Long Steel Rail:
The Railroad in American Folksong

by Norm Cohen lii + 710 pp.

Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong. By Norm Cohen. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1981. Pp. lii + 710. Index, photos, sheet music, bibliography. $32.95 paper.

Long Steel Rail is an informative and interesting look at the importance of the railroad in American folk consciousness. So many of America's treasured folk songs are situated within the context of the railroad and its surrounding heroes, damsels, and villains. Today the railroad and steam engine are still evoked in song as powerful romantic symbols of America's past. Prior to the advent of the highway system and airplane travel, trains were one of the only means to travel great distances over land. Thus, songs about trains remind us of a time when America was simpler and less hectic. Norm Cohen writes about the nostalgia and longing associated with trains and notes that the railroad was always romantic because it symbolized travel, adventure, opportunity, and escape from every day mundane experience. The book includes many wonderful illustrations and sheet music to the accompanying songs used as examples.

While it is nearly impossible to document all of the American folk songs about trains and railroads, Cohen seems to include and discuss most of them. Organized by types of railroad songs, the book serves as an excellent source for scholars of folk music and enthusiasts alike. After describing the history of railroads and their impact on American culture, Cohen discusses the importance of "heroes and badmen" in songs such as "John Henry," "Railroad Bill," "Jesse James," and "Casey Jones," including descriptions of the folklore and mystique surrounding these legendary characters. The next section of the book, titled "The Fatal Run," includes some of the many examples of train wreck songs. The topics of "asleep at the wheel," and "he's coming to us dead," reflect the tragic events of railroad accidents, which were fairly common in the early days of train travel. Other songs celebrate the railroad and its promise of adventure, and nearly ubiquitous is the wandering hobo, constantly riding the rails from town to town searching for his dream. Without a doubt the hobo's life on the run is part of the romantic American consciousness in all of us. Long Steel Rail demonstrates the importance of romance in American history through the medium of the railroads and in the end offers hope that the trains will keep rolling along despite what has become known as "progress."

Chris Geyer
Indiana University