The ToneWay® Project: helping people play music

Reuben's Train [core]

Old Reuben made a train, and he put it on the track
He run it to the 5 Lord knows 1 where.

Refrain:Oh me, oh my, he run it to the 5 Lord knows 1 where

You oughta been in town, to see old Reuben's train go down
You could hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

I've been to the East, and I've been to the West
I'm going where these chilly winds don't blow

Last night I laid in jail, had no money for to go my bail
Lord how it sleeted and it snowed

I got myself a blade, laid ol' Reuben in the shade
I'm startin' me a graveyard of my own

It’s on Strum Machine!

Play & sing along with Reuben's Train (or any song you type in) in any key, at any speed, with real instrument recordings. You have to see it to believe it.

Play this song on Strum Machine

Available in these books:

Get Started Plus: Core Songs Edition
100 songs and our acclaimed play-by-ear learning method.
Big Print Songs
Over 200 songs.
Family Tradition
The reference manual, with lyrics to 330 songs.
The first two books feature large-print lyrics (20-point type) and include chords, historical info, jamming hints, and more.

...and on these CDs:

Five CDs, 100 songs. Recordings from the Abbott family and their friends.
Listen to sample tracks.

The MP3 collection has all 100 songs on one CD for a discount. See details.


A song from the The ToneWay Mountain Music Collection, which offers lyrics and free Song Clips (recordings for learning the song by ear) for nearly 400 traditional songs, many of which are often heard in bluegrass and old-time jam circles. The ToneWay Project also offers songbooks, CDs, and a free online video series for learning to play music by ear. http://ToneWay.com