Railroad Medley: Hey Porter / Wreck of the Old '97 /Casey Jones / Orange Blossom Special - Live at Sportovní 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