Engine 143: Oral History in Action!

[Nucular]

I don’t know if this will be of interest to, well, anyone at all, but I wanted a place to write down what I found out about this song, and if it did interest anyone, feel free to correct me, or add what you know

Anyway, I watched Walk the Line the other night, a film about Johnny Cash (jolly good film actually, brilliantly done imo) and at the very beginning there’s about three seconds of an old folk song I recognised – Engine 143. I know it by Joan Baez (it was on Joan Baez Volume 2), but the version that’s on the film was the Carter Family one, recorded about 1929. It was always a song that interested me, because apart from the fact that it’s such a brilliant song, so beautifully sung by Baez, it seems to hint at real events, something that happened once, sometime, some place, that’s just about forgotten, but for this one song.

The lyrics as I know them from the Baez version don’t contain really enough information on their own to research – a guy named Georgie, a place, an engine number, but all Googling turned up were the song lyrics. Here they are actually – this is the Carter Family version, but it was absolutely faithfully covered by Joan Baez, so it’s both really:

Engine One-Forty-Three
Along came the FFV the swiftest on the line,
Running o'er the C&O road just twenty minutes behind,
Running into Cevile, head porters on the line,
Receiving their strict orders from a station just behind.

Georgie's mother came to him with a bucket on her arm,
Saying, "My darling son be careful how you run.
For many a man has lost his life in trying to make lost time,
And if you run your engine right you'll get there just on time."

Up the road he darted, against the rocks he crushed,
Upside down the engine turned and Georgie's breast did smash.
His head was against the firebox door, the flames are rolling high,
"I'm glad I was born an engineer on the C&O road to die."

The doctor said to Georgie, "My darling boy, be still,
Your life may yet be saved if it is God's blessed will."
"Oh no," said George, "that will not do -- I want to die so free,
I want to die for the engine I love, one hundred and forty three."

The doctor said to Georgie, "Your life cannot be saved."
Murdered upon the railroad and laid in a lonesome grave,
His face was covered up with blood, his eyes they could not see,
And the very last words poor Georgie said was, "Nearer, my God, to thee."

So poor Georgie chose to die for his beloved engine, which he crashed by driving like a nutcase. My interest was really piqued, I guess, because there are names of people, places and trains – surely something happened along these lines? Surely it couldn’t have been just made up?

As I said, searching on these terms only produced more reprints of the same lyrics, so that was a dead end. I also have a few books of and about folk songs on my shelf, but none refer to this one. Neither does anything I’ve got by or about Joan Baez. But what I did discover was another, longer, version, with more detail! I can’t remember exactly how I found it, but here are those lyrics:

The Wreck on the C & O

SOURCE:
Bob Pfeffer
SOURCE'S SOURCE: JH Cox, Folk Songs of the South (Harvard 1925) + ?
COMMENTS: [AKA: The FFV Events of 23 Oct 1890: landslide 3 miles
east of Hinton, W. Va.

D D7 G D
Along came the FFV, the fastest on the line,
D E7 A7
Running along the C&O Road, twenty minutes behind the time
D D7 G D
Running into Sewall Yard, was quartered on the line
D E7 A7 D
Awaiting their strict orders to bring her in on time.

And when she blew for Hinton, her engineer was there
George Alley was his name, with bright and wavery hair
His fireman, Jack Dickerson, was standing by his side
Receiving their strict orders, and in the cab to ride.

George Alley's mother came to him with a basket on her arm
She handed him a letter saying "Be careful how you run
For many a man has lost his life trying to make up lost time
But if you run your engine right you'll get there just on time."

George Alley said, "Dear mother, your letter I'll take heed
I know my engine is all right and I know that she will speed
So o'er this road I mean to run with speed unknown to all
And when I blow for Clifton Forge, they'll surely hear my call.

George Alley said to his fireman, "Jack, a little extra steam;
I intend to run old Number 4 the fastest ever seen;
So o'er this road I mean to fly like angels' wings unfurled,
And when I blow for the Big Bend Tunnel, they'll surely hear my call."

George Alley said to his fireman, "Jack, a rock ahead I see,
And I know that death is lurking there for to grab both you and me
So from this cab, dear Jack do fly, your darling life to save
For I want you to be an engineer while I'm sleeping in my grave."

