will leave the rails Lord only time will tell

I know that you can't stop progress new things happen every day
We gonna mourn that lonely whistle if it finally fades away

So long train whistle so long hmm-hmm...
Mhm mhm hear that whistle cry mhm mhm

**********

5.

The Silver Ghost

Sterling Whipple

© Tree Pub, BMI

On a cold and rainy night I was sittin' in the light
Of my switchman shack a mine post on the mountain
The storms were pretty bad and the telephone was dead
But it was just eleven hours till the dawn

Then much to my surprise the telegraph jumped into life
As I read the code I thought could this be true
The train was on its way headed up the mountain grade
But she didn't have no engineer or crew

At the other switch they tried to put her on the mountain side
But she kept on comin' up the mountain grade
Well I quickly doused the light to try to see into the night
Maybe I could spot her headlight in the rain

She was poundin' down below I could hear her whistle blow
And I thought Lord that's a high and mournful sound
Then the telegraph again there's a cave-in at the mine
And a hundred men are buried neath the ground

Lord she's comin' now I see her round the bend and straight at me
And her boiler's glowin' red as coal in hell
The headlight switchin' wide searchin' all the mountain side
But the only sound she's making is a wail

Then I recognized the train by the number and the name
It's the Miner's Silver Ghost ol' Forty-One
Then she vanished up the track by the lonely switchman shack
Like a mother who was looking for her son

Now I heard the story how an engine went to glory
Over fifty years ago on the same line
It was steamin' for a cave-in there were men who needed savin'
But it missed the curve and trestle near the mine

And every now and then you'll hear her whistle on the wind
If the mountain slides and many men are lost
It's a high and lonely wailin' searchin' up and down the mountain
It's the train they call the Miners Silver Ghost

The train they call the Miners Silver Ghost
The train they call the Miners Silver Ghost

**********

6.

No More Trains To Ride

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

I was raised in Santa Fe reefer in little California town
Three door down from the railroad track where they set the ol' boxcar down
Born the son of a railroad man who rode 'em until he died
I'd like to live like my daddy did but there's no more trains to ride

No no more trains to ride
No more trains to ride
I'd like to live like my daddy did
But there's no more trains to ride

I learned to be a guitar picker singin' and strummin' long
Songs like Hobo Bill's Last Ride I love the good ramblin' song
Bill was the son of a ramblin' man who rambled until he died
I'd like to live like Billy did but there's no more trains to ride

No no more trains to ride...

**********

7.

The Coming And The Going Of The Trains

Red Lane

© Tree Pub, BMI

I am just an Indian and once this was my land
Now it's been taken from me by the comin' of the white man
And the anger makes my blood run hot and heavy in my veins
Ev'rytime I think about the comin' of the trains

The day was hot and dusty in the year of '69
As we heard the whistle blowin' somewhere down the line
That was the year I rode with Frank and Jesse James
As we waited for the comin' and the goin' of the trains

The drought hit west Texas the ground was cracked and dry
We just had to have some water or our crops would surely die
The railroad shipped us water till we finally got some rain
And I thanked God for the comin' and the goin' of the trains

I live behind these iron bars I'm a prisoner doin' time
And I've heard that midnight freight pass at least a thousand times
And I spend my time a walkin' to the door and back again
And markin' down the comin' and the goin' of the trains

I've always been an engineer and trains're all I know
Now they don't want me anymore they say that I'm too old
But my cabin at the crossin' sorta helps to ease my pain
For I just had to feel the comin' and the goin' of the trains

The trucks and planes're faster now and the railroad is too slow
And they just came and told me that my railroad has to go
The hands that built the railroad through sweat and blood and pain
Will sign the final papers of the goin' of the trains
And I have seen the comin' and the goin' of the trains

**********

8.

I Won't Give Up My Train

Mark Yeary

© Tree Pub, BMI

I pulled into Memphis thirteen minutes early first time in two weeks
There's when she came to meet me as I stepped down off 51 and needed sleep
And the baby's overdue I know and we need some things
But the more that we discuss it it's the same

Long train rollin' got a feelin' and I'm knowin'
She's not waitin' for me
These rails keep gettin' longer this feeling's gettin' stronger
It won't let me be
Yeah I love my woman fire and rain but I won't give up my train

Baby came in April while I was in Chicago in the pouring rain
With four flatcars a rusty tanker three boxcars and an empty sack of mail
And though I've been lonely some nights I know
There's just no other way to explain

Long train rollin' got a feelin' and I'm knowin'...
Oh I love my woman fire and rain but I won't give up my train

**********

9.

Where Have All The Hoboes Gone

Dave Kirby - Danny Morrison

© Tree Pub, BMI

The silver rails have lost their shine
They're just the victims of our time
They might as well rust in the rain
What good's a track without a train

Where have all the hoboes gone
I never knew they even had a home
So Lord if you have turned your back
You might as well take up the track

I love to hear a whistle whine
Just ride a boxcar one more time
So Lord if you're still on my side
You'll send me one more train to ride

Where have all the hoboes gone...

Hm hmm so Lord if you're still on my side
You'll send me one more train to ride

**********

10.

Railroad Lady

Jimmy Buffett - Jerry Jeff Walker

© Groper Music, BMI

She's a railroad lady just a little bit shady
Spendin' her days on a train
She's the semi good looker but the fast rails they took her
Now she's tryin' just tryin' to get home again

South station in Boston to the stockyards of Austin
From the Florida sunshine to the New Orleans rain
Now that the rail packs have taken the best tracks
She's tryin' just tryin' to get back home again

She's a railroad lady just a little bit shady...

Once a high-ballin' loner thought he could own her
He bought her a fur coat and a big dimaond ring
But she hawked him for cold cash left town on the Wabash
Never thinkin' never thinkin' of home way back then

But the rails are now rusty the dining car's dusty
The gold plated watches are takin' their gold
The railroads're dyin' and the lady is cryin'
On a bus to Kentucky and home that's her goal

She's a railroad lady just a little bit shady
Spendin' her days on a train
Once a pull man car trav'ler now the brakeman won't have her
She's tryin' just tryin' to get back home again
On a bus to Kentucky and home once again

**********

11.

The Hobo

Dave Kirby - Glenn Martin

© Tree Pub, BMI

You might find me in most any railroad depot
But not standing where the paying people are
I'll be busy making reservations
For a first class ticket on a cattle car

But you'll never find this hobo in an airport
Cause I ain't found out how to hitch a plane
But if you wanna see a master working
Just stand back and watch this hobo catch a train

You might find me down in late some evening
But not any cafe with a fancy name
And I won't be eatin' steak from Kansas City
But a can of beans cooked on an open flame

But you'll never find this hobo in an airport...

Once a year I gather with my brothers
Praying for the good of all mankind
And if you listen close you'll hear me singing
Those Salvation Army songs at Christmas time

Shall we gather at the river

But you'll never find this hobo in an airport...

**********