This song was first released on the all aboard! album. it is the only album it has been released on.





Daddy, what's a train? is it something i can ride?

Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?

Is it bigger than our house? well how can i explain

When my little boy and girl ask me ¡®daddy, what's a train?'



When i was just a boy and living by the track

Us kids would gather up the coal in big 'ole gunnysacks

Then we heard the warning sound as the train pulled into view

The engineer would smile and wave as she went rolling through



She blew so loud and clear, we had to cover up our ears

And we counted cars just as high as we could go

I can almost hear the steam those big old drivers scream

A sound my little kids will never know



Daddy, what's a train? is it something i can ride?

Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?

Is it bigger than our house? well how can i explain

When my little boy and girl ask me ¡®daddy, what's a train?'



I guess the times have changed, kids are different now

¡®cause some don't even seem to know that milk comes from a cow

My little boy can tell the names of all the baseball stars

I remember how we memorized the names on railroad cars



The wabash and the tp, lackawanna, the ic

The nichel-plate and the good old santa fe

Just names out of the past, i guess they're fading fast

Every time i hear my little boy say



Daddy, what's a train? is it something i can ride?

Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?

Is it bigger than our house? well how can i explain

When my little boy and girl ask me ¡®daddy, what's a train?'



We climbed into the car, drove down into town

Right up to the depot house, but no one was around

We searched the yard together for something i could show

But i knew there hadn't been a train for a dozen years or so



All the things i did when i was just a kid

How far away those memories appear

I guess it's plain to see they still mean a lot to me

'cause my ambition was to be an engineer



Daddy, what's a train? is it something i can ride?

Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?

Is it bigger than our house? well how can i explain

When my little boy and girl ask me ¡®daddy, what's a train?'



Words and music by bruce ¡°u. utah¡± phillips


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