Engine One-Forty-Three

Along came the F.F.V.
The swiftest on the line
Running o'er the C & O road
Just twenty minutes behind
Running into Seville
Headquarters on the line
Receiving their strict orders
From a station just behind

Georgie's mother came to him
With a bucket on her arm
Saying my darling son
Be careful how you run
For many a man has lost his life
In trying to make lost time
And if you run your engine right
You'll get there just on time

Up the road he darted
Against the rocks he crushed
Upside down the engine turned
And Georgie's breast did smash
His head was against the firebox door
The flames were rolling high
I'm glad I was born for an engineer
To die on the C & O line

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, said George, that will not do
I want to die so free
I want to die for the engine I love
One hundred and forty three

The doctor said to Georgie
Your life cannot be saved
Murdered upon a railroad
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 said
Was "Nearer My God to Thee."