Tom Russell: Lord Of The Trains

Well I met him in Chicago outside the Union Station
He was pickin' up the empties in the rain
He said, "May I introduce myself and can you spare a dollar?
They call me the Lord of the Trains
Yeah, they call me the Lord of the Trains."

He said, "Friend, you see before you an historic apparition
I'm the last surviving hobo in the game
And although they may have done away with all that I held sacred
I am still the Lord of the Trains...
Yeah, there will always be a Lord of the Trains."

"But there ain't no more cabooses on them rattlers anymore
No hobo jungles up in Coeur d'Alene
Ain't no Midnight Ghost that haunts the Eastern corridor
But I'm still the Lord of the Trains
Yeah, there will always be a Lord of the Trains."

He said, "I even miss the bad wine, the bad times and the bulls
Them yard detectives, they all knew my name
And on every bunk in every cell in every jail in Dixie
I carved the crossed initials of my name
That's the mark of the Lord of the Trains."

"But now all the 'bos and railroad bums are gone with the cabooses
Tell me, mister isn't it a shame?
Cause for every little boy was hypnotized by countin' boxcars
I was that hobo wavin' from the train.
I waved a blessing from the Lord of the Trains."

"But there ain't no more cabooses on them rattlers anymore
No hobo jungles up in Coeur d'Alene
Ain't no Midnight Ghost that haunts the Eastern corridor
But I'm still the Lord of the Trains
Yeah, there will always be a Lord of the Trains."

So I handed him a dollar and I thanked him for his story
And I watched him disappearin' in the rain
He was headin' towards the land of hobo jungles and cabooses
Where he was still the Lord of the Trains
Where he'll always be a Lord of the Trains

"But there ain't no more cabooses on them rattlers anymore
No hobo jungles up in Coeur d'Alene
Ain't no Midnight Ghost that haunts the Eastern corridor
But he's still the Lord of the Trains
Yeah, he'll always be a Lord of the Trains."

Heh, I was that little boy was hypnotized by countin' boxcars
I finally met the Lord of the Trains
Yeh, I finally met the Lord of the Trains