Here are the lyrics for the Blue Water Line sung as sung by Ted and Herb Hyman at house parties in St. Louis during the 1960's folk revolution. It has the standard Brothers Four verses plus some others that sound authentic, but I have no idea where they came from. The other verses make the train into something of a folk hero. I have not seen these verses anyplace else so I decided it is worth posting this version.

I have an mp3 recording of them doing it at a party in 1968, I can email it to anyone who wants it. My email is drusher [at] swbell.net

BLUE WATER LINE

City Council met last night, the vote was four to three
To burn the home town depot down and build a factory
To take that piece of history and wipe it off the map
To take old engine number nine and melt it into scrap

Blue Water, Blue Water, Blue Water Line
Blue Water, Blue Water, Blue Water Line
If you can't afford a quarter then you oughta give a dime
If everybody gave then we could save the Blue Water Line

Well I could tell you stories about the men who rode that train
About the 49er miners and how old Jesse James
Stole a thousand golden nuggets in the 'Great Train Robbery'
And how Abe Lincoln rode along with Tad upon his knee

Just twenty thousand quarters and forty thousand dimes
The we all could ride to glory on the old Blue Water Line
We'll have William Jennings Bryan shoveling coal on Number Nine
So dig inside your pockets for the old Blue Water Line

When the river overflooded and the homes were washed away
How they gathered at the station on that momentous day
There was cheering, there was shouting, some was on their knees and crying
As food and medication arrived on Engine Number Nine

I remember the forest fire back in 1938
40 men trapped in the forest and death would be their fate
Oh the railroad bridge was burning, yet we had to save that crew
What a glorious reception when Number Nine came rolling through

We got 40 thousand quarters, and 80 thousand dimes
So we painted up the Depot like it was in olden times
And now every Sunday morning everybody's dressed so fine
Arriving in the station on Engine Number Nine