Wreck of the Virginian Train No. 3, The

DESCRIPTION: "Just after the dawn of the morning, in the beautiful month of May, a farewell kiss had been planted On the cheeks of one who was brave." "Dad" Aldrich and his fireman are proud of their train, but die, because rail staff must make their runs when called
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, John McGhee)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 24, 1927- A freight train and Virginia Rail passenger train #3 collide near Ingleside, West Virginia. The fault was apparently that of the crew of the passenger train. Engineer "Dad" Aldrich, fireman Frank O'Neal, and one other are scalded to death; 22 are injured
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LongSteelRail, pp. 250-253, "The Weck of the Virginian Number Three" (1 text plus texts of two other songs about the same incident)
Lyle-ScaldedToDeathByTheSteam, p. 146, "The Wreck of the Virginian No. 3, by John McGhee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #14021
RECORDINGS:
John McGhee, "The Wreck of the Virginian Train No. 3" (Challenger 389, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wreck of the Virginian No. 3" (subject)
cf. "The Wreck of the Virginian Number Three" (subject)
NOTES [69 words]: Cohen observes three recorded songs about this accident (recorded and probably composed by Blind Alfred Reed, Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers, and John McGhee). There is, at best, limited evidence that any of them went into tradition.
This one can be distinguished from the other two "Virginian" songs by the "Just after the dawn of morning" first line and the description of the beautiful weather. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.6
File: LySc146

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