The Gospel Train

Infobox Standard
title="The Gospel Train"
comment=

---

image_size=
caption="The Jubilee Singers" (1873) [Pike, "The Jubilee Singers", p. 190.]
writer=
composer=Traditional
lyricist=
published=
written=
language=English
form=Negro spiritual
original_artist=Fisk Jubilee Singers
"(Earliest attested)"
recorded_by=
performed_by=

"The Gospel Train" is a traditional African-American spiritual first published in 1872 as one of the songs of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. [Pike, "The Jubilee Singers", p. 190.] The first verse, including the chorus is as follows::"The gospel train is coming,":"I hear it just at hand,":"I hear the car wheels moving,":"And rumbling thro' the land."::"Get on board, children,"::"Get on board, children,"::"Get on board, children,"::"For there's room for many a more."

Although "The Gospel Train" is usually cited as traditional, several sources credit a Baptist minister from New Hampshire, John Chamberlain, with writing it. [Carter, "The Native Ministry of New Hampshire", p. 461: "John Chamberlain, ... Author of the railroad hymn, "Gospel Train."] Captain Asa W. Bartlett, historian for the New Hampshire Twelfth Regiment, reported Chamberlain as singing the song on April 26, 1863, during Sunday services for the regiment. [Bartlett, "History of the Twelfth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers", p. 63: "Sunday, April 26, the members of the Twelfth present had the pleasure of listening to an eloquent discourse by Elder John Chamberlain, from New Hampshire, his text being the first verse of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew. He had a voice of remarkable clearness and power, and was gifted as a singer as well as an orator. He was the author of the celebrated 'Railroad Hymn,' which he sang on the occasion with fine effect."]

"The Gospel Train" is a standard Gospel song, and is found in the hymnals of many Protestant denominations. It has been recorded many times by many artists.

History

The source for the melody and lyrics is unknown but developed out of a tradition which resulted in a number of similar songs about a "Gospel Train". One of the earliest known is not from the United States, but from Scotland. In 1853, Scotsman John Lyon published a song in Liverpool titled "Be in Time", the last verse of which mentions that the Gospel train is at hand. [Lyon, "The Harp of Zion", pp. 183-184: "Be in Time"] Lyon's book was written to raise funds for the Morman emigration of the 1840s and 50s. In 1857, an editor for Knickerbocker magazine wrote about visiting a "Colored Camp-Meeting" in New York where a song called "The Warning" was sung which featured an almost identical last verse. [Editor, "Nickerbocker", pp. 532-533: "... we accompanied a neighbor to a "Colored Camp-Meeting", assembled in a shady grove on the 'Greenbush Road,' ... There were perhaps a thousand people present, men and women, young and old, at least one-half of whom were white persons. ... One colored brother ... was singing from a printed slip 'A Warning,' which all around him joined with great fervor."] "The Warning" used the melody from an old dance song about Captain Kidd.

"Be in Time"

The last verse from "Be in Time" is::"Now the Gospel train's at hand, be in time, be in time:"::"Now the Gospel train's at hand, be in time;":"Crowds at the station stand, with passport in their hand,"::"To start for Zion's land, be in time, be in time.":::"To start for Zion's land, &c."

"The Warning"

The last verse of "The Warning" is::"The Gospel train's at hand,"::"Be in time, be in time!":"The Gospel train's at hand,"::"Be in time,":"Behold your station there,":"JESUS has paid your fare;":"Let's all engage in prayer:"::"Be in time, be in time!":"Let's all engage in prayer:"::"Be in time!"

"The Gospel Railroad"

"The Gospel Railroad" is another one of the early "Gospel Train" songs from Britain. Written sometime before 1867, its last verse is::"Come, sinner! join the Gospel-train":"Would you the Holy City gain;":"That you the journey may begin—":"The train is waiting—O step in!" ["Gospel Railroad, The", p. 361.]

References

Bibliography

*Bartlett, A.W., Capt. "History of the Twelfth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion". Concord, NH: Ira C. Evans, Printer (1897).
*Carter, N.F., Rev. "The Native Ministry of New Hampshire: The Harvesting of More Than Thirty Three Years". Concord, NH: Rumford Printing Co. (1906).
*Editors. "The Knickerbocker", Vol. L November, 1857 No. 6.," form "The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine", Samuel Hueston, 1857.
*"Gospel Railroad, The" pp 360-361, "The Christian Sentinel: or Soldiers' Magazine." London: Army Scripture Readers' and Soldiers' Friend Society. No. 131 (November 1, 1867) (Reprinted from "Our Children's Magazine", E.J.H).
*Lyon, John. "The Harp of Zion, A Collection of Poems &c." Liverpool: J. Sadler, 1853.
*Pike, G.D. "The Jubilee Singers and Their Campaign for Twenty Thousand Dollars", Lee And Shepard, Publishers, 1873.
*Waltz, Robert B; David G. Engle. " [http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/ballads/FSWB361A.html Get On Board, Little Children] ". "The Traditional Ballad Index: An Annotated Bibliography of the Folk Songs of the English-Speaking World". Hosted by [http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/ California State University, Fresno, Folklore] , 2007.