Debby McClatchy recorded Reuben's Train on her 2003 CD, Chestnut Ridge. The curious thing about her version is that the name, "Reuben", never appears in it.
The liner notes say, "Traditional, additional verse from Riley Puckett. Reuben was an African American railroad engineer in the years following the Civil War. After peace-keeping troops from the North left the southern states, people like Reuben were hunted down and often murdered, so Reuben took his train and made a bid for freedom and the North."
This is my transcription of the lyrics.
Well, I'm walking down this track. I got tears in my eyes. Tryin' to read a letter from my home. This train runs me right, I'll be home tomorrow night, 'Cause I'm five hundred miles from my home, And I hate to hear the lonesome whistle blow.
Well, this train I ride on, it's one hundred coaches long. You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles. That lonesome whistle call is the mournfullest of all, 'Cause I'm five hundred miles from my home, And I hate to hear the lonesome whistle blow.
Well, I'll pawn you my watch, and I'll pawn you my chain, And I'll pawn you my gold diamond ring. This train runs me right, I'll be home tomorrow night, 'Cause I'm five hundred miles from my home, And I hate to hear the lonesome whistle blow.
If my baby says so, I'll go railroading no more. I'll sidetrack my train, and I'll go home. You can count the days I'm gone by the train that I left on. You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles. And I hate to hear the lonesome whistle blow.