The Freight Wreck at Altoona

[NorthCoast RR]

A poem I thought i'd share.....author unknown.

She had just left the point of Kittanning.,
The freight numbered twelve sixty-two,
And on down the mountain she traveled
And brave were the men in her crew.
The engineer pulled the throttle,
For the brakes wouldn't work when applied,
And the breakman climbed out on the car top,
For he knew that the whistle had cried.

With all the strength that God gave him
He tightened the brakes with a prayer,
But the train kept right on down the mountain,
And her whistle was piercing the air.
She traveled at sixty an hour,
Gaining speed every foot of the way;
And than with a crash it was over,
And there on the track the freight lay.

Its not the amount of the damage,
Or the value of what it all cost;
Its the sad tale that came from the cabin
Where the lives of two brave men were lost.
They were found at their posts in the wreckage,
They died with the engine that fell;
The engineer held to the whistle,
And the fireman to the rope on the bell.

This story is told of a freight train,
And it should be a warning to all,
You should be prepared every morning,
For you cannot tell when He'll call.



Thanks.

[maxman]

Apparently originally recorded in 1926: http://labornotes.org/2011/10/altoona-freight-wreck.

Musical version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XoB9DoRHxg

More modern singers here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODudxVNfGt4

[cuyama]

NorthCoast RR

A poem I thought i'd share.....author unknown.

Not correct. A quick Google search suggests that the author is Vernon Dalhart, a country singer of the early 20th Century. At least, he recorded it first in 1926. One may even find recordings on-line by Dalhart and others. 

[NorthCoast RR]

I didn't Google search....I sourced it from a hard copy of 'railroad magazine', June 1978. I guess at that time, this editor had no knowledge of the author.
Thanks for the clarity....long live N scale brother.