# Favorite Train Lines



## RnJ

What are your guys' favorite lyrical lines about trains? Don't post the entire song, just the part you like most.
For me:

Caught out from Massachusetts on a double-stacked train
Through the Adirondacks, spinning like a weather vane
---'Fig With A Bellyache' by mewithoutYou.

If I didn't have You as my guide I'd still be wandering lost in Sinai
Or down by the tracks watching trains go by to remind me:
There are places that aren't here.
---'Carousels,' by mewithoutYou.


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## bote

is that train grease, or are you just happy to see me... Not as funny as youres arrow, but hey. 

I chickened out and didnt ride it, but I waited around with p[lanbs of catching the PAnama Canal Railway last week, owned by Kansas city southern, its a short line that goes from Colon to Panama city. I was a little freaked by the security, plus lots of smuggling round there so not a good place to be lurking. Maybe next time. Its double stack with those tall viking cars, what they called. Anybody ride this id like to hear about it.


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## shitbagdanny

this is a hard one.
so im just gonna go by songs or bands or artists

eastbouond freight train and little stream of whiskey by norman blake
hank sr, nuff said
500 miles, old tune, i dont think anyone knows who wrote it, but my favorite version is by a group called hobo jazz
jimmie rodgers 
woody guthrie
freight train by elizabeth cotten


mmmm music


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## Beyond The Sun

Came of age and found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit it on the sly
Well I tried to kill the pain,
Bought some wine and hopped a train
Seemed easier than waitin around to die

"Waitin' Around to Die" Townes Van Zandt


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## dirtyfacedan

CPR.... Kaministiquia sub west to the Cascade sub.


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## Bendixontherails

"she's a railroad lady,
just a little bit shady,
spending her days on the train.
Once a Pullman car traveler,
now the brakemen won't have her, 
she's tryin just tryin to get home again."
Railroad Lady- Merle Haggard

" Some folks say we have no worries,
no taxes, gas, or coal bills to pay,
we get our heat and gas from the old smokestack
as the ol' train is rattling on her way"
Hobo song to the mounties- Wilf Carter
"She'd travel through the valley, 
down mountains she would roll, 
it seemed the roar and rattle,
would someday take it's toll,
Well years she's been a runnin', 
but 'neer can I recall,
did I ever see a smash-up on the rattlin cannonball."
Ratttlin Cannonball- Wilf Carter

"He was goin' down-grade makin' ninety miles an hour,
when his whistle broke into a scream...
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle, 
and a-scalded to death by the steam..."
Wreck of the Old 97- Hank Snow

"See the brave young engineerman,
at the age of 21,
as he stepped down from his engine, 
crying 'well, what have I done!',
Have I killed my faithful brakeman,
could it be that he will die?,
Oh, I did my best to save him, 
but I could not stop in time."
The Unfortunate Brakeman- Kentucky Ramblers

"Railroad Billy was a mighty bad man,
kill anybody that he think he can."
Railroad Bill- Van Morrison

"Dealin' card games with the old man in the club car,
a penny a point, ain't no one keepin score,
Pass the paper bag that holds a bottle,
feel the wheel a-rumblin 'neath the floor."
City of New Orleans- Sung by many: Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie.

"hear the mighty rush of the engine,
hear that lonesome hobo's call, 
we're riding through to dixie 
on the Wabash Cannonball."
Wabash Cannonball- Boxcar Willie

"I used to be a railroad bum, living on the go,
I rode freight from canada, down to mexico,
from sunny cal to minnesota, where the riplin' waters fall,
I never seemed to have a dime, but I had myself a ball."
A Railroad Bum- Hank Thompson

"The Devil's train is long and black, it rides on rails of tears,
it's headin' for destruction now, with a drunken engineer."
The Devil's Train- Hank Williams

"I hear that train a-comin, it's rollin round the bend,
and I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when."
Folsom Prison Blues- Johnny Cash

Listen to the whistle in the Rockwood cut on the highline to Silverton town.
and you're gonnin get a shiver when you check out the river,
which is 400 feet straight down:
take on some water at the Needleton tank and then ya struggle up a two five grade, and by the time you get your hieght past the snow sled slide ya had a ride on the Silverton Train."
Silverton Train- CW McCall

"I was born and raised at the mouth of Hazzard holler,
where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door,
But now they stand in a rusty row all empty, 
because the L&N don't stop here anymore."
The L&N Don't stop here anymore- Johnny Cash.
(check out Michelle Shocked's version!)
"It's a good night for a train ride boys!" Neil Young in opening of Southern Pacific.


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## pola negri

rare jimmie rodgers song, 'let me be your sidetrack':

"let me be your sidetrack till your mainline comes
'cause i can do more switching
than your mainline's ever done"

hubba hubba.


