Steam Engine Blues

Note to the reader: Steam locomotives were often referred to by their
wheel configuration. Thus an engine with 2 guide wheels, 8 drive wheels,
and 4 wheels in the rear for weight support, would be called a 2-8-4.
Here's a quiz: What is the wheel configuration of the starring locomotive
in the old Burt Lancaster flick 'The Train'?

Steam Engine Blues

I forget where it was I first saw you,
It was either New Hampshire or Maine.
But I’ll never forget what you looked like
as you stepped off that big southbound train.

We only got to talk for a minute,
I was married back then, so were you.
But you smiled as you rolled by in the club car,
Bein’ pulled by that old 2-6-2.

Now I’m settin’ down here with the poor folks;
They say I’m lazy, and I drink too much booze.
But it’s unfair to rush me to judgment,
‘cause I’m a victim of the steam engine blues.

I had my next gig down in Memphis,
I had a guitar, and I drove them old Fords.
But they fired me; they thought I was a picker,
And they found out I could barely play chords.

So I moseyed on down to the rail yards,
I had thirty-five bucks, and no more.
I got lucky and hopped into a boxcar.
It was hooked up to a big 4-8-4.

Now I’m settin’ down here in the train yard
With the friends and companions I choose.
You can call me a homeless old wino,
But I’m a victim of the steam engine blues.

Well it wasn’t too bad in that freight car;
we had a fire on the floor, and some wine.
There was an old black man there from New Orleans,
And he said, “Lordy, but ain’t this place fine!”

We got thrown off that boxcar in Dallas,
I was cold, and had no place to go.
Imagine my surprise when I saw you,
You were standin’ by a black 2-8-0.

Now I’m settin’ down here in the train yard
With the friends and companions I choose.
You can call me a homeless old wino,
But I’m a victim of the steam engine blues.

Well I left out of Texas for Phoenix,
And I hoboed in the west for a year.
I tried to get better at the guitar,
While subsisting on hot dogs and beer.

The last time we met was Wyoming,
They were clampin’ down your coffin door.
They took a forklift and set it on a flatcar,
And pulled it off with a 4-6-6-4.

Now I’m settin’ down here with the poor folks;
They say I’m lazy, and I drink too much booze.
But it’s unfair to rush me to judgment,
‘cause I’m a victim of the steam engine blues.
Just a victim of the steam engine blues.