The composer enjoys travelling around Europe by train. Trains have been his hobby since boyhood days - the days of steam engines. He saw a little train climbing the Col de la Croix Haute between Grenoble and Sisteron when on holiday in France in 1992.
The train pops in and out of tunnels and occasionally crosses the road. It struggles to the summit and then rolls happily down the other side of the mountain.
It seemed to be rolling along to a ragtime rhythm... which became RAILROAD RAG.
