Folk Songs About Trains and Railroads

Doc Watson \ Wreck Of The Number Nine \ Best Of The Sugar Hill Years \ Sugar Hill
Jim Lauderdale\ Where They Turn Around\ Bluegrass\ Yep Roc
The Wreck of the Old 97
The Wabash Cannon Ball
I've Been Working on the Railroad
Railroad Bill
Elizabeth Cotten\ Freight Train
House of Doc\ Lonesome Railroad\ Prairiegrass\ Self
Chris Stuart & Backcountry\ Rider On This Train\ Mojave River\ Backcountry

From Doug Tucker
Johnny Cash/Let the Train Whistle Blow/American Recordings
Guy Clark/Texas-1947/Keepers
Emmylou Harris/Smoke Along the Track/At the Ryman
Dolly Parton/Train Train/The Grass is Blue
Kinky Friedman/Silver Eagle Express/Pearls in the Snow

From Patrick and Susan Kinney
The Train -- The Roches
Another Train -- Pete Morton (rec. by Sally Barker)
People Get Ready -- traditional (there's a recent recording by Eva Cassidy)
Downtown Train -- Tom Waits (covered by lots of folks  including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Everything but the Girl, and Rod Stewart)
City of New Orleans -- Steve Goodman
Peace Train -- Cat Stevens
If Love Was A Train -- Michelle Shocked
Night Train -- Rickie Lee Jones
Ghost Train -- Rickie Lee Jones
Southbound Train -- Julie Gold (rec. by Nanci Griffith)
Your Train -- Vance Gilbert
Harriet Tubman -- Holly Near (also a nice duet of this with Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert)

Additional song suggestions? Email Richard Gillmann


Folk Music Song Themes Last modified