Cincinnati Southern

The Cincinnati Southern
(by James Reams and Tina Aridas, BMI)

The Cincinnati Southern, Queen City’s finest line
Trains pull into Danville, delivering on time
Highball freight train rolling past old boom‐town shacks
On its way to Tennessee, a full load on its back

The train roared south from Union brought tools to mining towns Took the black coal back up north in shipments factory‐bound Through dark of night and blinding snow it toiled through many years
That sturdy iron workhorse was a rugged mountaineer

Chorus:
That last train out of town blew a long and lonesome cry
It carried away a memory, the steam train’s fading sigh
Those mighty locomotives that once roared down the tracks Snorting clouds of bellowing steam, now have silent stacks

That big hard‐working freight train went roaring towards the bridge Its coal was loaded heavy as it rounded the last ridge The hill was steep, the brakes were old, the track in disrepair The runaway train was gaining speed, the brakeman said a prayer
The crash was heard five miles away by miners in the town The thunder of destruction as the train came roaring down The townsfolk heard a mournful cry, a whistle in farewell
It was the steaming freight train as it rang its own death‐bell
{Chorus}
At a depot in Kentucky, a farewell at the door
A porter put her bags inside, a conductor yelled “All aboard”
The train pulled out, the bell rang twice, the day had just begun
How many trains would leave before the setting of the sun

The water tanks are empty now, the fireboxes gone
The south‐bound train has vanished and no longer sings its song
To stand beside the iron rails as the engine rumbles by
We watch it vanish down the tracks and sadly wave good‐bye

{Chorus}