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Lyrics
The Night Train For Southampton
Stands panting at the station
Waiting for connections
From the east and the west
The wind and the rain
Beat hard against the windows
And the coal in the tender
Was all soaking wet
The engineer looked at his watch
And said it’s time to go
The fireman grabbed the shovel
And shoveled in the coal
The conductor gave the signal
That all were aboard
And the train pulled out of Palmerston
For Lake Huron shore
The headlight on the engine
Cut a pathway thru the night
And the city lights of Palmerston
Faded out of sight
With hands on the throttle
And a full head of steam
Water overflowed the banks
Of the rivers and the streams
Now the lights of Southampton
Glowed in the stormy night
As the city of Port Elgin
Faded out of sight
With one more mile to go
The whistle it did sound
But the water in the ditches
Had washed away the ground
Now The Night Train For Southampton
Lays over on its side
And the engineer and fireman
They are trapped inside
The hot steam from the boiler
Filled the engine cab
And the night was full of sadness
As she lay there on her side
With one more mile to go
The whistle it did sound
But the water in the ditches
Had washed away the ground
And the wind and the rain
Beat hard against the windows
And the lights of Southampton
Faded out of sight
Peter Bart comments about this song he wrote:
On the night of October 16th 1954
Passenger Train No. 179, Engine 1319
left the city of Palmerston, Ontario.
Destination: the city of Southampton
located on the shores of Lake Huron.
A storm named Hurricane Hazel came
inland, and caused a great deal of flooding
in southern Ontario. It was about a mile from Southampton,
flooding had washed away the roadbed causing the train to
derail and the engine to roll over on its right side.
The engineer Gordon McCallum, and his fireman Stuart Nicolson died from the results of this wreck.
The bell off Engine 1319 is on display
in the Southampton Museum.
I have written this song in memory of
that night, and the two railroad colleagues that I knew
and worked with in 1947 at Palmerston.
Peter C. Bart
C.N.R. Locomotive Engineer
Sarnia, Ontario
April 16, 1992
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