Rocky Mountain Express Page #3

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and 14 miles of tunnels

to finally escape beneath

the original line--

the folly that was Rogers Pass.

(train whistle blowing)

(engine chugging rapidly)

(steam hisses)

(whistle blows)

The deep cliffs and valleys

of the eastern face

of the Selkirk Mountains

were no easier

for the builders.

As trains begin the long, steep,

downhill journey,

they will cross a series

of great bridges--

at the time of construction,

the highest in the world.

At the eastern foot

of the Selkirks,

the great steam trains

often paused for service

at the railway town of Golden.

The Rocky Mountains lay ahead.

The inhabitants

of railroad towns

once lived to serve

the appetites

of the steam locomotive.

Water, grease, oil,

coaling, running repairs,

day and night,

winter and summer...

preparing them to operate

at the limit of their power.

The locomotive engineer

was the folk hero

in the Age of Steam.

(whistle blows twice)

(engine chugs slowly)

On the modern railway,

there are two possible routes

for eastbound trains.

If the shorter main line

is blocked or damaged,

trains can be diverted

on an easier route south,

out of the mountains.

By 1900, the railway sought

to relieve the pressure

on the main line,

and the terrible grades ahead,

constructing an alternate track

south, along the Columbia River,

through a pass called

the Crow's Nest.

But to an already long journey,

it would add hundreds of miles.

(gentle acoustic guitar

intro playing)

FEMALE VOCALIST:

If you miss the train I'm on

You will know

that I am gone

You can hear

the whistle blow

A hundred miles

Hundred miles,

a hundred miles

-(whistle blows)

- A hundred miles

A hundred miles

You can hear

The whistle blow

A hundred miles

Lord, I'm one

Lord, I'm two

Lord, I'm three

Lord, I'm four

Lord, I'm 500 miles

From my home...

500 miles, 500 miles

500 miles,

500 miles

Lord, I'm 500 miles

From my home...

Not a shirt

On my back

Not a penny

To my name

Lord, I can't

Go a-home

This a-way...

This a-way, this a-way

This a-way,

this a-way

Lord, I can't

Go a-home

This a-way...

If you miss the train

I'm on

You will know

that I am gone

(fading out):
You can hear

the whistle blow...

NARRATOR:
But soon after this

easy southern route was opened,

the ultimate nightmare occurred

on an April night in 1903.

(deep rumbling)

At 4:
30 a.m., a freight train

had just passed through

the mining town

of Frank, Alberta,

when much of Turtle Mountain

collapsed.

The train's brakeman,

Sid Choquette,

made his way in total blackness

across rocks the size

of apartment buildings

in a frantic attempt

to stop an express train

coming from the east.

At the last possible moment,

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