Wreck of the Virginian No. 3, The

DESCRIPTION: "On one Thursday morning, in the latter part of May, Old Number three left Roanoke station, it was on their fatal day." Engineer "Dad" Aldrich recalls his twenty years on this train. Another train missed an order; the trains collide. Hearers are warned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death warning
HISTORICAL REFERENCES: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, pp. 148-149, "The Wreck of the Virginian No. 3, by Roy Harvey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #14020
RECORDINGS:
Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers, "The Wreck of the Virginian No. 3" (Columbia 15174-D, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wreck of the Virginian Train No. 3" (subject)
cf. "The Wreck of the Virginian Number Three" (subject)
NOTES [74 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 "On one Thursday morning" first line and the detailed description of the missed order for the other train to take a siding. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.6
File: LySc148

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