One Bad Second From a Wreck

[Intro] [Verse 1] