In the Dodge City Yards of the Fe Stood a made up for the east And the engineer with his oil and Was groomin' the great iron While ten cars back in the dust A door swung wide And a hobo his pal aboard To start on his last ride
A lantern swung and the pulled out The engine, it gathered The engineer the throttle wide And to his fiery steed
Ten cars in the empty box The hobo a pill The flare of the match showed his face Stark and deathly still As the train wheels clicked on the couplin' A for the rambler's ear The hobo talked to the still form His pal for a year
(Spoken) For a mighty long time, we've rambled, With the luck of men roam With the steps for a dining room And a boxcar for a We dodged the bulls on the route And the cops on the We travelled the narrow gauge In the days of Cripple We down thru sunny Cal On the of that old S. P. And of all you had, thru and bad A always belonged to me You me promise to you Jack If I lived, and you in To take you back to the old church And you there with your kin You seemed to know I would my word 'Cause you said that I was Well, I'm my promise to you, pal 'Cause I'm takin' you home I haven't the money to send you So, I'm you back on the fly the decent way for a 'bo to go to the by and by I knew that that fever had you, And that doctor, he just come He was too busy treatin' the folks To doctor a bum
As the train rolled its ribbons of steel Straight thru to the East it The engineer in his high cab Kept his eye on the rails ten cars back in the empty box A lonely sighed For the of old and his pal, so cold Who was takin' his long ride