'I've been working on the railroad all the live long day I've been working on the railroad just to pass the time away' - 'I've Been Working On The Railroad', first published in 1894 & recorded since by a whole stack of people - 📷 Amboy, California, taken by Richard Steinheimer

'Take me to your world of wonder Let me come inside your room Invisible, now you see nothing' - 'Ghost Train' by The Bee Gees whose founder & sole surviving member, Barry Gibb, turns 80 today - 📷 Barrow on Soar, England, 1968 (Leicester Mercury)

'I was out of my head and underneath my bed Playing with electric trains' - 'Electric Trains' by Squeeze whose co-founder & songwriter, Glenn Tilbrook, turns 69 today

'I'm tired of having no future, living on things that I've done And I'm tired of sitting on the side track, watching the mainline run' – ‘Train of Life' by Merle Haggard (1971) - 📷 London, 1975, taken by Trevor Ermel

'Blue smoke climbing up the mountain Blue smoke winding round the bend Blue smoke is the name of the heartbreak train that I am riding in' - 'Blue Smoke' by Dolly Parton (2014) - 📷 Jeff Mast

In 2005 the UK-based loco hire firm Cotswold Rail named two of their class 47 engines after Joe Strummer, who would've turned 74 today, and Captain Sensible of The Clash & The Damned respectively. Joe & the Captain are seen here at Clay Cross, England, in 2007. 📷 Phil Sangwell

'Listen to the night streamliner Sounding like the wolves of hell!' Remembering Joe Strummer on what would have been his 74th birthday

'Here comes the blue train Rolling across my heart it crawls' Happy birthday Robert Plant who turns 78 today 📷 John Whiteley

"When I was on a train with him once, when he was a little boy, he put his arms round me and said 'You smell lovely mummy. When I grow up I'll buy you lots and lots of perfume and a big, big house'. And, blow me, he did." - Philomena Lynott on Phil Lynott, her son, born 77 years ago today

Remembering Phil Lynott - pictured here in 1979 by Chalkie Davies having just arrived in Tokyo on board a bullet train - on what would have been his 77th birthday.

'Ooh, you make me live Whatever this world can give to me' Happy birthday John Deacon, bass player with Queen (and writer of 'You're My Best Friend', amongst other songs) who turns 75 today

'I'll be the ticket if you're my collector I've got the fare if you're my inspector' - 'Love Song' by The Damned (1979) - 📷 Waterloo station, London, 1972, taker unknown

'You left your girlfriend on the platform With this really ragged notion that you'll return' - 'London' by The Smiths (1987) - 📽️ Tom Courtenay in 'Billy Liar' (1963)

'I want to run naked in a rainstorm Make love in a train cross-country' Happy birthday Madonna who turns 68 today

'The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations' - 'These Foolish Things' performed by various artists including Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday & Bryan Ferry, lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, first published 1935 - 📷 Newcastle, England, 1981, taken by Bill Watson

'Maybe I'm a little sentimental, cause I know that things have to change But I'd still like to go for a train ride, cause I've got a thing about trains' - 'I've Got A Thing About Trains' by Johnny Cash (1970) - 📷 Santa Cruz, California, 2008, taken by Eric Williams

'Wishing on a falling star Waiting for the early train' - 'Ventura Highway' by America (1972) - 📷 Batiquitos Lagoon, California, USA, taken by Bryan Bechtold

'So grab your friends, get the train coming through Climb on board, where you leave's up to you' - 'The Groove Line' by Heatwave (1978) - 📷 Waterloo station, London, 1966, taken by Jack Ray

'In the shuffling madness of the locomotive breath Runs the all-time loser headlong to his death' - 'Locomotive Breath' by Jethro Tull whose lead vocalist & driving force, Ian Anderson, turns 79 today - 📷 Gateshead, England, 1975, taken by Trevor Ermel

"There was that image and gang mentality. I understand it and I knew what it was about. They created a lot of self-mythology about bunking on the trains and all that, but I said 'I won't be doing any of that. I'm not 12 or 13'." - Mick Talbot on being in Dexys Midnight Runners

'Something 'bout you hit me like a freight train to the chest The day we met, my loneliness Left the room the second that you walked in' - 'Fever Dream' by Alex Warren (2026) - 📷 Location, date & taker all unknown (other than somewhere in the USA) but would love to learn more

'And they all just wanna look like Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine Some of my best friends are trains' - 'Some Of My Best Friends Are Trains' by The Waterboys (1984) - 📷 Kings Cross station, London, 1980, taken by Paul James

'Said to the man at the railroad station I want a ticket, just for one' Remembering Glen Hansard, 'Outspan' Foster in The Commitments (among many other things), whose premature and untimely death was announced yesterday.

An addendum to today's earlier post. Here's one of the coaches from the 'Be Stiff Tour’ of 1978 (where all the acts travelled the length & breadth of the UK to gigs on a special charter train) parked at London's Kensington Olympia station.

Happy birthday Rachel Sweet, 64 today, veteran of the bonkers yet marvellous initiative that was the 'Be Stiff Tour’ of 1978 (where all the acts travelled the length & breadth of the UK to gigs on a special ‘Stiff’ charter train).

Beyonce back in the days when she could ride the New York City B train without getting mobbed. Date & taker unknown.

'When we came to the station all the trains were rusty The doors were open and the windows broken in' - 'Cider Apple Re-constitution' by Al Stewart (1975) - 📷 Leicester, England, late-1980s, taker unknown

'When the train come in the station I looked her in the eye' - 'Love In Vain' by The Rolling Stones (1969) on this, Mick Jagger's 83rd birthday - 📽️ 'Brief Encounter' (1945)

'I don't care about economy, I don't care about astronomy But it sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets There's a slow, slow train coming up around the bend' - 'Slow Train' by Bob Dylan (1979) - 📷 Burton Salmon, England, 1992, taken by Napier Ned

'I'm staring through the window, wonder where you are Moving through the landscape at a million miles an hour' - 'Locomotion' by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1984) - 📷 date, location & taker all unknown (any guesses on the location?)