Lyr Req: Wreck of the Royal Palm (train wreck song

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Amos
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 12:03 PM

Mayomick:

I believe that is "Central, head quarters on the line....", rather than "Ceville, head porters on the line."



A

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: mayomick
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 11:57 AM

Another of my theories down the tube .
Engine 143 driver George Alley wasn't killed because of mixed orders apparantly .A rock had landed on the tracks ahead and he couldn't stop the train. Some fascinating stuff on the 143 song on another thread I'll switch tracks over to there . May I take this opportunity to apologise for any delays caused ...
There i go again .I just put this message up on the other thread by mistake .Sorry sorry sorry .Good thing it's only mudcat .Sorry

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: mayomick
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 08:45 AM

Time for a bit of thread creep , track creep , mixed orders and mixed metaphors I think. Oh , and a bit of idle speculation.

Sorry if this sounds like I'm , ahem , derailing the thread with the reference to the other song . I was just wondering after reading the lyric to The Wreck of The Royal Palm whether the words"strict orders" in Engine 143 might have originally been "mixed orders" . It would seem to make sense.

I know that "strict orders" makes some sense as well , but not as much imo. The concept of "mixed orders " was obviously widely understood in Vernon Dalhart's time- enough that it could be used as a metaphor in railroad communities . "Mixed orders" gives sense to the whole Engine 143 crash song. I'll have to check up on 143 to see how it came to be written .

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: open mike
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 07:00 AM

more could find this in a search if the title were changed to:
Wreck of the Royal Palm -- is that possible to do?

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: mayomick
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 06:23 AM

Thanks very much for the link Q . " Orders" were the standardized written instructions that governed train precedence on the track ,then, which makes sense . I suppose the dispatchers who gave these orders out must have been the equivalents of air traffic controllers in their day.

I'm sorry ,that Georgie thing I mentioned should have been Engine 143 .

"Along came the FFV the swiftest on the line
Running o'er the C&O road just twenty minutes behind
Running into Cevile head porters on the line
Receiving their strict orders from a station just behind

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 04:26 PM

Train song "Georgie"?

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 04:07 PM

"Railroad orders explained fully here:

Timetable and Train Order Operation, a Primer
Timetable and Order Operation

To keep trains moving efficiently and to avoid collisions.

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: mayomick
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 10:15 AM

Can anybody explain what "orders" means or used to mean in US railroad parlance? Another train crash song ,Georgie, talks about "receiving strict orders from the station just behind" ,this one talks about mixed orders being responsible for the crash.

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: open mike
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 03:59 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palm_%28train%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponce_de_Leon_%28train%29

The Ponce de Leon and Royal Palm collided on December 23, 1926 in Rockmart, Georgia. The northbound Ponce de Leon struck the Royal Palm with the result that 19 people were killed and 113 were injured, most on the Ponce de Leon

The Royal Palm provided connections with the New York Central Railroad at Cincinnati for passengers headed to Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo. A through sleeper and coach between Miami and Detroit operated until 1957. The Royal Palm operated overnight between Atlanta and Jacksonville and during daylight hours to the north to Cincinnati. The Ponce de Leon alternated with the Royal Palm on a reverse schedule between Cincinnati and Jacksonville.

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 10:56 PM

The song was written by Rev. Andrew Jenkins (Blind Andy Jenkins), evangelist and newsboy, "a prolific writer of ballads, many of which have found their way into oral tradition...." Norm Cohen, Long Steel Rail.
A co-worker, Polk C. Brockman, took copyright in Jenkins name in 1927.
I presume the song is still under copyright.

Cohen also included Jenkin's Ben Dewberry's Final Run in Long Steel Rail.

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 10:50 PM

Thanks so much!!!

YOU PEOPLE ARE JUST FANTASTIC... and FAST!!!



Gladys   :)

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Amos
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 10:34 PM

MAsterfully done, Jim!! Thanks for keeping ye record straight, to you and Q.


