Written by - Jim Croce & Ingrid Croce

When I was a boy in the days of the train

I'd sit by the tracks on a long summer day

And I'd wave at the brakesman

And he'd wave back at me

While the thunderclouds rolled

Out of East Tennessee



But the dreams of a boy disappear when you're grown

And though I may dream, the railroads are gone

The ties they are rotten

And the tracks shot to hell

Along with my dreams and the old railroad bell



In my dreams I ride the rails to California

Workin' diners and farms along the way

Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border

With a black eyed girl beside me all the way



Now the mountains are silent

And the railroads are gone

And the coal towns no longer hear the miners at dawn

But the train whistle shrills out her memories to me

While the thunderclouds roll out of East Tennessee



In my dreams I ride the rails to California

Workin' diners and farms along the way

Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border

With a black eyed girl beside me all the way



Now the mountains are silent

And the railroads are gone

And the coal towns no longer hear the miners at dawn

But the train whistle shrills out her memories to me

While the thunderclouds roll out of East Tennessee