Popular Culture Review Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2002 | Page 147

Hank Snow, The Singing Ranger

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about the engineers and hobos, the spumed lover escaping via the rails, and, of
course, he recorded tributes to Rodgers. He even helped create the Jimmie Rodgers
Memorial Festival in Rodgers’ hometown of Meridian, Mississippi (Snow, 1994,
pp. 351-364). His train songs included “The Hobo’s Last Ride,” “Mainliner,” “Hobo
Bill’s Last Ride,” “There’s a Little Box of Pine in the 7:29,” “Silver Rails,” “Wabash
Cannonball,” “The Engineer’s Child,” “Casey Jones Was His Name,” “Fireball
Mail,” “Lonely Train,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” 'T he Train My Woman’s On,”
“Crack in the Boxcar Door,” “The City of New Orleans,” “The Texas Silver Zephyr,”
“The Hobo’s Meditation,” “Waiting for a Train,” “Orange Blossom Special,” “Train
Whistle Blues,” “Wreck of Old 97,” “The Streamline Cannonball,” “Blow Yo’
Whistle, Freight Train,” “Lonesome Whistle,” “The Wreck of the Number Nine,”
“Pan American,” “Big Wheels,” “Ghost Train,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “The
Crazy Engineer,” “One More Ride,” “Crazy Little Train of Love,” “Doggone that
Train,” “The Atlantic Coastal Line,” “The Christmas Cannonball,” “The Mystery
of Number Five,” “Southern Cannonball,” and “This Train.” One of his most popular
train songs was recorded right after “I’m Movin’ On.” It’s called “The Golden
Rocket”:
I was a good engine
Running on time
But baby I’m switchin’
To another line
So honey never hang
Your signal out for me
I’m tired of running
On the same old track
Bought a one way ticket
And I won’t be back
This Golden Rocket’s
Gonna roll my blues away^
Snow obviously fit into a country music tradition with his train songs
while his songs about love, and the other stories his songs told, solidified his position
among the best country artists. He also gave something back, which has been
characteristic of country music. Almost every singer of the last half century has
made it a point to mention another performer who helped him or her at some point.
Dolly Parton still credits a lesser-known Cajun and country singer named Jimmy
C. Newman for letting her sing on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time when she
was 12. Ricky Skaggs just recorded a Grammy-nominated album in tribute to his