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## wartomods

but darlin' I can't wait
for you to leave this town
you just got here too late
and no one wants you 'round
with one foot on my back
and the other on the rail
I don't want to see you fall
I just want to see you fail


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## Dirty Rig

"I hear that train a-comin'
Left yo ass again!"


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## Whiteyisacommiefaggot

"Leaving on a Southern Train, only yesterday you lied"- Stone Temple Pilots


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## Bendixontherails

" Boxcar's my home,
the railroad my friend.
Been that way,
since I don't know when.
I'm here today,
tomorrow I'm gone.
Where I hang my hat,
is where I call home."

Boxcar's my Home-- Willie Nelson


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## bote

i blew it on this thread last time and didnt even know it

rollin out
rollin in
here we go
down the road agin

drifters life is a drifters wife
don`t say i didnt tell you so

-jj cale


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## CholoMcScumbag

my father said looking back the best friend you'll have is a railroad track...... tom waits

freight train freight train rollin so fast. freight train freight train rolling so fast. please dont tell them what train im on, they wont know what route ive gone....... i forget who signs this song. its a great old folk song.


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## Bendixontherails

CholoMcScumbag said:


> freight train freight train rollin so fast. freight train freight train rolling so fast. please dont tell them what train im on, they wont know what route ive gone....... i forget who signs this song. its a great old folk song.



Agreed! :agreed: it was on the album 'Shady Grove' by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman

Has another great line in it: 

when I die, oh bury me deep,
down at the end of 'ol chestnut street
so I can hear 'ol number 9,
as she goes rollin' by.


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## wizehop

Dont forget about the Slackers...Rider


I'm just a rider, rider on a rail
I'm just a rider on a rail
Where's this train going? Fuck if I can tell
I'm just a rider on a rail

Don't ask the captain, please, to tell you what's the reason
'Cause I'm sure he's long forgotten
The days when he was young and he carried by the ton your corn and coal and cotton


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## pola negri

Bendixontherails said:


> Agreed! :agreed: it was on the album 'Shady Grove' by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
> 
> Has another great line in it:
> 
> when I die, oh bury me deep,
> down at the end of 'ol chestnut street
> so I can hear 'ol number 9,
> as she goes rollin' by.



This is actually from the song 'Freight Train' by the late great OG Elizabeth Cotten...really now, you better recognize!


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## mikey mayhem

im sitten in the door way of a long frieght train
roll on roll on
i don't care where its going just a going my way
roll on roll on

it says by the sonics but it doesn't sound like any of there other songs so its either really old sonics or miss titled, great song though.


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## Bendixontherails

pola negri said:


> This is actually from the song 'Freight Train' by the late great OG Elizabeth Cotten...really now, you better recognize!



:worship:

I'm just partial to Jerry and Dave.


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## wizehop

might as well hear these song too!

John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues

and of course an old classic

Hobo Bill's last ride - Jimmie Rodgers


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## syphilust

I still hear trains at night, when the wind is right.


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## Jackal

Beyond The Sun said:


> Came of age and found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
> She cleaned me out and hit it on the sly
> Well I tried to kill the pain,
> Bought some wine and hopped a train
> Seemed easier than waitin around to die
> 
> "Waitin' Around to Die" Townes Van Zandt


I play that song occasionally at shows.


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## mashedtaters

I like that Hank Williams song lonesome whistle...where he says "I was ridin number 9, headin south to Caroline, I heard that lonesome whistle blow," and then when he says "They pulled me off, the Georgia main, locked me to, a ball and chain, I heard the lonesome whistle blow." Kinda a sad song. I play it sometimes. oh yeah, and that Roger Miller song, when he says "third box car, mid nite train, destination Bangor Maine, Old worn out coat and shoes, I dont pay no union dues...." I really like the lyrics. Fuck I just like songs about trains haha


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## Johnny Lightspeed

Don't you worry about tomorrow
Tomorrow will come and go
Tonight your in a warm boxcar 
Away from the cold and the snow

-Guthrie

oh ya then theres this one that is kind of unrelated but fuck it

Her husband was a railroad man
About a mile from here
His head was found in the driver wheel
And his body never was found

-old folk song made popular by Leadbelly called either "Black Girl or Where Did You Sleep Last Night"


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## connerR

mashedtaters said:


> I like that Hank Williams song lonesome whistle...where he says "I was ridin number 9, headin south to Caroline, I heard that lonesome whistle blow," and then when he says "They pulled me off, the Georgia main, locked me to, a ball and chain, I heard the lonesome whistle blow."




Johnny Cash covered that song. It's a great track, though I have the version remixed by Apparat, which is just epic. 




