"Railroaders Always" Sheet Music

Railroaders Always

Words by Capt. Robert B. Rivers, U.S. Army
Music and arrangement by Sgt. Joe Tomaselli (Joe Elly), U.S. Army

Once we ran the Santa Fe and good old B&O
But now we're laying tracks to Rome, Berlin and Tokio
Along that Army route we'll knock the Axis out
And when we roll up to the front you'll know us by our shout

We're railroaders always
We've got the stuff it takes to do the trick
Railroaders always
We've got a job to do and do it quick
Along the rail we blaze a trail with steam and steel and sweat
We tote your food and feed your guns but buddy don't forget
We're railroading soldiers, ready to "ball the jack" or FIGHT!
From Maine to California and from every whistle stop
From engine and the doghouse and from shanty and the shop
We've come to see it through beneath our colors true
We're soldiers of the U.S.A. who'll fight and work with you

We're railroaders always
We've got the stuff it takes to do the trick
Railroaders always
We've got a job to do and do it quick
Along the rail we blaze a trail with steam and steel and sweat
We tote your food and feed your guns but buddy don't forget
We're railroading soldiers, ready to "ball the jack" or FIGHT!


Ready to serve the nation


Music dedicated to the Military Railway Service

Published: November 12, 2001

Here's a variation on a familiar World War II theme, the diverse geographical backgrounds of men serving together in the armed forces. It comes to us in the form of some faded sheet music dedicated to the Military Railway Service. The rousing anthem "Railroaders Always" is of interest in its own right, but the cover of this particular copy is something special.

It belonged to John R. Crosby, a fireman on PRR's Fort Wayne Division before (and after) he was a member of the 717th Railway Operating Battalion, stationed in Ashchurch, England. Crosby had some two dozen of his fellow soldier-railroaders sign his copy; in doing so, the men also put down their hometowns, plus the railroads they had worked for. READ ON

Troop Train Video 1943

 

Troop Train was a 1943 short propaganda film produced by the Office of War Information. While the film's assumed purpose would be to educate the American public about the role of railroad transportation of military divisions, Troop Train takes a more stylistic approach, with absolutely no narration and little dialogue. The director uses images to tell the story. Footage of rows of war material, troops marching and locomotives are cleverly edited to create a montage propaganda film, something of a rarity in the United States. The film is also notable for its depiction of service men's life on the long trips across the country to unknown ports, and to unknown fronts in the war.