D

[Chorus]
D                           G
Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride?
        D                                Em            A
Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?
      D                            G
Is it bigger than our house? Well, how can I explain
        D                           Em    A        D
When my little boy and girl ask me "Daddy what's a train?"

[Verse 1]
D                         G
When I was just a boy and living by the track
   D                                Em           A
Us kids would gather up the coal in big old gunnysacks
        D                              G
Then we heard the warning sound as the train pulled into view
    D                                Em       A       D
The engineer would smile and wave as she went rolling through

[Verse 2]
D                                     G
She blew so loud and clear, we had to cover up our ears
       D                    Em               A
And we counted cars just as high as we could go
      D                            G
I can almost hear the steam, those big old drivers scream
  D        Em     A               D
A sound my little kids will never know

[Chorus]
D                           G
Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride?
        D                                Em          A
Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?
      D                            G
Is it bigger than our house? Well, how can I explain
        D                           Em    A        D
When my little boy and girl ask me "Daddy what's a train?"

[Verse 3]
D                               G
I guess the times have changed, kids are different now
      D                                 Em                A
Cause some don't even seem to know that milk comes from a cow
   D                       G
My little boy can tell the names of all the baseball stars
D                               Em       A        D
I remember how we memorized the names on railroad cars

[Verse 4]
D                      G
The Wabash and the TP, Lackawanna, the IC
    Em                                  A
The Nickel Plate and the good old Santa Fe
     D                        G
Just names out of the past, I guess they're fading fast
D            Em      A          D
Every time I hear my little boy say

[Chorus]
D                           G
Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride?
        D                                Em          A
Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?
      D                            G
Is it bigger than our house? Well, how can I explain
        D                           Em    A        D
When my little boy and girl ask me "Daddy what's a train?"

[Verse 5]
D                        G
We climbed into the car, drove down into town
D                                Em         A
Right up to the depot house, but no one was around
   D                              G
We searched the yard together for something I could show
      D                                    Em    A        D
But I knew there hadn't been a train for a dozen years or so

[Verse 6]
D                         G
All the things I did when I was just a kid
    D              Em       A
How far away those memories appear
  D                                  G
I guess it's plain to see they still mean a lot to me
             D             Em    A   D
Because my ambition was to be an engineer

[Chorus]
D                           G
Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride?
        D                                Em           A
Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside?
      D                            G
Is it bigger than our house? Well, how can I explain
        D                           Em    A        D
When my little boy and girl ask me "Daddy what's a train?"