I grew up in Decatur, IL; the Cannonball (which was an actual train that went from Detroit to St. Louis and on to Kansas City) went by my house! Also, I have the original 10" LP by Roy Acuff with this song. Here is how it goes. WABASH CANNONBALL From the great Atlantic ocean to the wide Pacific shore From the green New Hampshire mountains to the southland's cajun lore She's mighty tall and handsome And loved by one and all She's the combination Called the Wabash Cannonball Chorus: Oh listen to the jingle The rumble and the roar As she glides along the woodlands Through the hills and by the shore Hear the mighty rush of her engine Hear that lonesome hobo's call We're travelling through the jungles On the Wabash Cannonball
Your eastern states are dandies So the people always say From New York to St. Louis And Chicago by the way Through the hills of Minnesota Where the rippling waters fall No changes can be taken On the Wabash Cannonball Chorus Here's to Daddy Klaxton May his name forever stand And alwyas be remembered Through the courts of Alabam' His earthly race is over The curtains 'round him fall We'll carry him on to Glory On the Wabash Cannonball Chorus She pulled in to the station one cold December day As she rolled up to the platform you could hear all the people say There's a gal from Tennessee; she's long and she's tall She came down from Birmingham on the Wabash Cannonball Chorus