"Oh no, dear George! That will not do, I want to die with you."
"Oh no, dear Jack, that will not be; I'll die for you and me."
So from the cab poor Jack did leap, New River was running high,
And he kissed his hand to George as Number 4 flew by.

So up the road she dashed, against the rock she crashed
The engine turning upside down, and the coaches coming last
George Alley's head in the firebox lay, while the burning flames rolled high
"I'm glad I was born an engineer, on the C&O road to die."

George Alley's mother came to him and in sorrow she did sigh
When she looked upon her darling boy and saw that he must die
"Too late, too late, dear mother! my doom is almost o'er
And I know that God will let me in when I reach that golden shore."

The doctor said, "Dear George, O darling boy, be still
Your life may yet be spared, if it is God's blessed will."
"Oh no, dear doc, that cannot be, I want to die so free.
I want to die on the engine I love, 143."

The doctor said, "Dear George, your life cannot be saved.
Murdered upon a railroad, and laid in a lonesome grave."
His face was covered up with blood, his eyes they could not see.
And the very last words that ever he spoke were, "Nearer my God to Thee."

Now there’s the detail I wanted! Full names, even (on the webpage), a date. The places are different, almost like they’ve been misheard at some point, and we have more sense than the shorter version can give us, more blow-by-blow action, as it were.

This, then, was the key to finding out what really happened, and why the song was written. Searching some of these terms, of course, brought up more versions of the lyrics, but also some unconnected newspaper articles from that very date – October 23rd 1890 – held in archive. They’re all from the newspapers local to West Virginia – and here they are:

From the Huntington Daily Advertiser, October 23rd 1890,

Accident to the F. F. V.
The report reached the city this morning that train No. 4, (the vestibuled) had been derailed a short distance east of Hinton, and the investigation by the ADVERTISER shows that there was an accident to this train, but not so bad as at first rumored.
At about 5 o'clock this morning the train ran into a rock, which had rolled on the track from the mountain above, two miles east of Hinton. The train was running at good speed, and the collision caused the engine and express and postal cars to be derailed. The engine was badly damaged, and in overturning caught the engineer, George Alley, of Clifton Forge, well known here, in some of the machinery, breaking his right arm and scalding him so severely that he died six hours after the accident occurred.
Two firemen, who were on the engine were also scalded but sustained no other injuries. No one else, either of the crew or passengers, was injured, though all of them had a shaking up and a bad scare. No particular damage was done to the passenger cars and at 9:30 the track was cleared and the train started east.

From the Greenbrier Independent, October 30th 1890:

Fatal Railroad Accident
On Thursday morning last as the Eastbound Vestibule train was coming round a curve near the mouth of Greenbrier river, a short distance this side of Hinton, it ran upon a rock that had fallen upon the track from an overhanging cliff. The engine, tender, baggage car and postal car were derailed. The engineer, Mr. George W. Alley, of Clifton Forge, Va., had his left arm broken in two places and right leg in one place, besides being terribly scalded. Mr. Alley's injuries proved fatal - he dying about six hours after the accident. Mr. Alley was a son of Capt. L. S. Alley, of Alderson, and was well and favorably known to many of our readers. He was about 30 years of age, and leaves a wife and two or three small children. The fireman, Lewis Withrow, of Hinton, was badly scalded on his arms, neck and side, but not dangerously. None of the passengers were hurt.

From the Monroe Watchman (or Hinton Independent?), October 30th 1890:

Accident to the Vestibule
This morning, as the east bound vestibule train was going round a curve near the mouth of Greenbrier river, it ran into a rock that had fallen from the cliff, and the engine, tender, baggage car and postal car were derailed, the baggage car and tender going over embankment. Three of the train men were injured, on of them fatally, but none of the passengers were hurt. The injured are:
Engineer Geo. Alley, of Clifton Forge, left arm broken in two places, right leg broken, and terribly scalded. He died at 11 o'clock this morning.
Fireman Lewis Withrow, of Hinton, badly scalded on the arms, neck and side.
Fireman S. Foster, of Staunton, badly bruised. Foster was an extra fireman on his way home.
The passengers had a narrow escape as but for the slackening of the train's speed at the curve, all the coaches would have gone over the embankment into the river. The railroad company should have extra watchmen at the points of the road where land slips are likely to occur, in such weather as we had last night, and perhaps some of these costly accidents might be avoided.

So there it is! There was a real event behind the song, and it was preserved in oral tradition! George Alley was an engineer on the Eastbound Vestibule train number 4. Trying to “make lost time”, he must have pushed the engine as hard as he could, and seeing the rock caused by a landslide on the line, remained steadfast to slow the train as much as he could, to save the passengers, who would have ended in the swollen river. He was badly hurt, and died after several hours of asking for his family. Georgie was a hero, and was remembered in the traditional way – a ballad written in his memory.

It fascinates me that not only was there a story behind it, but also that the story was recoverable, 116 years and hundreds of miles away.

There are some loose ends – I haven’t been able to find any trace of the fireman named Jack Dickerson. The articles mention the names of several firemen, but not him. I guess the ballad has embroidered somewhat – his mother visiting (the newspapers say he asked for his family throughout the five hours he survived, but they didn’t make it), and his choosing to die must perhaps be a romanticising of the fact that he died from injuries that wouldn’t necessarily have been fatal. I also would like to see the type of train it was (FFV?), and I think I found the place on Google Earth, with the Greenbrier River (which was maybe colloquially called the New River, “runnin’ high”), and Hinton nearby, but it’d be interesting to know if there’s still a railway there. I did find some stuff about the C&O Road (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway) here, which confirms some of the details, but I’ll carry on looking for other stuff when I take another break from all this horrible work they make me do. But also, where did the number 143 come from? And I wonder if some of the details in the song which aren’t reported in the newspapers might be actual extra details which only exist in the oral transmission of the events – Georgie telling his fireman to jump clear, his mother’s role, etc.

The song itself is great too, and I’m interested in other versions – as far as I can tell, the recorded versions are all the slightly cut garbled Carter Family version, but it’s been done by, as well as the Carter Family and Baez, Johnny Cash, Hamper McVee, the Kossoy Sisters, Doc Watson (as ‘The FFV’), Austin Harmon (as ‘George Allen’), to name but a few, so I’m going to see if I can slowly collect them somehow.

It can be played moderately well on the guitar – I haven’t a clue how to do the Carter flatpick (Maybelle Carter actually invented that style, and at least Baez does it exactly the same), but I can bash it out using just A, D and E, and, well, it’s fun And wasn’t it Woody Guthrie who said, if you use more than three chords in a song, you’re just showing off?

So anyway, as I said, I just wanted a place to put everything I found, to download it from my head before the file corrupts, but if anyone has anything to add, I’d be interested in anything you know that I don’t to fuel this strange obsession I seem to be developing.

Edited for formatting.

 

[Freethinker]

From genealogical references, George W. Alley was born about 1861, and his father Leonidis was also an engineer. His brother Charles was a fireman. (as of 1880).

Dickerson was probably made up as in the real story the on-duty fireman was scalded as well, not likely if he jumped. Made Alley seem more heroic as the only one to ride the engine to the end.

 

[Nucular]

From genealogical references, George W. Alley was born about 1861, and his father Leonidis was also an engineer. His brother Charles was a fireman. (as of 1880).

Interesting, I didn't think of going down the genealogical route

Dickerson was probably made up as in the real story the on-duty fireman was scalded as well, not likely if he jumped. Made Alley seem more heroic as the only one to ride the engine to the end.

Good point. Though it does seem strange to me that they would make a whole character up, name and all, when two firemen were actually named in the local papers. Perhaps it shows that the writer of the song wasn't drawing on the newspapers as sources. Or maybe someone called Jack Dickerson was somehow involved?

A look around finds a Dickerson family in West Virginia (trouble is, 'Jack' can be a version of several different names, or even just a nickname); it also finds a couple of Jack Dickersons alive at the right time but probably not the right place (one died in Texas in 1929, and is intriguingly described on his tombstone "Wagoner 509 Engin Serv Bn").

Another possibility is that it's an in-joke reference from a later version to the Jack Dickerson mentioned on this page, who was a bluegrass singer/songwriter.

 

[Freethinker]

FFV= "Fast Flying Virginian" per this site: http://www.wvculture.org/history/timetrl/ttoct.html

Also, per that site, Alley was pinned inside the engine until he died asking for his family who arrived shortly after he died.

