Wreck of the C & O Number Five, The

DESCRIPTION: "From Washington to Charlottesveile, then Staunton on the line Came the old Midwestern Limited...." The train hits a broken rail. It does not overturn, but veteran engineer Dolly Womack is killed by steam. He will pull a train in heaven
AUTHOR: Words: Cleburne C. Meeks / Music: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 6, 1920 - The westbound "Sportsman" train, redirected onto the eastbound track because of a derailment, hits a broken rail and crashes into a bank. Engineer Dolly Womack is partly buried in coal and scalded to death by steam
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LongSteelRail, pp. 236-239, "The Wreck of the C & O Number Five" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lyle-ScaldedToDeathByTheSteam, pp. 92-101, "The Wreck of C & O No. 5" (1 text, 1 tune, with the music labelled "The Wreck of the C& O No. 5" but the chapter heading being "The Wreck of C & O No. 5")
Roud #14023
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Wreck of the C & O Number Five" (Brunswick 117 [as by Al Craver], 1927); (Columbia 15135-D)
Cyril O'Brien, "The Wreck of the C&O No. 5" (on MUNFLA-Leach)
NOTES [62 words]: Inspired by his success with "Billy Richardson's Last Ride," which was also set to music by Carson J. Robison and recorded by Vernon Dalhart, Cleburne C. Meeks wrote his second poem about a train wreck which had occurred some years earlier. In this case, I rather suspect he intended it to use the tune of "Wabash Cannonball," but Robison again supplied Dalhart's tune. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.4
File: LSRai236

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