I thought at this point that I might be able to move forward in time to the 1980’s and beyond but researches have uncovered that Wikipedia lists more than 1000 train/railway related songs and at a quick glance I noticed that I have missed some classic songs from the past. So our third stop is going to rectify that omission.
“Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill” is an American folk song first published in 1888 and attributed to Thomas Casey (words) and later Charles Connolly (music). The song is a work song, and makes references to the construction of the American railroads in the mid-19th century. The title refers to Irish workers, drilling holes in rock to blast out railroad tunnels. It may mean either to tarry as in delay, or to terrier dogs which dig their quarry out of the ground, or from the French word for an augur, tarière. The song has been recorded by The Weavers and Maken and Clancy, among many others.
“Oh! Mr Porter” is an old British music hall song about a girl who has got on the wrong train. It was famously part of the repertoires of the artistes Norah Blaney and Marie Lloyd. It was written in 1892 by Goerge Le Brunn and his brother Thomas, and taken on an extended provincial tour that same year by Marie Lloyd. The 1937 film Oh Mr Porter! starring Will Hay was clearly at least in part inspired by the song “Oh! Mr Porter”. Hay’s character is called Mr William Porter; although he is not in fact a railway porter but the stationmaster of a Northern Irish station; this leads to some confusion, typical of Hay’s films. A snatch of the song can be heard over the opening credits although this version says, “I want to go to Birmingham, and they’re taking me on to Crewe! Oh, Mr Porter! What a funny man you are!”
“Shuffle Off to Buffalo” is a song written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren and introduced in the 1933 musical film 42nd Street, in which Ruby Keeler and Clarence Nordstrom sang and danced to it. Giner Rogers, Una Merkel, and the Chorus also performed it in the film. The lyrics talk about going by railroad train “to Niag’ra in a sleeper” for a honeymoon. Niagara Falls, near Buffalo, New York, was a popular honeymoon destination.
“Coronation Scot” by Vivian Ellis was composed on board a train – on a journey from London Paddington to Taunton. It was 1938. The obvious title would have been ‘Cornish Riviera Express’ – however, as Ernest Tomlinson has pointed out, this does not exactly ‘trip off the tongue’! So Ellis chose ‘Coronation Scot’ – which was a prestigious train running at that time from London Euston to Glasgow Central. This service had been inaugurated during the previous year, 1937. The work was recorded by Sidney Torch and the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra and according to Ellis “did nothing” until it was used as the theme tune to the BBC Radio series ‘Paul Temple’.
“On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” is a song written by Harry Warren with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was published in 1944, spanned the hit chart in mid-1945, and won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Original Song, the first win for Mercer. The song refers to the eponymous fallen flag railroad, and was featured in the 1946 film The Harvey Girls, where it was sung by Judy Garland.
“When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam” is a number taken from the 1948 movie ‘Easter Parade’ and sung by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland (again). It was composed by Irvine Berlin. Upon its release, the film was both a critical and a commercial success. As well as being the highest-grossing musical film of 1948, Easter Parade was the second-highest grossing MGM musical of the 1940s after Meet Me in St. Louis.
“Blue Train” is a 1958 jazz standard composed by John Coltrane. It is the lead track on the album of the same name. Rather than having either a major or minor quality, it contains both by using an E♭ 7 ( ♯ 9 ) {\displaystyle E\flat ^{7(\sharp 9)}} 
“Trains and Boats and Planes” is a song written by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David, and first recorded in 1965. Hit versions were recorded by Bacharach and by Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas in 1965, and by Dionne Warwick in 1966. I have a particular fondness for the version performed by Sandie Shaw, which whilst never a hit still does justice to the song.
“The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” is a ballad written and released by Jean Ritchie in 1965. Though she typically eschewed controversial topics, the subject of impoverishing coal miners was touchy enough for the musician that she originally released “L&N” in 1965 under her maternal grandfather’s name, Than Hall. Ritchie grew up in Viper Kentucky’s Slabtown Holler, and a Louisville and Nashville Railroad passenger train ran right by the mouth of the hollow. Difficult times began when the local coal mines closed and the trains stopped coming; “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” reflects that time. Our version today is performed by Bella Gaffney and recorded by myself.
