[1] 'Ol Reuben had a train run from England to Spain
He couldn't get no [5] letter from his [1] home
Well it's oh me oh lordy my
Couldn't get no [5] letter from his [1] home

Oh you oughta been uptown when ol' Reuben's train rolled down
You could hear that whistle blow a hundred miles
A hundred miles a hundred miles away from home
You could hear that whistle blow a hundred miles

Oh if you don't believe I'm gone watch this train that I go on
I'm nine hundred miles away from home
I'm nine hundred miles with my wife and my child
I wish I was nine hundred more

Oh it's a long steel rail it's a short cross tie
I'm bound to get to heaven when I die
Well it's oh me oh lordy my
I'm bound to get to heaven when I die

Oh now Reuben got the hill on the C&O line
His poor body's never been found
But they found his head in the driver's wheel
About a mile and a half from town

Oh now stop my razor blade I'll lay ol' Reuben in the shade
Gonna start a little graveyard of my own
Well it's oh me oh lordy my
Start a little graveyard of my own