Sure seems like the stuff from which legends are made. Add in him making the fireman jump to safety, and you have a genuine hero.

As an aside, the FFV ran from 1889 to 1968. Wilbur Wright traveled on and transported most of the components of the first Wright plane on the FFV out of Cinncinatti in 1900 when he went to Kitty Hawk.

 

[Hutch]

Great stuff, nucular, I enjoyed reading your discovery of the history here.

But also, where did the number 143 come from?

Probably the number of the Engine; most of the old steam locomotives had their production number on the front for identification purposes, and were often known by that number.

One thing that stuck me was in one of the verses:

And when I blow for the Big Bend Tunnel, they'll surely hear my call."

Because that reminded of the ballad of John Henry (that steel drivin' man, Lord, Lord). One of the versions I heard as a young man (there are many many versions of the song, had a line that said:

Some say he's from Georgia,
Some say he's from Alabam,

But it's wrote on the rock at the Big Ben Tunnel,

That he's an East Virginia Man,

That he's an East Virginia man.

and another version i recall (dimly) was:

..said the Big Ben Tunnel on the C&O route...

So there is connections; between one of the greater legends of railroading and this not well-known ballad of a 1890 train wreck.

Thanks for the thread, Nuc.

 

[Cleon]

Thanks for a fascinating thread, Nuc. I listen to/sing/play songs like this all the time, it's kinda fun learning about the history behind them.

If you're interested, Carter-style flatpicking isn't that difficult; you're basically doing a standard country/bluegrass bass-strum while alternating the bass notes and occasionally picking out a simply melody. Johnny Cash's guitar style is very similar.

A lot of folk songs actually have a historical basis to them, even if the song isn't always historically accurate. Off the top of my head:

Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley
Songs about outlaws (Jesse James, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc)
Titanic ("It was sad, it was sad, it was sad when that great ship went down")
Pretty much anything by Woody Guthrie

There's some debate about whether John Henry (the steel drivin' man) was actually a historical person or just a folk legend; ditto for John Hardy (a desperate little man, carried two guns every day). Some people even think they might be the same person. Both songs have many different versions that vary wildly in their details.

A great site for this sort of stuff is the MudCat Cafe, which includes a huge list of folk song lyrics as well as discussion forums and other resources.

 

[Nucular]

FFV= "Fast Flying Virginian" per this site: http://www.wvculture.org/history/timetrl/ttoct.html

Ah, Fast Flying Virginian - knowing that now, there's a lot of stuff about the trains and the line out there (I couldn't figure out what it stood for, I was searching 'vestibular' for the V).

In fact, here's a 1909 photo of the Number 4 C&O line - could this be the actual train? I don't know how the numbering system works, but the clippings mention the train was back on the tracks by the end of the day, which suggests it wasn't a write-off.

I've been doing a bit of searching around on the C&O Historical Society site to see if they've got anything - it surprises me actually that they don't seem to have anything directly related to this incident or the song, I'd have thought it would be something they'd be very interested in. Nevertheless, there's a whole load of stuff on there to do with the history of the line, the trains, the places, etc. Just wish I had more time!

They have a lot of old photos online, which are interesting - that's where I found the 1909 picture of Number 4. But there seems to be no reference anywhere on the site to a Number 143; the only place that number is mentioned is the song itself, which I find slightly odd. In what sense could the train be "old Number 4" and "one hundred and forty three"?

Re: Jack Dickerson the fireman, I'm still ticking that one over. As you mentioned, Freethinker, a different on-duty fireman is mentioned in the newspapers, and he probably didn't jump, given that he was scalded. But why "Jack Dickerson"? For one thing, if a made-up name was going there, "Jack Dixon" would fit better, I think - when you sing that version, it's hard to make it sound right, it doesn't scan. Though that could just be me. And I'm stil intrigued by the Texan Jack Dickerson, whose gravestone reads "Wagoner 509 Engin Serv Bn" - sounds railwayish to me. But yes, right time, wrong place.

 

[Nucular]

Because that reminded of the ballad of John Henry (that steel drivin' man, Lord, Lord).

Now that's interesting! I know the song, and had made no such connection - I can't remember off-hand if the couple of Guthrie versions I have include that line, I'll have to go back and check - but yes, "Big Ben Tunnel", in conjunction with C&O and East Virginia must refer to the same place.

And again from the C&O Historical Society, here's a picture of the very tunnel (taken 1931); and here it is again today, now apparently called the Great Bend Tunnel.

Cheers, Hutch

 

[Nucular]

If you're interested, Carter-style flatpicking isn't that difficult; you're basically doing a standard country/bluegrass bass-strum while alternating the bass notes and occasionally picking out a simply melody. Johnny Cash's guitar style is very similar.

When I get more time, I'll have a good old proper go to see if I can do a pale imitation I have no natural aptitude for the guitar, and little patience, but I can bash out a few tunes, and this is one I'd love to be able to do properly.

A lot of folk songs actually have a historical basis to them, even if the song isn't always historically accurate.

Excellent, when I've done this one to death, if I haven't already, I might start on some of those But it's always so interesting I think to find what's underneath these songs - and especially when the connections might not have been made yet, or not be commonly known. In the same (or, well, similar) tradition, some of Dylan's early 'protestiest' protest songs were culled from the headlines of the day - and weirdly, what with all the Dylan anoraks there are about, some of them are almost as hard to find stuff about.

A great site for this sort of stuff is the MudCat Cafe, which includes a huge list of folk song lyrics as well as discussion forums and other resources.

Oh, wow, thanks Cleon - that looks like a brilliant site! I stumbled across it before, but didn't really see what it was, but now you've drawn attention to it I can see there's so much stuff on there - I'll never do a stroke of work again!

Something I did just find on there is a laugh-out-loud pastiche of this very song in question, apparently sung by Dave van Ronk:

GEORGIE ON THE IRT (parody on Engine 143)
(Words: Lawrence Block; tune: Trad.)

Along came the IRT, a'cannon ballin' through
From 242nd Street to Flatbush Avenue
At 5:15 one Friday Eve, she pulled into Times Square
The people all filled the station, and Georgie he was there.

The people all filled the station, they milled and massed around
And Georgie looked upon that train and it was Brooklyn bound
He vowed at once that train to board, the weekend not to roam
For Georgie was a shipping clerk and Brooklyn was his home.

The people all filled the station, a million head or more
George used his elbows and his knees until he reached the door
But when he reached those portals, he could not take the gaff
The conductor shut the door on him and cut poor George in half

The train pulled out of Times Square, the swiftest on the line
It carried poor George's head along, but it left his body behind
Poor Georgie died a hero's death, a legend [martyr] plain to see
And the very last words poor Georgie said were "Screw the IRT"

Now when you ride the IRT and you approach Times Square
Incline your head a few degrees and say a silent prayer
For his body it lies between the ties, amidst the dust and dew
And his head it rides the IRT to Flatbush Avenue.

Recorded by: Dave Van Ronk on Folkways
(Reissued on Smithsonian Dave Van Ronk CD SOF 40041)

Tune: Engine 143 (aka F.F.V) by The Carter Family

 

[Freethinker]

here's a 1909 photo of the Number 4 C&O line - could this be the actual train? I don't know how the numbering system works, but the clippings mention the train was back on the tracks by the end of the day, which suggests it wasn't a write-off.

You've got to remember that the train would have been pulled by different engines, sometimes even on the same run. One article mentioned tenders derailed, but didn't say the coaches had derailed. Also, one article mentions that it was engine 134 that derailed, and the song transposed the digits. Maybe 143 rhymed better where they needed it.

... I'm stil intrigued by the Texan Jack Dickerson, whose gravestone reads "Wagoner 509 Engin Serv Bn" - sounds railwayish to me. But yes, right time, wrong place.

Sounds military to me, Engineer Service Battalion.

 

[Nucular]

You've got to remember that the train would have been pulled by different engines, sometimes even on the same run. One article mentioned tenders derailed, but didn't say the coaches had derailed.

Ah yes - I'm picturing a 'train' as just this one entity, not considering that it's distinct from its engine.

Also, one article mentions that it was engine 134 that derailed, and the song transposed the digits. Maybe 143 rhymed better where they needed it.

Whereabout is that Freethinker? I'm not seeing it in the ones I posted, or that you linked to - but I have sleepy eyes today after pulling an all-nighter, so maybe it's right there in front of me.

Sounds military to me, Engineer Service Battalion.

Yes, that's convincing. In fact, I'd say conclusive, as a Googl search on "serv bn" brings up military reference, including "Sig Serv Bn" (Signals Service Battalion, presumably) - well that's that Jack Dickerson out of the picture, he's got nowt going for him at all then, wrong place and wrong job. Sad a man who served his country is stuck in a Texan black graveyard the condition of which is described as "deplorable" though, even if he's not in a supporting role in our ballad

 

[Nucular]

One article mentioned tenders derailed, but didn't say the coaches had derailed. Also, one article mentions that it was engine 134 that derailed, and the song transposed the digits.

Thought I'd found a reference to it then, Engine 134, on a train wreck site - but this is 1921, and the 'wreck' was a broken hand rail that caused the crew to fall out I have a comedy image in my mind, hope it wasn't tragic. Anyway, I think 134 must be an unlucky number for trains

 

[Freethinker]

Whereabout is that Freethinker? I'm not seeing it in the ones I posted, or that you linked to - but I have sleepy eyes today after pulling an all-nighter, so maybe it's right there in front of me.

Here among other places http://rush2jc.50megs.com/1023.html

On this day in 1890, the 134 Engine of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad crashed on a boulder near Hinton, West Virginia. The engineer George Alley was killed. A railroad-wreck song evolved, turning the number around to “Engine 143.”

I still bet Dickerson was made up. Otherwise the songwriter would have been accusing a fireman who stayed with the train of jumping out. I'll go look some more.

 

[Harpoon]

Engine 143

I remember "Engine 143" from the early '60s when I attended the Defense Language Institute (former Army Language School) in Monterey, Calif.
Most of the students at DRI had a couple of years of college, but I was right out of high school and impressed by the "older" men.
A friend who was over 21 took me to a bar/cafe next to the Steinbeck Theater close by the Monterey Pier. As he drank his pitcher of beer and I my soft drink, he nodded toward a nearby table. "That's Joan Baez," he said.
I didn't know who Joan Baez was, as the only "folk music" I had heard up until then was sung by Burl Ives or the Kingstone Trio. When we got back to the barracks, he played Baez's Volume 2 for me. Her voice was the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
I loved her music until it got too political for me.
A few years back, I bought a CD of Baez's volume 2. I was disappointed because there was some very interesting information about each song on the back of the jacket that was not included with the modern CD.
Here's what I recall from Baez's description of the history behind "Engine 143" (I'm sure you'll be skeptical of my memory after 40 years and the accuracy of album-jacket history in the first place)
The FFV was the Fast Flying Vestibule. Georgie Allen's father was an engineer who had died in a railroad accident while Georgie was a teenager. Partly to help the family and partly because of Georgie's merits, the C&0 made him an engineer at an unusually young age. But Georgie was well-known along the line and his death caused a lot of turmoil. The song dramatized the danger faced on the railroad and became very popular. Newspapers picked up the cause and it eventually led to the first federal law that regulated workplace safety -- I presume that was the act passed in 1883 to require trains to have air brakes.
Haven't ever taken the time to research that aspect of the song -- but that's what I remember.

 

[Nucular]

Harpoon, (as I mentioned in the pm I sent you), thanks for your contribution!

Your recollection of the original liner notes makes it all the more clear why this particular piece of railroad history was powerful enough to be captured in a song, and indeed, why that song itself was powerful enough to survive and still be listened to today, all this time later!

So Georgie's father was an engineer, who also died in a train crash - and then his son did too. A new layer to the story - and indeed, another piece of 'oral' history, with your passing onto us (albeit in written, but colloquial, form) some information you came across some 40 years ago. Fascinating...

I'm not so sure, though, that the incident could have given rise to the 1883 federal legislation you mentioned regarding compulsory air brakes, since the newspaper articles of the time are from after that date, October 1890... ah, but I've just checked on Wikipedia, and I think 1883 was a typo for 1893, since this was the date mentioned for the introduction of the Safety Appliance Act by Congress, is this the one you referred to?

 

[Harpoon]

That would be the one.