Engine 143 - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Along came the FFV, the swiftest on the line

Runnin' o’er the C&O road just twenty minutes behind

Runnin' into Seville headquarters on the line

Receiving their strict orders from a station just behind

Georgie’s mother came to him with a bucket on her arm

Sayin' my darlin' son, be careful how you run

It’s many a man who’s lost his life just tryin' to make lost time

And if you run your engine right, you’ll get there just on time

Up the road he darted, against the rocks he crushed

Upside down the engine turned and Georgie’s breast it smashed

His head was against the firebox door, the flames were rollin' high

I’m glad I was born for an engineer to die on the C&O road

The doctor said to Georgie, my darlin' boy lie still

Your life may yet be saved if it is God’s blessed will

Oh no, said George, that will not do, I want to die so free

I want to die for the engine I love, one-hundred and forty-three

The doctor said to Georgie, your life may not be saved

Murdered upon a railroad and laid in a lonesome grave

His head was covered up in blood and his eyes they could not see

And the very last words poor Georgie spoke was nearer my God to thee