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Song

Written by
Language
English
Comments
The tune and lyrics are similar to "Mole in the Ground," "My Last Dollar" and, to a lesser extent, "Crawdad."

The song is the subject of an historical highway marker in Virginia. The marker states

The original "New River Train" song was claimed by the Ward family of Galax as part of their repertoire as early as 1895. The song was believed to refer to the train that ran on the New River Line in 1883 as part of the Norfolk and Western system serving the town of Fries until 1985. It was first recorded in December 1923 by Henry Whitter. It has since been recorded by a number of artists, including local residents Kelly Harrell in 1925 and E. V. "Pop" Stoneman in 1928.
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Versions

written by English

Title Performer Release date Info
August 1924 First recording on February 25, 1924
First release
March 25, 1925
July 1925
1925
(Virginia Mountain Boomers) 1928
September 23, 1935
November 11, 1936
November 1938 Medley
1954
1957
February 1958
1959
September 1961
1962
1969
1969
1970
1975
1976 Live
1976 Live
1977 Live
1977
1980
1983
1984
November 1, 1987
March 23, 1992 Live
1992
1994
June 4, 1996
1996
June 25, 2002
New River Train Riders in the Sky 2002 Unverified
2007
August 4, 2018
July 19, 2019