Engine 143

[Verse 1]

Along came the FFV, the swiftest on the line

Running on that C&O road, just twenty minutes behind

Running into Sou'ville, headquarters on the line

Receiving very strict orders from a station just behind

[Verse 2]

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

She said, "My darling son, be careful how you run

There's many a man has lost his life in tryin' to make lost time

But if you run your engine right, you'll get there just on time"

[Verse 3]

Up the track she darted, into a rock she crashed

Upside down the engine turned and Georgie's breast did smash

His head lay against the firebox door, the flames were rolling high

I'm proud to be born for an engineer on the C&O road to die

[Verse 4]

The doctor said to Georgie, "My darling boy, be still

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

"Oh no," cried George, "This will not do, I'd rather die so free

I want to die for the engine I love, 143"

[Verse 5]

And the doctor said to Georgie, "Your life cannot be saved"

Murdered upon a railway and laid in a lonesome grave

His face was covered up with blood his eyes they could not see

And the very last words poor Georgie cried were "Nearer my God to thee"