A

Subject: Lyr Add: WRECK OF THE ROYAL PALM EXPRESS (Dalhart)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 10:30 PM

Here's how the song appears in Long Steel Rail by Norm Cohen, David Cohen (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000), page 247:


WRECK OF THE ROYAL PALM EXPRESS
Vernon Dalhart

On a dark and stormy night, the rain was falling fast.
The two crack trains on the Southern road with a scream and whistle blast
Were speeding down the line for home and Christmas day
On the Royal Palm and Ponce de Leon was laughter bright and gay

When coming around the curve at forty miles an hour,
The Royal Palm was making time amid the drenching shower.
There come a mighty crash, the two great engines met,
And in the minds of those who live is a scene they can't forget

It was an awful sight, amidst the pouring rain,
The dead and dying lying there beneath that mighty train.
No tongue can ever tell, no pen can ever write,
No one will ever know but those who saw the horrors of that night.

On board the two great trains the folks were bright and gay,
When like a flash the Master called; they had no time to pray.
And in a moment's time, the awful work was done,
And many souls that fatal night had made their final run.

There's many a saddened home since that sad Christmas day,
Whose loved ones never will return to drive the gloom away.
They were on the Royal Palm as she sped across the state.
Without a single warning cry they went to meet their fate.

We are on the road of life, and like the railroad man,
We ought to do our best to make the station if we can;
Then let us all take care and keep our orders straight,
For if we get our orders mixed we'll surely be too late.

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 10:24 PM

The Wreck of the Royal Palm is in the DT and there is more than one thread devoted to it.

Two Southern Railway trains collided December 23, 1926.

The song is a peculiar one, in that all of those killed were on board the Ponce de Leon, only slight injuries aboard the Royal Palm.

The best known version is the one sung by Al Craver (Vernon Dalhart).

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Amos
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 09:52 PM

Nineteen minutes!! Not bad, not bad...

Subject: RE: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: Amos
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 09:52 PM

Located on this page of Old Tyme Songs. Typos not mine, this time...

Subject: Lyr Add: WRECK OF THE ROYAL PALM
From: Amos
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 09:50 PM

Wreck Of The Royal Palm

On a dark ans stormy night
The rain was falling fast
The two cracked trains on the Southern road
With Flairing whistle sped
Were speeding down the line
For home and Christmas day
On the Royal Palm and Palm City [Anne]
Was laughter bright and gay

When coming around the curve
At Forty miles an hour
The Royal Palm was making time
Neath an interdrenching shower
There came a mighty crash
The two great engines met
And in the minds of those who lived
ThereÕs a scene theyÕll never forget

It was an awful sight
Beneath the pouring rain
The dead and dying lying there
Beneath that might train
No tongue can ever tell
No pen will ever write
No one will ever know but those who saw
The horrors of that night

On board the two great trains
The folks were bright and gay
When like a flash the Master called
They had no time to pray
And in a momentÕs time
The awful work was done
And many souls that fatal night
Had made their final run

ThereÕs many a saddened home
Since that sad Christmas day
Those loved ones never will return
To drive the gloom away
They were on teh Royal Palm
As she sped Across the state
Without a momentÕs notice cried
They went to meet their fate

Were on the road of life
And like the railroad man
We aught to do the best to make
The station if we can
So let us all take care
And keep our orders straight
For if we get our orders mixed
Will surely be too late.

Subject: Lyrics or Title for old train wreck song
From: GUEST,Gladys
Date: 27 Sep 10 - 09:31 PM

Hello everyone...I need your help!

Would anyone out there be able to help me with the title or the rest of the Lyrics for a very old train wreck song...

I only remember one verse that went about like this:

They were comin round the bend
For home and Christmas Day
The royal Palm (?) was mounted
With lights bright and gay

There came a mighty crash
As the two great engines met...



Help!!! That's as far as I can get!


Gladys