The Wreck of the Old 97
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legacy / ballad
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Work/Lewey
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
On a cold frosty morning in the month of September
When the clouds were hanging low,
97 pulled out of the Washington station
Like an arrow shot out of a bow.
They handed him his orders in Munroe, Virginia
Saying, "Steve, you're way behind time.
This is not 38 but it's old 97,
You must put her into Spencer on time"
Well, Steve he turned to the black and greasy fireman
He said "Shovel on a little more coal
And when we get to old White Oak Mountain
You can watch old 97 roll."
It's a mighty long road from Lynchburg to Danville
And it lies on a three mile grade.
It was on that grade that he lost his air breaks
You could see what a jump that he made.
He was coming down the grade doing 90 miles an hour
When the whistle broke into a scream.
They found him in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
He was scalded to death by the steam.
The news was a-travelin' o'er the telegraph wire
and this is what it said,
"That brave engineer from Monroe Virginia
Is a layin' in the graveyard dead."
Now you railroad wives come and take warning
And this lesson you must learn:
Never speak harsh words to your true loving husband
He may leave you and never return.
"The Wreck of the Old 97" was an American rail disaster involving the<br> Southern Railway mail train #97 on September 27, 1903 while en route<br> from Monroe, Virginia, to Spencer, North Carolina. It was pulled by<br> 4-6-0 locomotive 1102. The engineer was Joseph "Steve" Brody.<br> The railway company was fined $100 for every 30 minutes that the mail<br> was delayed so mail trains were encouraged to proceed as fast as<br> possible. Due to excessive speed the train derailed at the Stillhouse<br> Trestle near Danville, Virginia where the train careened off the side<br> of the bridge, killing eleven on board personnel and injuring seven<br> others.<br> The ballad was sung to the tune of "The Ship That Never Returned",<br> written by Henry Clay Work in 1865. (The tune was also used for the<br> 1960s protest song "Charlie on the MTA", protesting fare increases<br> on the Boston Metropolitan Transit Authority which was recorded by the<br> Kingston Trio). Originally, the lyrics were attributed to Fred Jackson<br> Lewey and co-author Charles Noell. Lewey claimed to have written the<br> song the day after the accident, in which his cousin Albion Clapp was<br> one of the two fireman killed. Throughout the 1920's a number of people<br> claimed to have written the lyrics. Copyright ownership was eventually<br> granted to the Victor Talking Machine Company by the US Supreme Court.<br> An account of both the incident and the song is included in Katie Letcher<br> Lyle's book Scalded to Death by the Steam.<br> It is #777 in the Roud Folk Song Index.<br> Collector Paul Shue relates that when Vernon Dalhart and Carson Robison<br> went to New York to record this song, they had only an odd number of songs<br> prepared. They recorded "The Prisoner's Song" as the B side and it made the<br> record a best seller.<br> It was recorded by Roy Acuff, Pink Anderson, Johnny Cash, Vernon Dalhart,<br> Lonnie Donegan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Flatt & Scruggs, G. B. Grayson & Henry Whitter,<br> Woody Guthrie, Frank Hutchison, Pete Seeger, Kate Smith, Hank Snow and<br> many others.<br>
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