Wabash Cannonball

In the 1880's the Wabash Cannonball was a mythological train made up by some bum somewhere, the train any old hobo would ride on the way to his reward, wherever that might be. There never was a train called the Wabash Cannonball that went from the great Atlantic Ocean to the wide Pacific shore. And there never was a train where a bum could get breakfast on the club car.
As the song got more popular, the Wabash system in the Midwest thought it was the smart thing to do to name its express run the Wabash Cannonball. It ran between Detroit and St. Louis until about three years ago. Norfolk & Western bought the Wabash system about six years ago and ran it right into the ground. I rode the Wabash under Norfolk & Western. Those old Wabash conductors had nothing good to say about Norfolk & Western. They hated what was happening to their railroad; and of course Amtrak came along and took the Cannonball off entirely.
I was in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and had to go down to Champaign, Illinois, to play. I called up Goddard C. Graves, a fine IWW who has been our secretary-treasurer in Chicago, and said, "I've got to get down to Champaign. How am I going to get there?" He said, "Call up Norfolk & Western in Detroit and see if they're still running the Cannonball. I understand it's going to be taken off. I called up N&W, and they said, ''Yes, it's still running, but you better catch it now; it's not going to be running in a couple of days. So I hotfooted it over there as quick as I could and caught the last run.
There were four governors and about 400 drunk country singers there all cashing in on the publicity. It was one of the few runs of the Cannonball in recent years that N&W made any money on. Consequently they have found it profitable to make last runs of the Wabash Cannonball occasionally. Still, that was the last run so far as the conductors, the old people working in the bar car, the old people working in the dining car, and the baggage master were concerned. After that run they were forced by Norfolk & Western to change their hat and collar brass over from Wabash to N&W.
They let me off at a flag stop called Tolono, about five miles south of Champaign. A flag stop is where the train doesn't normally stop, unless there's freight to take on or baggage to let out, and there's a signal set to tell the train to stop. Now of course they use wireless.
I got off the train pretty drunk, and sat down on a big baggage loading car. When the train pulled out it occurred to me the train would not be coming back. There would be trains through there from time to time, but they wouldn't be the Cannonball.

From the great Atlantic Ocean to the wide Pacific shore,
From the green and growing mountains to the South Belt by the shore,
She's mighty tall and handsome and she's quite well known by all,
She's a modern combination on the Wabash Cannonball.

Our eastern states are dandy so the people always say,
From New York to Chicago and Rock Island by the way.
From the hills of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall,
No changes can be taken on the Wabash Cannonball.

Now here's to Daddy Claxton, may his name forever stand,
And always be remembered in the courts throughout the land.
His earthly race is over, now the curtains 'round him fall;
We'll carry him home to victory on the Wabash Cannonball.

[Prev] [Home] [Next]