Well before love affair with the automobile, Americans loved their trains and
wrote and sung many songs in their praise. The locomotive was a symbol of power
that easily adapted itself to religious imagery. In most versions of the
following song, the last line is "He'll be carried home to Glory on the Wabash
Cannonball." See also "God's Holy Train," and many others.
From the great Atlantic ocean to the wide Pacific shore
From the green ol' Smoky mountains to the south lands by the shore
She's mighty tall and handsome and she's known quite well by all
She's the regular combination on the Wabash Cannonball
Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar
As she glides along the woodland through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine, hear the lonesome hoboes call
You're traveling through the jungles on the Wabash Cannonball
Our eastern states are dandy, so the people always say
From New York to St. Louis with Chicago by the way
From the hills of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall
No changes can be taken on the Wabash Cannonball
Now here's to Daddy Claxton, may his name forever stand
And always be remembered through the courts throughout the land
His earthly race is over, now the curtains round him fall
We'll carry him home to victory on the Wabash Cannonball