The Red Arrow (v3)

Verse 1
It left Pittsburgh after midnight, running late along the line,
Steam rolling through the winter dark, chasing borrowed time.
Two engines pulled her eastbound load through fog and frozen air,
Toward Altoona’s mountain grade where caution’s learned the hard way there.
Verse 2
They crossed the summit west of Gallitzin, started down the hill,
Where gravity keeps calling even when the brakes are still.
Bennington Curve lay just ahead, a limit posted plain,
Thirty miles for safety’s sake, but speed was hard to rein.
Chorus
Oh the Red Arrow left the rails
In the early morning gloom,
Crossed the tracks and broke apart
And fell to meet her doom.
Steel and mail and shattered cars
Lay scattered down the hill,
And twenty-four lives paid the cost
At Bennington Curve still.
Verse 3
She hit the turn too fast to hold, the engines lifted free,
Tore across the mainline tracks and fell through brush and tree.
Eleven cars were thrown aside, the rest stood frozen fast,
While lanterns swung and voices called out from the darkened past.
Verse 4
Mail clerks pinned beneath their load, passengers in pain,
No road could reach the wreck that night, the rescue came by train.
Doctors rode the rails at dawn where steam lay cold and thin,
Trying to pull the living clear from twisted steel and sin.
Chorus
Oh the Red Arrow left the rails
Where the mountain tightens fast,
Too much speed, too heavy weight,
Too little time at last.
The sun came up on broken steel,
On engines bent and still,
And the mountain kept its silence
At Bennington Curve hill.
Verse 5
The verdict named no broken rail, no signal out of place,
Just speed upon a deadly curve and seconds lost to haste.
They cleared the wreck, relaid the track, the trains rolled on once more,
But the mountain keeps its memory of forty-seven’s score.
Final Chorus
So remember when you hear the rails
Sing low through Altoona town,
Of a winter night in forty-seven
When the Red Arrow went down.
Speed is cheap, but lives are dear,
The lesson stands there still—
The mountain never bends for steel,
And neither does the hill.

2076/7500

Verse 1 It left Pittsburgh after midnight, running late along the line, Steam rolling through the winter dark, chasing borrowed time. Two engines pulled her eastbound load through fog and frozen air, Toward Altoona’s mountain grade where caution’s learned the hard way there. Verse 2 They crossed the summit west of Gallitzin, started down the hill, Where gravity keeps calling even when the brakes are still. Bennington Curve lay just ahead, a limit posted plain, Thirty miles for safety’s sake, but speed was hard to rein. Chorus Oh the Red Arrow left the rails In the early morning gloom, Crossed the tracks and broke apart And fell to meet her doom. Steel and mail and shattered cars Lay scattered down the hill, And twenty-four lives paid the cost At Bennington Curve still. Verse 3 She hit the turn too fast to hold, the engines lifted free, Tore across the mainline tracks and fell through brush and tree. Eleven cars were thrown aside, the rest stood frozen fast, While lanterns swung and voices called out from the darkened past. Verse 4 Mail clerks pinned beneath their load, passengers in pain, No road could reach the wreck that night, the rescue came by train. Doctors rode the rails at dawn where steam lay cold and thin, Trying to pull the living clear from twisted steel and sin. Chorus Oh the Red Arrow left the rails Where the mountain tightens fast, Too much speed, too heavy weight, Too little time at last. The sun came up on broken steel, On engines bent and still, And the mountain kept its silence At Bennington Curve hill. Verse 5 The verdict named no broken rail, no signal out of place, Just speed upon a deadly curve and seconds lost to haste. They cleared the wreck, relaid the track, the trains rolled on once more, But the mountain keeps its memory of forty-seven’s score. Final Chorus So remember when you hear the rails Sing low through Altoona town, Of a winter night in forty-seven When the Red Arrow went down. Speed is cheap, but lives are dear, The lesson stands there still— The mountain never bends for steel, And neither does the hill.

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