Digital Tradition Mirror

The Train that Never Returned

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The Train that Never Returned

I was going around the mountain, one cold winter day,
Watching the steam boil up high,
It was from a fast train on the C. and O. Railroad,
And the engineer waved me goodbye.

        Did she ever return! No, she never returned,
        Though the train was due at one.
        For hours and hours the watchman stood waiting,
        For the train that never returned.

His sweet little wife came up to the station,
Says last night my heart did yearn,
I dreamed last night and it's still on my memory,
I'm afraid she will never return.

Go back, sweet wife, said the drunken conductor,
As he waved his cap with delight,
If the wheels will roll, and engineer stays sober,
We will all reach home tonight.

From Ozark Folksongs, Randolph
Evidently an adaptation of "The Ship That Never Returned."
Contributed by Mrs. Lillian Short, Cabool, Mo., Aug. 8, 1940. Mrs.
Short got it fron Mrs. Joseph Pointer, also of Cabool.
DT #618
RG
oct96

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!