I've dug this song lately: The Sandman, The Brakeman, and Me




Monsters of Folk said:


> The Brakeman is letting off some steam,
> This has to be the slowest train that I have ever seen
> and the Sandman's waiting to deliver me my dream,
> Guess I'll lay my head against my elbow and the window
> 
> Watch the wheels go,
> Watch the wheels go,
> 
> Roll on, Roll on oh little train
> Brakeman blow your whistle, throw your weight upon the chain
> Make way, for whatever will be, will be
> Between the Sandman, the Brakeman, and me.
> 
> And the Sandman's waiting to deliver me my dream, deliver me my dream, deliver me my dream,
> Today
> 
> Guess I'll lay my head against my elbow and the window
> Let my wheels go, let my wheels go
> 
> (background)Let my wheels go
> 
> Roll on roll, on oh little train
> Brakeman blow your whistle
> Throw your weight upon the chain.
> 
> Now make way,
> Whatever will be, will be,
> For the sandman, the brakeman, and me.
> 
> Roll on, roll on oh little train,
> Brakeman blow your whistle,
> Throw your weight upon the chain
> 
> Oh make way, whatever will be, will be
> for the sandman, the brakeman and me.


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## Wolfeyes

"Well, I climbed back on that eagle, took one last look around
Through red tail lights a shadow moved slow across the ground
And off somewhere a midnight train is slowly passing by
I could hear that whistle moaning
I'm so lonesome I could cry"

Alan Jackson, Midnight in Montgomery.

I was in Montgomery at about 3am, had that song playing in my head when a train passed by... Creepy.


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## Raging Bird

Trains and Cops by This Bike is a Pipe Bomb rules

"I live down by the railroad tracks
one of these days, I wanna hop on board a train rolling down the line
I wont care where it takes me 
as long as I'm moving fast
Call it easy riding, call it hard traveling; I wont mind
and I don't quite care where I'm going

It can take me east or west I don't care
By that time ill be glad to be most anywhere
Don't that sound quite alright by me
and I don't quite care where I'm going"


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## Monkeywrench

"I don't mind not knowing what lies down the track
Cause I'm Looking out ahead, to keep my mind from turning back

It's not the first time I've found myself alone and known
If I really had you once, then I'd have you when I'm gone
Whistle blows, blowin' lonesome in my mind
Calling me along that never ending metal line

Steel rails, chasing sunshine round the bend
Winding through the trees, like a ribbon in the wind
I don't mind not knowing what lies down the track
Cause I'm Looking out ahead, to keep my mind from turning back"

--Steel Rails, Alison Krauss. 


"Listen to rhythm of the wheels go 'round.
Hypnotic sound of the driver, on this old train.
I'd like to be in Tennessee,
but they don't want me.
I'm an outcast.
This train's my home.

I just caught the 904, don't know where she's headin' for, or been. If I don't get caught by a railroad guard, i'll sleep
tonight in a lumber yard in the next old town she pulls in."
--Rythm of the Wheels by Rhonda Vincent


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## boris

Of course:

"Some men are searchin for the Holy Grail,
but there ain't nothin sweeter than ridin the rails."

Tom Waits - Cold Water


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## Hottboxx

"now if i found god anywhere hed be down by the tracks 
facedown in a boxcar with a 40 in both hands
and when i find him there were gonna sit and roll some top
cause hell be just as confused as anyone else on this rock"

johnny hobo and the freight trains....great song..


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## Nym

song written by a friend
agro red from n.y.c.

"Im head south bound to california
im leav'n portland
black tar behind
im head south bound to california 
and as long as im on a train i will be fine.

its been a long time since new york now
dirty smoke and smog arise
its been a long time since new york now
and somehow i made it over here alive!"


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## landofkings77

You know I never could fall asleep on a train
All the time dreaming about moving away
Finally awake, I wonder
What if I pulled the emergency brake...?
Doors are still open and I wish they would shut
Then I could stop thinking 'should I jump and run?'
Only on page ten
And I think I gotta start all over again

When the tape slows down it means the battery's dead
May your songs never get stuck out of my head
If I ever fall aleep I remember my dream
Where everybody's there and noody leaves
Where everybody's there and noody leaves

Something below me starts cranking to life
The platform moves backwards until its out of sight
Tracks start to split
Got another ten hours till myh next cigarette
Biked round the city about a billion times
And a few seconds left until I leave it behind
Almost at the end
I close my eyesa nd we fall over the edge

When the tape slows down it means the battery's dead
May your songs never get stuck out of my head
If I ever fall aleep I remember my dream
Where everybody's there and noody leaves
Where everybody's there and noody leaves 

