Lyr. Add: THE GOSPEL TRAIN (Jubilee 1)

The gospel train is coming, I hear it just at hand;
I hear the car wheels moving, And rumbling through the land.

Chorus:
Get on board, children, Get on board, children,
Get on board, children, There's room for many a more.

No signal for another train, To follow on this line;
O sinner you're forever lost, If once you're left behind.

She's nearing now the station, Ah, sinner, don't be vain;
But come and get your ticket, Be ready for the train.

The fare is cheap and all can go, The rich and poor are there;
No second class on board the train, No difference in the fare.

This train has never run off the track,
She's passed through every land;
Millions and millions are on board;
Oh, come and join the band.

We soon shall reach the station,
Oh, how we then shall sing;
With all the heavn'ly army,
We'll make the welkin ring.

We'll shout o'er all our sorrows,
And sing forevermore,
With Christ and all his army,
On that celestial shore.

"Songs of the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University." Cincinnati, John Church and Co., 1904?
Linked by Masato Sakurai from American Memory,
Thread 52566: Fisk Jubilee Singers


Lyr. Add: THE GOSPEL TRAIN (Jubilee 2)

The Gospel train is coming, I hear it just at hand,
I hear the car-wheels moving, And rumbling thro' the land.

Cho.
Get on board, children, Get on board, children,
Get on board, children, For there's room for many a more.

I hear the bell and whistle, She's* coming round the curve,
She's playing all her steam and pow'r, And straining every nerve.
(*Mistake; 'The' in sheet music)

No signal from another train, To follow on the line,
O, sinner, you're forever lost, If once you're left behind.

This is the Christian banner, The motto's new and old,
Salvation and Repentance, Are burnished there in gold.

She's nearing now the station, O, sinner don't be vain,
But come and get your ticket, And be ready for the train.

The fare is cheap, and all can go, The rich and poor are there,
No second class on board the train, No difference in the fare.

There's Moses, Noah and Abraham, And all the prophets too,
Our friends in Christ are all on board, O, what a heavenly crew.

We soon shall reach the station, O, how we then shall sing,
With all the heavenly army, We'll make the welkin ring.

We'll shout o'er all our sorrows, And sing forever more,
With Christ and all his army, On that celestial shore.

No. 27, The Gospel Train, from "Negro Spirituals, or the Songs of the Jubilee Singers," edition published by W. J. Gibbs, Bromley, Kent, with preface by Theodore F. Seward. Probably from the revised edition of 1892 (1st in 1872 only had 28 spirituals- not including this song; the 1892 edition had 139).
Odum and Johnson, The Negro and His Songs, print most of the second Jubilee song. They say "while the song as reported by the Jubilee Singers does not possess the usual characteristics of form and dialect, it neverless appeals to the Negroes and it is sometimes sung." It is likely that some of the verses originated at the school.
I thought it best to post the two versions separately rather than putting them together.

The song was also sung by the Hampton Institute Chorus. In "The Religious Songs of the Negro as sung at Hampton Institute," ed. by R. N. Dett, 1927 (1st ed. by Fenner, 1874- lacks this song), only three verses appear, under the title "Git on Board, Little Children.":
De Gospel train's a-comin';
I hear de train a-comin';
De fare is cheap an' all can go.

There are two unrelated songs with the same title; see thread 41409 for the gospel train comin' round de mountain-
Thread 41409
It seems that this spiritual is post-slavery since it is not found in the older collections. The consistency in form also suggests that it is not an old song.

See post by Charley Noble(62339) for a short variant by Ella Madison that is combined with another song. Madison Gospel Train