Track to Knob Lake, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer signs a contract to spike three months on the Knob Lake track. Food is awful. After a month 18 men quit. Each day the first to finish has lots of food but none is left for the last. He still hopes to come back the next year.
AUTHOR: Albert Roche
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: railroading worker food
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 797-798, "The Track to Knob Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9811
RECORDINGS:
Gerald Campbell, "The Track to Knob Lake" (on PeacockCDROM)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
cf. "Twin Lakes" (lyrics)
cf. "The Bonavist Line" (theme)
NOTES [105 words]: First verse -- only -- is stolen from "Twin Lakes." Peacock says "the track to Knob Lake [is] a railroad pushed through the wilderness of central Quebec to rich deposits of iron ore." The track was laid in the 1950s. "In ballads of this type it is customary to complain about working and living conditions, and the composer does his best.... However, with planes flying the workers in and out I suspect that most Newfoundlanders never had it so good." - BS
If you're looking for Knob Lake on the map, it is usually marked "Lac Knob" on maps of Quebec; it is just on the Quebec side of the very irregular Quebec/Labrador border. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: Pea797

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