In eighteen eighty-five, on a cold and misty dawn, The Old 76 hurried through them hills, a coal train moanin’ on. Otis Harper at the throttle, with a heart so true and strong, Guidin’ that steel through the devil’s land, till the blues came rollin' along. The Old 76, she rolled too hard, jumped that track with a grate, Bridge gave way to a tragic fall and left poor Otis to his fate. Otis Harper, sunk into the deep and his soul in a fiery blaze, That coal train wail, a mournful sound, hauntin’ these lonesome days. The whistle howled like a hound dog’s cry, river risin’ below, Timbers cracked, the iron screamed, where them wild winds blow. The Old 76 shook and broke, a beast no man could hold, Otis wrestled that steel beast down, but the devil took his soul. The Old 76, she rolled too hard, jumped that track with a grate, Bridge gave way to a tragic fall and left poor Otis to his fate. Otis Harper, sunk into the deep and his soul in a fiery blaze, That coal train wail, a mournful sound, hauntin’ these lonesome days. Wreckage lay in twisted steel, coal turned the water black, Tears fell hard from the townsfolk’s eyes, no bringin’ Otis back. He was a man of grit and grace, worked that line with pride, Now the blues sing low for Otis, where that river runs wide. The Old 76, she rolled too hard, jumped that track with a grate, Bridge gave way to a tragic fall and left poor Otis to his fate. Otis Harper, sunk into the deep and his soul in a fiery blaze, That coal train wail, a mournful sound, hauntin’ these lonesome days. They rebuilt that bridge, but the story stays, Otis’ ghost still rides the line, Lantern swings in the midnight fog, an eerie, haunted sign. Folks say they hear his lonesome moan, where the Old 76 fell, A conductor’s cry in the coal dust, ringin’ like a bell. River hums a low-down tune, where the steel horse met its end, A poor man's tale in every rail, where sorrow, it won’t bend. The Old 76, it's last run lingers in the mist -- and the rain, Otis’s name carved in the blues, singin' that eternal refrain. The Old 76, she rolled too hard, jumped that track with a grate, Bridge gave way to a tragic fall and left poor Otis to his fate. Otis Harper, sunk into the deep and his soul in a fiery blaze, That coal train wail, a mournful sound, hauntin’ these lonesome days. Rest easy now, dear Otis, where the coal dust lays so still, That old iron horse sleeps with you forever on that lonesome hill. The blues keep singin’ your name, as the night turns cold and long, A tragic tale, in every note, where that doomed Old 76 does belong.
