°- The Wreck of the Old 97 (1903)

[Spoken word Radio DJ talks quickly] "The Wreck of the Old 97" is a railroad ballad based on the true story of the Fast Mail train derailment on September 27, 1903, near Danville, Virginia. 11 people were killed and seven others injured when the train, running an hour late, plummeted off the Stillhouse Trestle into a ravine. Engineer Joseph "Steve" Broady was under pressure from Southern Railway's U.S. Post Office contract, which penalized for late deliveries. Eyewitnesses say the train was traveling between 50 and 80 mph—well above the 15 mph speed limit for that section—when it flew off a curve. Broady was found with his hand still on the throttle, having been "scalded to death by the steam" when the locomotive's boiler ruptured. The crash became a national sensation and inspired several poems and songs, which eventually coalesced into this famous ballad. [Spoken word Radio DJ talks quickly] The song has been recorded by dozens of artists, most notably by Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Snow. And now here's our own cover of that classic, "The Wreck of the Old 97". [Song begins] Well, they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia Sayin’, “Steve, you’re way behind time Because this ain’t Thirty-Eight, it’s Old Ninety-Seven— You got to put her into Danville on [Acapella singers] And it’s a mighty rough road from Lynchburg down to Danville On a line on a three-mile grade It was down that line he lost his air-brakes You can see what a jump he made [Verse 2] Well, Steve Grady said to his black, greasy fireman “Just shovel on a little more coal And when we pass them White Oak Mountains Just watch the Old Ninety-Seven roll” [Acapella singers] And it’s a mighty rough road from Lynchburg down to Danville On a line on a three-mile grade It was down that line he lost his air-brakes You can see what a jump he made [Verse 3] He was comin’ down that line makin [Verse 3] [Suspenseful, intense, danger] Yeah He was comin’, he was comin' He was comin' down that line makin’ ninety miles an hour (ninety!) When the whistle broke into a scream [train whistle screams, people scream] Yeah, they found him in the wreck with his hand upon the throttle He’d been scalded to death by steam [Acapella singers] Oh [Acapella singers] Oh it’s a mighty rough road from Lynchburg down to Danville (oh yeah!) On a line on a three-mile grade (ohhh) It was down that line he lost his air-brakes Oh! You can see what a jump he made! [Verse 4] [Earnest] Well, come on now, all you ladies From this time on, now learn Don’t you ever say harsh words to your true-lovin’ husband He may leave you and never return [Acapella singers] And it’s a mighty rough road from Lynchburg down to Danville On a line on a three-mile grade It was down that line he lost his air-brakes You can see what a jump he made "Just shovel on a little more coal And when we pass them White Oak Mountains Just watch the Old Ninety-Seven roll” Just watch the Old Ninety-Seven roll” To it's final end