BILLY RICHARDSON'S LAST RIDE
As recorded by Vernon Dalhart, 1926.

Through the West Virginia mountains came the early morning mail;
Old Number Three was westbound, the fastest on the rail.
She pulled right into Hinton, a junction on the line,
With a Baldwin Mountain engine, they made the run on time.

Billy Richardson at Hinton was called to take the run,
To pull the fastest mail train from there to Huntington.
His fireman he reported for duty on the line,
Then reading their train orders, left Hinton right on time.

Then Billy told his fireman that he would happy be
If he could die while pulling a train like number 3.
"I want to die on duty, right in my cab," said he,
"While pulling eastbound number 4, or westbound number 3.

The fireman then said, "Billy, you know you are old and gray,
Your name is on the pension list. You should retire some day."
But Billy said, "Dear fireman, the truth I'm telling you.
I must die right in my engine cab and nothing else will do."

Then pulling down New River came westbound number 3.
By Thurmond, then by Cotton Hill, no danger could he see.
His head then struck a mail crane while pulling down the line.
He'll never pull his train again, to Huntington on time.

He's pulled the fastest time freights. he's pulled the US Mail.
He's pulled the fast excursions to the music of the rail.
He lost his life on duty in his engine cab so free.
While pulling in Montgomery, on westbound number 3.

Now ladies, if your husband is a railroad engineer,
You know he is in danger, and death is ever near.
You know he loves you dearly when he is by your side.
Remember well that his next run may be his farewell ride.


Billy Richardson was killed on December 14, 1910, at Scary, WV about 15 miles west of Charleston. The ballad incorrectly puts the incident at Teays, which is about 4 miles beyond Scary. He apparently had the habit of leaning far out of the cab to look ahead down the track and had even been warned a number of times that he really shouldn't do that. Richardson was a striking figure in his later years sporting a foot-long bushy white beard. The ballad text above was originally printed in the "West Virginia Reviews" in 1931 in an article written by Charles Carpenter. Carpenter wrote, "This song cannot be more than a few years old, but it is already known in many places away from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in West Virginia, the place of its genesis. Of late, the song is frequently heard on radio ballad programs." Later in the article, Carpenter said he tried to find the author and age of the song without success. He wrote that he had not found anyone who had known the ballad more than three or four years (prior to 1931) and he also did not find it previously printed in its entirety. Whoever wrote the ballad was obviously familiar with "The Wreck of the F.F.V." (a.k.a. "The Wreck on the C & O") as there are some parallels in verse structure.

rich r