Silver Ghost

Key of Am · Chords: III VII i iv

Verse 1

   Am                         C
On one cold and rainy night I was sitting in the light
      Am          G                   Am
Of my switchman’s shack on my post on the mountain
    Am                       C
The storm was pretty bad and the telegraph was dead
           Am          G              Am
And it was just eleven hours ’til the dawning.

Verse 2

     C                       G
Then much to my surprise the telegraph jumped back to life
     Dm                                 Am
As I read the code I thought could this be true
  Am                    C
A train was on it’s way headed up the mountain grade
        Am          G         Am
But she didn’t have a captain or a crew.

Verse 3

   Am                                 C
At the other switch they tried to put her on the mountainside
        Am      G             Am
But she kept on coming up the mountain grade
  Am                              C
I quickly doused the light to try to see into the night
      Am           G                Am
Maybe I could spot her headlight in the rain.

Verse 4

        C                        G
She was pounding down the road I could hear her whistle blow
    Dm                             Am
And I thought lord what a high and mournful sound
     Am                         C
Then the telegraph beganThere’s a cave-in at the mine
      Am          G                  Am
And a hundred men are buried beneath the ground
.
         Am                            C
But Lord she’s coming now I see around the bend and straight at me
    Am           G                   Am
And her boiler’s glowing red as coal in hell
    Am                         C
The headlight’s switching wide searching all the mountainside
        Am         G               Am
But the only sound she’s making is the wail

Verse 5

     C                        G
Then I recognize the train by the number and the name
         Dm                   Am
It’s the Miner’s Silver Ghost Old 41
         Am                       C
Then she vanished up the track by the lonely switchman’s shack
     Am           G              Am
Like a mother who is looking for her son

Verse 6

Now I recall the story of the train that went to glory
     Am          G           Am
Over fifty years ago on this same night
    Am                                 C
She was stealing for the cave-in there were men that needed saving
        Am               G                Am
But she missed the curve and trestle near the mine.

Verse 7

    C                              G
Now every now and then you’ll hear her whistle on the wind
   Dm                               Am
If the mountain slides and many men are lost
     Am                          C
It’s the high and lonely wailing searching up and down the mountain
    Am                  G                Am
The train they call the call the Miner’s Silver Ghost