The Wabash Cannonball
from MMF! Songbook

History
The Wabash Cannonball is an American folksong about a make-believe train. Its first appearance was made in sheet music form in 1882, under the title The Great Rock Island Route by J. A. Roff.

Lyrics
From the great Atlantic Ocean,
To the wide Pacific shore,
From sunny California,
To ice-bound Labrador.
She's mighty tall and handsome,
She's loved by one and all,
She's the hobo's 'commodation,
The Wabash Cannonball.

Listen to the jingle,
The rumble and the roar,
As she glides along the woodlands,
Through hills and by the shore.
Hear the mighty rush of the engine,
Hear those lonesome hobos squall,
While trav'ling through the jungle,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Our eastern states are dandy,
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 chances can be taken,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Listen to the jingle,
The rumble and the roar,
As she glides along the woodlands,
Through hills and by the shore.
Hear the mighty rush of the engine,
Hear those lonesome hobos squall,
While trav'ling through the jungle,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

Now here's to Daddy Claxton,
May his name forever stand,
He'll always be remembered,
In the courts throughout the land.
His earthly race is over,
And the curtain round him falls,
Carryin' him home to victory,
On the Wabash Cannonball.

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