Train Songs Central

"Is there a Mr Carter in the room?"

On this day in 1971 the film 'Get Carter' (featuring the best train song instrumental of all time in the form of 'Main Theme - Carter Takes A Train' by Roy Budd) went on general release in the UK.

'Ah the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
You came home without Lili Marlene'
- 'Famous Blue Raincoat' by Leonard Cohen (1971)
- 📷 Wood Green, 1969, taken by Trevor Ermel

"I wrote it as a form of 'I'm the last person standing, I'm the last of the good old brigade', as someone who is determined to fight against progress, to retain individuality. I will stand alone." - Ray Davies on the inspiration behind the song 'Last Of The Steam-Powered Trains'

'I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale'
- 'My Old School' by Steely Dan (1973)
- 🖌️ 'Conductor on platform with Wolverine at Jackson Station' by artist Elaine S Wilson

'Well I ride on a mail train, baby
Can't buy a thrill
Well I've been up all night, baby
Leaning on the window sill'
- 'It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry' by Bob Dylan (1965)
- 📷 Normanton, England, 1980, taken by Napier Ned

The latest edition of the excellent 'Deltic Deadline' magazine is out featuring, among other things, an article by yours truly about the film 'Get Carter' & its title sequence music. Do yourself a favour and buy a copy. Or, even better, become a member of the Deltic Preservation Society.

It's #WorldBookDay folks!

Some of you may be aware that this Twitter/X account was inspired by a book, namely 'The Train Kept A-Rollin - How The Train Song Changed The Face Of Popular Music' by @spencervignes.bsky.social

If you're short of reading material, there's an answer.

Penzance Station View In the summer of 1980 HSTs were only just becoming familiar sights at Penzance. Set 253025 headed by 43051 waits to form the 15.37 service to Paddington. In the background 50026 Indomitable, displaced...

Morning. We're at Penzance, where 253025 waits to form the 15:37 to Paddington. In the background, 50026 INDOMITABLE waits with a parcels train. It is 16 July 1980, and Olivia and ELO are at No.1. 📷©️ Kevin Redwood. Click to see their Flickr selections.
www.flickr.com/photos/river...

Fair play, but I kind of meant in their time. Anyway, the HSTs cheated - there were always two of them!

Remembering Chris Rea, born on this day in 1951, the only singer/songwriter/musician ever to have named one of their albums after the fastest make of diesel locomotive in the world, the Deltics.

📷 Antony Guppy

'Choo-choo train, chuggin' down the track
Gotta travel on, never comin' back
Ooh-ooh, got a one-way ticket to the blues
- 'One Way Ticket (To The Blues)' by Neil Sedaka (1959)
- 📷 Woking, England, 1966, taken by Trevor Ermel

"When I was a boy the trains ran right past my house, and they carried with them that promise that somewhere down the track anything would be possible."

Remembering, and celebrating, the great Johnny Cash, born on this day in 1932

'Through the windows of the train
I caught reflections of a paper cup
Hanging small in a pale blue sky
Never knowing which way's up'
- 'Above The Clouds' by Paul Weller (1992)
- 📷 Quanah, Texas, 1958, taken by Fred Springer

"Everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers. I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street. We'd sit, chat or play guitar there through the night." - Gerry Rafferty on 'Baker Street'

'And I finish up my coffee
And it's time to catch the train'
- 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega (1987)
- 📷 Sunderland, England, 1967, taken by Trevor Ermel

"There's something about the sound of a train that's very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful." – Paul Simon

📷 Kevin Lane

'Knock down the old grey wall
Be a part of it all'

The plaque on display at Swansea railway station in memory of Welsh singer, songwriter & guitarist Pete Ham, voice of the band Badfinger.

'You can hear the whistle, you can hear the bell
From the halls of heaven to the gates of hell'
- 'Down There By The Train' by Johnny Cash (1994)
- 📷 Sleaford, England, 1978, taken by David Hayes

Thanks for that. Funnily enough both those songs are featured in my book 'The Train Kept A-Rollin'' about the history of the train song genre, published a few years back. Well worth reading, even if I say so myself!

"Our carriage tilted to one side and then broken glass flew all over us like Niagara Falls. I had long hair, and the glass got tangled in it. It took me days afterwards to remove the shards." - Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees recalls being involved in the 1967 Hither Green train crash

'I hate my alcoholic logic
As I write this on the train
Victoria's Secret in my bag
And my thighs ache again'

Amy Winehouse illustration, Camden Town tube station, London.

Yep, but didn't realise they'd done a greatest hits. Might try and find that.

'There among the brass bells and buttons
And iron lever frames
The hand lamps and the smoking stove
And the passing diesel trains
Signalman White keeps a watchful eye'
- 'Signalman White' by Blyth Power (1995)
- 📷 Goose Hill Junction, England, 1980, taken by Napier Ned

I've never heard that version - thank you!

This is @trainsongscentral.bsky.social – the only resource on Planet Earth (that we know of) dedicated to train songs & the many, many ties that bind railways/railroads & music. Come on in, look around, learn a thing or two and, if you like what you see, please give us a RT to spread the word.

'We walked him to the station in the rain
We kissed him as we put him on the train'
- 'Sally MacLennane' by The Pogues (1985) in memory of Pogues drummer Andrew Ranken, who died earlier this week aged 72

'You said no strings could secure you at the station
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows'
- 'White Room' by Cream (1968)
- 📷 Normanton, England, 1981, taken by Napier Ned

'The trouble train is coming, it's full of troubled souls who have gone astray
The trouble train is burning, it's puffing smoke and fire and it's headed your way'
- 'Trouble Train' by the Brian Setzer Orchestra (2009)
- 📷 Lingen, Germany, 1974, taken by Trevor Ermel

'I see it's coming, and bringing something
This train of loving, I see it's coming
I feel it's running, this train of loving
From ages past'
- 'Station Man' by Fleetwood Mac (1970)
- 📷 Granger, Texas, 1971, taken by J Parker Lamb

My piece in today's Daily Express on punk turning 50, complete with my choice of top five punk songs. It's subjective, of course it is, but what would your choice be?