Wreck of the C & O Sportsman

DESCRIPTION: "Far away on the banks of New River, While the deep shades of twilight hunglow," engineer Haskell and fireman Anderson drive the trail. It goes off the train on a curve. The two are killed. The singer recalls the loved ones at home
AUTHOR: Bernice "Si" Coleman (1898-?) with Kyle Roop
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (recording, Si Coleman and his Railroad Ramblers)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 21, 1930 - The Sportsman wreck. Engineer Homer E. Haskell (who had been with the line 35 years) and fireman Henry G. Anderson are killed and three others injured
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lyle-ScaldedToDeathByTheSteam, pp. 163-170, "The Wreck of the Sportsman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-LongSteelRail, pp. 264-266, "The Wreck of the C & O Sportsman" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers (=Si Coleman and his Railroad Ramblers), "The Wreck of the C & O Sportsman" (Superior 2701, 1931
NOTES [38 words]: Cohen notes that this wreck "was possibly thel last to be memorialized in song" -- but hardly a popular one; fewer than 500 copies of the original disc were sold, and the odds that the song became traditional are very poor. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.6
File: LSRai264

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