The Ghost of Virginia

Well, she comes out at night with the cold winds of December And when it's quiet you hear her engines cry She blows smoke out her wheels and her gears pound the steel As they carry her down the line Now I'm sure you've heard stories as most of us have In the lunch counter and barber shop queues She's the Ghost of Virginia and from here up to Richmond She runs by the light of the moon Well a few years back on the old Suffolk Road Where it crosses the abandoned rail line My Grandpa claimed that he'd seen a freight train And it wasn't no sleek stream line She was cold black and steel and she screamed as she cut Her way clear of the pines But he swears to this day he can feel the earth shake And smell her smoke when the wind's just right But back in her day she was a real working horse Haulin' coal out for old man Ward She was tied up in ribbons and set out of Richmond Haulin' soldiers during the war Ah, but some say she wrecked and she rides these rails Hopin' one day that she'll get it right Others say she roams out picking up lost souls And carryin 'em down to Carolina So if you're ever out on the old Suffolk Road And you see this strangest of sights She's the Ghost of Virginia bound from Raleigh up to Richmond And you'd best stay out of her line Yeah you'd best stay out of her line