why did johnny cash like trains so much ?

Answer 1

i don't know but try this

Ride this Train

Inspired by his friend Merle Travis (whose Down Home is often regarded the first country concept album), Cash recorded the image-defining Ride This Train in 1960 and hasn’t stopped making his own great concept albums since. Contrary to what you’d expect, the album is not about trains. Instead it uses the train as transport—complete with sound effects—to take the listener on a tour of America, through space and time. His narration between songs, never drowned out by the loud trains behind him, is often as absorbing as the songs themselves.

Beginning with an amazing recitation of Native American tribe names, he then launches into the Merle Travis shovel-rhythm “Loading Coal” (written especially for the album), which creaks and groans with Cash’s authority. He takes on the voice of John Wesley Hardin in his own “Slow Rider”, then takes a tough turn through the Oregon timber in “Lumberjack” (the punch line: “Boy, ask a whistle pump. / I don’t know"). Other highlights include Tex Ritter’s “Boss Jack” (in which Cash takes on the voice of both slave and master in his hometown of Dyess, Arkansas), the naked tragedy “Dorraine of Ponchartrain”, and the nostalgic “When Papa Played the Dobro”.

The standout track, however, is “Going to Memphis” ("arranged and adapted by A. Lomax"), which gets real funky with chain-gang rhythm and one of the coolest vocal performances in Cash’s career ("Like a bitter weed, I’m a bad seed . . ."). Bonus tracks include Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Ballad of the Harpweaver”, the uncharacteristic sob story “Second Honeymoon” ("I’m alone on a second honeymoon"), and the minor novelty hit “Smiling Bill McCall” (a droll Nashville in-joke about hair loss). It’s a wonderful trip, and even if you’re riding blind between the baggage car and the mail car, even if you’re sprinting away from the railroad Pinkertons on your tail, these songs and narrations will stick to your ribs. Hell, Cash later even included a “Ride This Train” segment on his late ‘60s variety show which also detailed the struggles, tragedies, and comedies of working men and women in America.

Answer 2

Because they were a big part of his life when he was across seas at war. Watch the movie walk the line it will tell you that. They also represent freedom in the songs he sings about prisons.

Answer 3

his songs were often about trying to get away (prison etc)
so the train meant freedom (just a guess)

Answer 4

For the rythm. Trains have a rythm all their own.