QUEEN OF THE RAILS
As recorded by Utah Phillips on "Good Though!" (1973)

1. I guess his name was Boomer Bill.
If that won't do, another will.
A hobo doesn't need a name 'cause he never gets no mail;
And the only friend old Boomer had
To ride with him through good and bad
Was a shaggy little mongrel he called Queen of the Rails.

2. The black-smoke choo-choo's gone away.
Bummin' it's just not the same.
Dreams are few and far between but mem'ries seldom fail.
Waiting down there by the track
For her master to come back,
You can count on seein' that old dog called Queen of the Rails.

3. Old boomer bummed the Ryo Grande,
The Santa Fee, and never planned
On where he'd be from day to day, the jungle or the jail;
But when the snow was fallin' down,
He'd catch a California-bound
With that little dog to keep him warm, old Queen of the Rails.

4. [Repeat #2]

5. One day he went to get a bone,
Left his little pal alone.
He crossed the coupling joints of the train that blocked the yard.
They switched a reefer off the main
And humped it into Boomer's train.
He fell and died beneath the iron wheel so cold and hard.

6. The black-smoke choo-choo's gone away.
Bummin' it's just not the same.
Dreams are few and far between but mem'ries seldom fail.
If there's a place for some old friend
Who waits until the journey's end,
The Boomer he'll be glad to see old Queen of the Rails.