Boxcar Bertha traveled the rails for 30 years, a modern day hobo, she worked odd jobs off and on when she needed money. Otherwise, she saw the country by bumming rides on freight trains. An adventurous life that was fraught with danger as much a discovery. Bertha herself has the scars and a bad leg to prove it. She's one of the lucky ones that has lived to tell her tale. She recently retired, and before people start slinging mud at her, she worked enough to get Social Security and Medicare. Her longest job was a little over a year as an inventory clerk in a large warehouse. Bertha's a smart, shrewd lady, and moved up the ranks very quickly in that company. Within two months she was promoted to Chief Warehouse Supervisor, a very well paying job she says. She stayed for another year, socked away most of the money she made in her bank account. She finally couldn't handle her wanderlust any more, quit and went back on the rails. She had a standing offer to come back any time, but she finished out here rail career without having to work again.
The man she calls Rusty Dan must have been a very good friend. She sings this sad song about their last trip together, and the accident that took his life. She won't talk any more about him then what's in this song. We get the feeling that her loss of him is a wound that will never completely heal.
Knew a man that been ridin' the rails
Knew Rusty Dan like he was kin
We hopped a gondola late one day
Sure didn't know the trouble we'd be in
We had some grub in our bindels (A bundle that had essentials)
So we cooked up a mulligan (A stew made from available ingredients)
I had two cans of stewed tomatoes
He had some beans and some bacon
Rusty Dan was a good man I could trust
Never tried anything to offend
But fate caught up to him one gray night
And it caused his sad early end
Gondola had a load of steel beams
That didn't take up all of the space
Load must've been 'bout 50 foot long
So we hunkered down in the end space
We talked as the mulligan cooked up
He told me things that happened to him
He was a few years older than me
But he was handsome, rugged and slim
Rusty Dan was a good man I could trust
Never tried anything to offend
But fate caught up to him one gray night
And it caused his sad early end
The mulligan smell was very nice
The fire we built kept us real warm
I felt so safe around Rusty Dan
Didn't think I would come to no harm
It started getting dark and chilly
We ate up all we could of the stew
We kept on talkin', laughin' as we ate
Then I got out some tea we could brew
Rusty Dan was a good man I could trust
Never tried anything to offend
But fate caught up to him one gray night
And it caused his sad early end
We sipped the warm tea, enjoyed the sky
Full of many a glistenin' star
We were makin' plans of what we would do
And layin' against the side of the car
The load of steel in the gondola
Creaked and moaned with every big bump
Rusty Dan got up top to look it over
When the train wheels screeched, Rusty jumped
He leaped into the end of the car
Screechin' of the wheels, heard a big pop
The train was suddenly slowing down
I jumped up, pulled myself to the top
The wood holdin' layers of the steel
Began to break and steel started to shake
Rusty Dan was leanin' in the corner
Holdin' his foot, might've been a break
I swung m'self over the end of the car
On the coupler I stood as it went down
I held on for dear life as the train slowed
We had come to the start of a town
I saw it happen, the load had shifted
Folded in the middle like a book
Slid forward, hit the end of the car
My God...I was so afraid to look!
Rusty Dan couldn't climb over the top
And the steel that slid forward hit him
He lay in a heap...skewered...dead
The man that was so rugged....handsome...and slim
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