Digital Tradition Mirror

The C. & O. Wreck

The C.& O. Wreck

It was on a New Year's morning,
Nineteen hundred and thirteen,
Engine Eight Hundred and Twenty
Went down with fire and steam.

It was on this sad morning
At about eleven o'clock,
The C. & O. bridge at Guyandott (I)
Began to tremble and rock.

When the train reached Guyandott
The engineer was there;
Ed Webber was his name,
He had dark and wavy hair.

He pulled his engine to the bridge,
But the flagman he was there;
He held out the red as if to say,
"You may cross her if you dare."

Ed sat in his cab window
So peaceful and so fair;
He did not know that on the bridge
That death awaited him there.

Fireman Cook walked across the bridge
And stopped on the other side;
He did not know that Webber
Was taking his last ride.

Rufe Medders was the hridge foreman,
A kind good-hearted man;
He stood there giving orders
And signals with his hands.

His crew was working on the bridge,
But this I think you know,
A-working for their families,
And for the C. & O.

Brakeman Williams gave the signal
And the engine started on;
But when she hit that trestle
He knew that Webber was gone.

The bridge rocked for a moment,
And then went tumbling down;
They heard the engine crash below
With a sad and mournful sound. .

Conductor Lovelooked over the bridge
Then turned and bowed his head;
He knew that faithfui Webber
Was numbered with the dead.

Thirteen men were on the bridge,
And when the bridge went down,
Six of them were rescued,
Whiie seven of them were drowned.

Ed Webber was the engineer,
A brave and faithful man;
He went down on his engine
With the throttle in his hand.

His body was recovered
And placed beneath the sod
We trust that he is resting
With our Savior and our God.

Ed Webber left a loving wife
And eight little children dear;
May God protect and comfort them
While they remain down here.

Were those men religious?
This I do not know;
But when our Savior calls us
We surely have to go

God bless their families
Their dear old mothers, too;
God bless their brothers and sisters
As they journey onward through

Now all of us that see this song
Be good and be true;
For God has said in His own words
That death will visit you.

From Coombs
collected from William Back, KY
DT #736
Laws G4
RG
oct96

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!

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