Railroad Medley: Hey Porter / Wreck of the Old '97 /Casey Jones / Orange Blossom Special - Live at Sportovni hala, Prague, Czech Republic - April 1978

The trains don't run like they used to

At one time it was the steam engines

Whoo-whoo

And this is how they used to run

Hey, porter, hey, porter

Would you tell me the time?

How much longer will it be 'til we cross that Mason-Dixon Line?

When we hit Dixie will you tell that engineer to ring his bell?

Ask everybody that ain't asleep to stand right up and yell

Hey, porter, hey, porter

What time did you say?

How much longer will it be 'til I can see the light of day?

When we hit Dixie would you tell that engineer to slow it down?

Better still, just stop the train 'cause I'd like to look around

Hey, porter, hey, porter

Please open up the door

When they stop this train I'm gonna get off first

'Cause I can't wait no more

Tell that engineer I said thanks a lot and I didn't mind the fare

Gonna set my feet on Southern soil and breathe that Southern air

Hey, porter, hey, porter

Please open up the door

When they stop this train I'm gonna get off first

'Cause I can't wait no more

Tell that engineer I said thanks a lot and I didn't mind the fare

Gonna set my feet on Southern soil and breathe that Southern air

Well, they give him his orders at Monroe, Virginia

Said, "Steve, you're way behind time"

"This is not '38, this is old '97"

"Put her into Spencer on time"

Then he turned and said to his big greasy fireman

"Shovel on a little more coal"

And when we cross that white oak mountain

Watch old '97 roll

Then a telegram come for Washington station

This is how it read

Said, that brave engineer that run old '97

Is lying down in Danville dead

So, now all you ladies, you better take a warning

From this time on and learn

And never speak hard words to your true lovin' husband

He may leave you and never return

Oh, he was going down the grade makin' 90 miles an hour

When the whistle broke into a scream

He was found in the wreck, with his hand on the throttle

He was scalded to death by the steam

Come all you rounders if you want to hear

The story about a brave engineer

Casey Jones was the roller's name

On a 6-8-wheeler, boys, he rode to fame

Well the caller called Casey 'bout a half past four

He kissed his wife at the station door

Climbed in the cabin with his orders in his hand

Said, "This is my trip to the promised land"

Casey Jones, mounted to the cabin

Casey Jones, orders in his hand

Casey Jones, leanin' out the window

Takin' a trip to the promised land

Through South Memphis yards on a fly

The rain been a fallin' and the water was high

Everybody knew by the engine's moan

The man at the throttle was Casey Jones

Casey Jones, mounted to the cabin

Casey Jones, orders in his hand

Casey Jones, leanin' out the window

Takin' a trip to the promised land

Well, dead on the rail was a passenger train

Blood was a-boilin' in Casey's brain

The IC Railroad official said

"He's a good engineer to be a-laying dead"

Casey Jones, mounted to the cabin

Casey Jones, orders in his hand

Casey Jones, leanin' out the window

Takin' a trip to the promised land

Well, the headache and heartache and all kind of pain

All a part of the railroad train

The sweat and the toil, the good and the grand

Part of the life of a railroad man

Hey, look yonder comin'

Comin' down that railroad track

Hey, look yonder comin'

Comin' down that railroad track

That's that Orange Blossom Special

Bringing my baby back

Well, I'm going down to Florida

Gonna get a little bit of sand in my shoes

I may go to California

And get some sand in my shoes

Ride that Orange Blossom Special

And lose these New York blues

Well, the railroad trains don't stop here anymore

And the whistle of the steamer, just an echo in the wind

And that old coal-burning stove ain't been hot in ten Decembers

'Cause the railroad trains don't stop here anymore

All the hobos jumped off the train, that were riding free

And the railroad detective, the man with a gun on his head

Come up to the hobo and said

"Hey, what are you hangin' around here for?"

And the hobo said, "Well, whatever's goin' 'round"

And he said, "You're a smart alec?"

And he said, "No, I'm just hungry"

He said, "You're acting like a smart alec"

And he said, "Well, that's how I act when I get hungry"

Then he said

I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die

Do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die

Do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die

Hey, you talk about a-ramblin'

She's the fastest train on the line

You talk about a-ramblin'

She's the fastest train on the line

That's that Orange Blossom Special

Rollin' down the seaboard line