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Railroad Man (Brakeman's Lament)

from Twilight Town by Kevin Stonerock

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about

Originally, the title of this song was “Old Boomer”, but I didn’t want people getting the impression that this was a song about an aging Baby Boomer like me. A boomer, in railroad lingo, was a railroad worker who didn’t tie himself down to any one company, but was more of a free spirit, working for various railroads. In 2016, as an actor and writer I was contracted by the Indiana Historical Society to write and perform a script about a railroad character set in the year 1916. I knew little (and cared less) about railroads, but I cared a lot about the money. During the course of my research, I became fascinated with railroad culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; especially the old brakemen. I performed this show several times and often there were old railroaders in the audience. I took it as high praise when one of them would say “That’s just the way I remember it!”. 
 



lyrics

I’m a railroad man like my father before
From San Bernardino up to Baltimore
Daddy lost his life on the Monon Line
In a bad train wreck in the fall of 69
Oh oh oh oh


My pappy died young and he left his wife
With three hungry kids and a Barlow knife
I’ll never forget that look on her face
When the government men came to take us all away


I ran off from the orphans’ home
Hopped a freight train bound for San Antone
Got a job working on a section gang
Hotter than hell but I never complained


Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh


When I was nineteen  I was shoveling coal
On an old locomotive bound for Jackson Hole
I learned to be a brakeman from a hard boiled man
Who could whip two ‘bo’s only using one hand


I’ve walked across the top of a moving train
In the snow and the wind and the driving rain
I started in the days of the link and pin
Ain’t nobody wanna a do that again


(Instrumental)


Well, I’m an old boomer and I’ve worked the rails
Felt the sting of the old tell tails
Low steel bridges flying over my head
Move too slow and you ended up dead


In the long cold winter of 25
Hauling sand down a Wind River mountainside
The train broke in two and it left the track
I rode it all the way but I won’t be coming back
Oh Oh Oh Oh


Now here I lie in a hospital bed
One leg gone and the other half dead
I don’t speculate about when I’ll die
Cause a railroad man is always on time


Oh oh oh oh….(repeat)


© 2020 Kevin P. Stonerock (BMI)

credits

from Twilight Town, released May 6, 2020
Derrick Carnes: drums, harmony vocals
Ed “Pee Wee Charles” Ringwald: pedal steel guitar
Gabriel Stonerock: electric rhythm guitars
Kevin Stonerock: lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, bass

Produced by Gabriel Stonerock and Kevin Stonerock

Recording Engineers: Jeff Monroe, Group Effort Studio, Erlanger, KY
Ben Kempel, Among The Hung Studio, Conestoga, Ontario, Canada
Mixed by Jeff Monroe
Mastered by Dan Murphy
Photos and Design: Andy Carr

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Kevin Stonerock Indianapolis, Indiana

Songwriter and master storyteller Kevin Stonerock is a product of the Midwest, born and raised in a small town 40 miles east of Indianapolis. He was Americana before the word became a staple in the music lexicon—an amalgamation of traditional country and roots rock, with the sensibilities and lyricism of a folk artist. ... more

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