Tex Beneke & Glenn Miller Orchestra - br Chattanooga Choo Choo br from "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941) br words by Mack Gordon, music by Harry Warren br br Pardon me, boy br Is that the Chattanooga choo choo? br Track twenty-nine br Boy, you can gimme a shine br I can afford br To board a Chattanooga choo choo br I've got my fare br And just a trifle to spare br br You leave the Pennsylvania Station 'bout a quarter to four br Read a magazine and then you're in Baltimore br Dinner in the diner br Nothing could be finer br Than to have your ham an' eggs in Carolina br br When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar br Then you know that Tennessee is not very far br Shovel all the coal in br Gotta keep it rollin' br Woo, woo, Chattanooga there you are br br There's gonna be br A certain party at the station br Satin and lace br I used to call "funny face" br She's gonna cry br Until I tell her that I'll never roam br So Chattanooga choo choo br Won't you choo-choo me home? br Chattanooga choo choo br Won't you choo-choo me home? br br History br This song was written by the team of Mack Gordon and Harry Warren while traveling on the Southern Railway's "Birmingham Special" train. The song tells the story of travelling from New York City to Chattanooga. However, the inspiration for the song was a small, wood-burning steam locomotive of the 2-6-0 type which belonged to the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, which is now part of the Norfolk Southern Railway system. That train is now a museum artifact. From 1880, most trains bound for America's South passed through the southeastern Tennessee city of Chattanooga, often on to the super-hub of Atlanta. The Chattanooga Choo Choo did not refer to any particular train, though some have incorrectly asserted that it referred to Louisville and Nashville's Dixie Flyer or the Southern Railway's Crescent Limited.