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