Tracks are starting to rumble, wheels beginning to roll There's a short handle shovel full of number 9 coal Hey, mister brakeman are we running on time No, mister engineer, think we're falling behind Will we crash on the trestle? Will we pass on the plain? All I can guess is, we'll be seeing that train No way to stop em? No way to tell? Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail Send the word to the sherriff, make the people lie down Tell the cook and the coachman, there's no turning round Up ahead is the tunnel, just beyond is the bend Pass the word to the preacher, it's all up to him Said the preacher's been drinking and he's starting to cry Saying Great God Almighty, we're all gonna die All the porters are betting nobody survives And the Indian Cowboy is taking a dive The undertaker is laughing, the doctor's cold as a stone The fiddle player is playing there's no place like home We'll be making the trestle just over the hill If we don't make it now boys, we never will When the trains hit the trestle and the trestle gave way The two trains collided in midair they say When the dust finally settled, all they found was a hole And a short handle shovel full of number 9 coal A hundred years after and a hundred miles high The captain commander looks down from the sky And he says to his soldiers, "She's pullin too strong" "We can hold her together, but we can't hold her for long" So we look for a message and we search in our souls As we sift through the wreckage like we're shoveling coal.