America's first locomotive was built in 1830 by Peter Cooper. It was so small it was called Tom Thumb. It carried people and goods outside of Baltimore. One day it was in a race with a horse drawn wagon. It started off faster then had some mechanical difficulties and the horse passed it.
PBS's American Experience program created a movie, book for older kids, and companion website. Here is the link to the time line of America's railroads
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tcrr/timeline/index.html
John Henry
American Legend who got in a railroad spike driving competition with a steam drill.
John Henry was a very small boy,
Fell on his mammy's knee;
Picked up a hammer and a little piece of steel,
"Lord, a hammer'll be the death of me,
Lord, a hammer'll be the death of me."
John Henry went upon the mountain,
Come down on the side;
The mountain so tall, John Henry was so small,
Lord, he lay down his hammer and he cried, "Oh, Lord,"
He lay down his hammer and he cried.
John Henry was on the right hand,
But that steam drill was on the left;
"Before your steam drill beats me down,
Hammer my fool self to death,
Lord, I'll hammer my fool self to death."
The captain says to John Henry,
"Believe my tunnel's fallin' in."
"Captain, you needn't not to worry,
Just my hammer hawsing in the wind,
Just my hammer hawsing in the wind."
"Look away over yonder, captain,
You can't see like me."
He hollered out in a low, lonesome cry,
"This hammer'll be the death of me,
Lord, this hammer'll be the death of me."
John Henry told his captain,
"Captain, you go to town,
Bring John back a twelve-pound hammer,
And he'll whup your steam drill down,
[And] he'll whup your steam drill down."
For the man that invented that steam drill
Thought he was mighty fine;
John Henry sunk a fo'teen foot,
The steam drill only made nine,
The steam drill only made nine.
John Henry told his shaker,
"Shaker, you better pray;
For if I miss this six-foot steel,
Tomorrow'll be your buryin' day,
An' tomorrow'll be your buryin' day."
John Henry told his lovin' little woman,
"Sick and I want to go to bed;
Fix me a place to lay down, child,
Got a rollin' in my head,
Got a rollin' in my head."
John Henry had a lovely little woman,
Called her Polly Ann;
John Henry got sick and he had to go home,
But Polly broke steel like a man,
Polly broke steel like a man.
John Henry had another little woman,
The dress she wore was blue;
She went down the track and she never looked back,
"John Henry, I've been true to you."
"John Henry Blues," performed by Fiddlin' John Carson
Transcribed by Norm Cohen in
Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000)
Some fun train books:
Engine Engine Number Nine by Stephanie Calmenson
Freight Train by Donald Crews
Railroad Fever: building the transcontinental railroad, 1830-1870 by Monica Halpern
Hear that Whistle Blow!: How the railroad changed the world by Milton Meltzer
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| Parts of a steam locomotive, Wikimedia Commons |
Train related songs ( there are a ton I'll have to do more train shows!):
Choo Choo Ch'Boogie by Clifton Chenier
I've Been Working on the railroad by Laurie Berkner
Catch that Train by Dan Zanes
John Henry by Taj Mahal
Freight Train Blues by Bob Dylan
Freight Train by David Grisman and Jerry Garcia
Chatanooga Choo Choo
City of New Orleans by Willie Nelson
John Henry from album "Train Songs"
Ghost Train by Peter Maxwell Davies
John Henry by Aaron Copland
Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips
