This song is indeed in the Digital Tradition as "On a Cold Winter's Night." That's what it's called on the recording by J.E. Mainer and the Mountaineers:
ON A COLD WINTER'S NIGHT (from DT)
On a cold winter's night, not a star was in sight
And the north wind kept howlin' down the line
With his sweetheart so dear stood a brave engineer
With his orders to pull old Number Nine
He kissed her goodbye with a tear in her eye
For the joy in his heart he could not hide
And the whole world seemed bright when she told him that night
That tomorrow she'd be his blushing bride
As the train rolled along and the wheels hummed a song
And the black smoke came pouring down the stack
His headlight that gleamed seemed so bright as he dreamed
Of tomorrow when he'd be coming back
Round the corner of the hill his brave heart stood still
A headlight was shining in his face
He whispered a prayer as he threw on the air
For he knew that would be his final race
In the wreck he was found laying there on the ground
And he asked them to raise his weary head
And his breath slowly went; it was a message he sent
To a maiden who thought that she'd be wed
"There's a little white home that I bought for our own
Where I knew we'd be happy bye and bye
Oh I leave it to you for I know you'll be true
Till we meet at the Golden Gates, Goodbye."
DT #668
Laws G26
@train @death @wreck @love
From J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers Smokey Mountain Balladeers
filename[ COLDWINT
RPf
ON A COLD WINTER'S NIGHT
C F
On a cold winter's night, not a star was in sight
C G7
And the north wind kept howlin' down the line
C F
With his sweetheart so dear stood a brave engineer
C G7 C
With his orders to pull old Number Nine
G7 C
He kissed her goodbye with a tear in her eye
C G7
For the joy in his heart he could not hide
C F
And the whole world seemed bright when she told him that night
C G7 C
That tomorrow she'd be his blushing bride
And here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song: Wreck of Number Nine, The [Laws G26] DESCRIPTION: A railroad engineer, whose wedding is set for the next day, leaves his sweetheart and sets out on his train. Rounding a curve, he sees another train coming. He is mortally wounded in the crash. He leaves his fiancee the cottage that would have been theirs
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: train wreck marriage death lastwill crash
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws G26, "The Wreck of Number Nine"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 267-271, "The Wreck of Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 684, "The Wreck of Old Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 451-453, "The Wreck of Old Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 684)
BrownSchinhanIV 340, "The Wreck of Old Number Nine" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Moore-Southwest 162, "The Wreck of Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, pp. 88-89, "Number Nine" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 77-78, "The Wreck of Number Nine" (1 text)
Guigne, pp. 76-78, "The Brave Engineer (The Wreck of Number Nine)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lyle-Scalded, "Th Wreck of Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 668, COLDWIN
Roud #3229
RECORDINGS:
Jim Bennett, "The Brave Engineer" (on NFAGuigne01)
Bud Billings [pseud. for Frank Luther], "The Wreck of Number Nine" (Montgomery Ward M-8054, 1939)
Vernon Dalhart, "Wreck of The Number 9" (Lincoln 2712, 1927) (Gennett 6051/Silvertone 5005, 1927) (Brunswick 101, 1927) (Okeh 45086, 1927) (Cameo 1247, 1927) (Columbia 15121-D [as Al Craver], 1927); "Wreck of the Number Nine" (Radiex 4172 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1928)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineer's "On a Cold Winter's Night" (Victor 27496, 1941)
Ernest Stoneman, "The Wreck of the Number Nine" (Broadway 8054, c. 1930); "Wreck of Number Nine" (on Autoharp01)
Stanley G. Triggs, "The Wreck of the Number Nine" (on Triggs1)
NOTES [135 words]: This, like "Zeb Tourney's Girl" [Laws E18], appears to be a Robison song that became traditional as a result of the Vernon Dalhart recording, though this seems to have had a stronger grip on tradition.
Indeed, Cohen states that, of the train wreck ballads he printed, only "Old 97" and "Engine 143" ("The Wreck on the C & O" [Laws G3]) were more popular. Both of the former are anonymous, and both based on real events; this is therefore the most popular fictional train wreck song, and also the most popular train song with a single known author.
It entered tradition very quickly; Henry collected his version from Mary E. King in 1929.
In recent years, a part of this tune has found some additional success (at least in bluegrass circles) as the basis for the chorus in the Goble/Drumm song "Coleen Malone." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: LG26
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