Departure Arrival- Mischief Brew


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## st1tch

"Its been a long and lonesome road,
I'm so far from my own home,
just don't care where I lay at night.
This jug of wine keeps me warm inside,
holdin' me out for the rest of the ride,
on this dark and stormy night,
I'm sleepin on cold steel tonight,
ridin' that 48 takin' me far away"
-2nd St Rag Stompers (I think they wrote it at least)


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## lice

ya i go everywhere, dont pay no fare
i can ride that freight train just any ole where
if i win or lose i never ever have them blues
because im ragged and i just dont care
-The Inkwell Rhythm Makers


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## cailyBear

"I got a flask inside my pocket, we can share it on the train
And if you promise to stay conscious I will try and do the same
We might die from medication, but we sure killed all the pain
But what was normal in the evening by the morning seems insane"


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## 614 crust

"In the eyes of the law well my whole life is illegal, how i eat, where i sleep, even the way i travel" and "sittin on my front porch and by my front porch i mean grainer deck and i know if the police catch me they're gonna wanna ring my neck."
Travelin broke & fuck off pig by Squalor


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## Bendixontherails

" Well I can hear the whistle from a mile away,
and it sounds so good, but I must stay away,
That train is a beauty, makin' everybody stare, 
but it's only destination is the middle of nowhere..."
long black train- josh turner


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## Dirty Rig

CholoMcScumbag said:


> my father said looking back the best friend you'll have is a railroad track



i got goosebumps when i read that


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## electricwizard

Elizabeth Cotten:

Freight train, Freight train, run so fast
Freight train, Freight train, run so fast

Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I've gone 

When I am dead and in my grave 
No more good times here I crave
Place the stones at my head and feet
Tell them all that I've gone to sleep.

When I die, Lord, bury me deep
Way down on old Chestnut street
Then I can hear old Number 9
As she comes rolling by.


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## bfalk420




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## bfalk420




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## Alaska

"Stuck on a fuckin train in Montana!
Stuck on a fuckin train in Montana!
Up against the wall, bored outta my skull, goddamnit!"

"Goin' to Ohio...
What an awful destination.
Goin' to that cold ass motherfuckin shithole, that I'm leavin
They don't take kindly to our types
On that mistake on the lake they call Cleveland"

"On a train in montana, you can get drunk and talk to strangers. (woohoo!)
On a train in montana, you can get drunk and read a book! (YEEHAWW)
On a train in montana, you can get fuckin drunk and just... fall down a hole!
On a train in montana, you can masturbate... In a bathroom stall!"


All from Montana by The Taxpayers. Funny song.


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## bfalk420

(I Heard That) LONESOME WHISTLE
Recorded by Hank Williams, Sr.
Words and music by Jimmie Davis and Hank Williams, Sr.

I was [D] ridin' number nine
Headin' [G] south from Caro-[D] line
I Heard That Lone-[A7] some Whistle [D] Blow
Got in trouble had to roam
Left my [G] gal and left my [D] home
I Heard That Lone-[A7] some Whistle [D] Blow.

1st Refrain
Just a [G] kid actin' smart
I went and [D] broke my darlin's heart
I guess I was too young to [A7] know
They took me [D] off the Georgia Main
Locked me [G] to a ball and [D] chain
I Heard That Lone-[A7] some Whistle [D] Blow.

All alone I bear the shame
I'm a number not a name
I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow
All I do is sit and cry
When the ev'nin' train goes by
I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow.

2nd Refrain
I'll be locked here in this cell
Til my body's just a shell
And my hair turns whiter than snow
I'll never see that gal of mine
Lord, I'm in Georgia doin' time
I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow.

Hank Williams, Sr.


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## streetlight

I had to put the whole song. Song is called Travel On and it's by Morning Glory.

so here we are again 
sleeping under bridges in the rain
under the new sky again 
i hear the rumble of the train
another city to refuse 
another bout of those hopeless wandering blues

you know we've still got one more chance to lose

do what's true, true to you
don't let the world tell you what to do
there's no wrong, travel on 
do what's true, true to you

another corner and it's gone
but I still got a beat up guitar to play my songs
silence here is tried & true
only falsehoods would a verbal message do
and i've got nothing left to say
one hesitation would be to waste the day
onward, onward to futures
sunny & stray

do what's true, true to you
don't let the world tell you what to do
there's no wrong, travel on 
do what's true, true to you

the global money market race
upon earth it brings it's own disgrace
and we stand laughing in it's face
pledging defiance to the cutthroats & the haste
with little more to survive
as we turn our paths to the side
for those that will not walk along
the road we have only pride..
outside....

so do what's true, true to you
don't let the world tell you what to do
there's no wrong, travel on 
do what's true, true to you


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## wrkrsunite

Caught a train on the fly going 45 with 38 forties in my pack. 
Fought off 15 bulls in the Baldwin yard with my hands tied behind my back.
Slugs revenge.


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## Kim Chee




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