Engine 143

[Verse 1]
Along came the FFV, the swiftest on the line
Coming down the C&O road twenty minutes behind
Coming into Seville headquarters on the line
Receiving strict orders from the station just behind

[Verse 2]
Georgie's mother came to him with a bucket on her arm
She said, "My darling boy, be careful how you run
It's many a man who has lost his life just trying to make lost time
And if you run your engine right, you'll get there just on time"

[Verse 3]
And up the road she darted, into the rocks she crashed
The engine car turned upside down, and Georgie's breast, it smashed
His head lay against the firebox door, and the flames were rolling high
I'm proud to be born an engineer, on the C&O road to die

[Verse 4]
The doctor said to Georgie, "My darling boy, be still
Your life may yet be saved if it is God's precious will"
"Oh no, oh no," he cried so loud, "I long to die so free
I long to die for the engine I love, one hundred and forty-three"

[Verse 5]
The doctor said to Georgie, "Your life cannot be saved"
Murdered out on the railway and laid in a lonesome grave
His face was covered up in blood, his eyes, they could not see
And the very last words that Georgie spoke were, "Nearer, my God, to Thee"