Oh man, I love train songs!
Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath Classic tune built around a train allegory.
Phish - Rift Technically not about a train, but 100% intended to sound like one IMO. As someone who once lived in a city that had a freight humpyard, I find the sound of train whistles soothing and peaceful, so I particularly like their harmony that imitates that sound.
Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans A classic song about a classic train.
Chuck Berry - Downbound Train Yes, he was a scumbag, but his influence on music is undeniable, and he had some pretty good tunes. This one is about a guy who is scared straight by a drunken vision of a train ride to Hell.
Otis Taylor - My Soul’s In Louisiana Also meant to sound like a train, this song opens and closes with actual train sounds. The song is a sad one; the narrator is a Black man who has been lynched over a murder (of a train engineer) that he didn’t commit.
Oh, and:
Gladys Knight and the Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia Song about a man who is returning from LA to Georgia after his dreams of stardom don’t work out, from the perspective of his lover, who decides to go with him.
