Engine
143
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1. Along came the F15, the swiftest on the line,
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running o’er the C&O road
just twenty minutes behind,
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running into Cevile, head porters on the line,
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receiving
their strict orders from a station just behind.
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2. Georgie’s mother came to him with a bucket
on her arm,
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saying, “ My
darling son, be careful how you run.
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For many a man has lost his
life in trying to make lost time,
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and if you run your engine
right, you’ll get there just on time.”
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3. Up the road he darted, against the rocks he crushed,
E
upside
down the engine turned and Georgie’s breast did smash,
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his head was against the
firebox door, the flames are rolling high.
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“I’m glad I was born for an
engineer to die on the C&O road.”
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4. The doctor said to Georgie, “ My darling boy, be still,
E
your life may yet be saved, if
it is God’s blessed will.”
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“Oh no,” said George, “ that will not do, I want to die so free,
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I want to die for the engine I
love, one hundred and forty three.”
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5. The doctor said to Georgie, “ Your life cannot be saved,
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murdered upon a railroad and
laid in a lonesome grave.”
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His face was covered up with
blood, his eyes they could not see,
and the very last words poor Georgie said,
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was, “Nearer, my God, to
Thee.” (The Carter Family)