Downbound Train

A stranger lying on a bar room floor

Had drank so much, he could drink no more

So he fell asleep with a troubled brain

To dream that he rode on that downbound train

The engine with blood was sweaty and damp

And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp

And imps for fuel were shovelling bones

While the furnace rang with a thousand groans

The boiler was filled with lager beer

The devil himself was the engineer

The passengers were most a motley crew

Some were foreigners and others he knew

Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags

Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags

As the train rushed on at a terrible pace

Sulphuric fumes scorched their hands and face

Wider and wider the country grew

Faster and faster the engine flew

Louder and louder the thunder crashed

Brighter and brighter the lighting flashed

Hotter and hotter the air became

'Til their clothes were burned with each quivering refrain

Then out of the distance there came a yell

"Ha ha," said the devil, "We're nearing home"

Oh how the passengers shrieked with pain

And begged old Satan to stop that train

The stranger awoke with an anguished cry

His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high

He fell on his knees on the barroom floor

And prayed a prayer like never before

And the prayers and vows were not in vain

For he never rode that downbound train