What else can inspire some of the best Folk/Americana songs?
I suppose that because trains were here before airplanes and for the most part cars (as a shared experience at least), they had a mystic about them that roused the imagination as they thundered down the track.
I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.
They're probably drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars.
Where was it going? Who was on it and what was their reason for going?
Trains also are great metaphors.
People get ready, there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket you just thank the lord
This train, she's bound for glory, well, this train
This train, she's bound for glory, well, this train
This train, she's bound for glory, well, this train
This train, she's bound for glory,
If you want to get to heaven then you've got to be holy, well,
This train, she's bound for glory, well, this train
I just can't envision this car is bound for glory.
Anywho, because I got nothin' better to do, here's a few.
The Panama Limited
Steve Goodman : City Of New Orleans (Live 1972)
Steel rail blues Gordon Lightfoot live in concert bbc 1972
And the grandmama of them all
Freight train Elizabeth Cotton