The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918

I came across the account long ago
About a train wreck just south of Chicago
The railman fell asleep on the line
With a belly full of minute steak and port wine
Old Sargent and his juggernaut
And the fate of his ferry fraught
When all was said and all was done
The nameless, the numbered sixty one
Ain't it the saddest thing you ever heard
Ain't it the worst news there ever were
Ain't it the grandest and the greatest of shames
To be laid in the grave
On a warm summer's day
Without a name
The circus cars lay crumpled and strewn
Like wrapping paper on Christmas afternoon
The sleeping cars took the brunt of the blow
Those dreamers, they didn't even know
And a fire, it spread lit from the lamps
And it blankets all those bodies in ash
Those showmen were rested on the lawn
With their graves all marked "Unknown"
They say at night, you can hear the horn
Of those elephants all posed in the mourn
Ain't it the saddest thing you ever heard
Ain't it the worst news there ever were
Ain't it the grandest and the greatest of shames
To be laid in the grave
On a warm summer's day
Without a name
Without a name