Lyr. Add: WAITING FOR A TRAIN
Version of Sam Hess, Mountain View, Arkansas

I was born and raised in Texas, a state that you all know.
I got on that Katy train, so cold I could hardly go.
I rode down to memphis, and I got off to warm,
Looked out for that Katy train, but the Katy train was gone.

Chorus:
They left me standing on a platform, a-waiting for a train,
So cold and hungry I lay down, my heart was filled with pain.
I'm thinking of those good old days, I wish they'd come again,
A thousand miles away from home, trying to catch an old freight train.

I went up to a lady and I asked for something to eat,
A little piece of bread and a little piece of meat.
A little piece of punkin pie would soothe my appetite.
I aim to ride that old freight train a thousand miles tonight.

Well, I went up to kansas, I didn't go to stay.
I fell in love with some Kansas girls and I had to run away.
Good-bye to all you Kansas folks, I'll bid you all adieu,
And when that old freight train runs out I'll see no more of you.

Chorus:

With music, Ch. 42, Sam's "Waiting For a Train," pp. 103-105, Glenn Ohrlin, 1973, "The Hell-Bound Train," Univ. Illinois Press.

Norm Cohen, in "Long Steel Rail," pp. 355-366, discusses origins and gives several versions of the song, or songs, and long list of references and recordings. It is a difficult complex to tackle, with roots in the late 19th century, and variants by everyone who ever sang it.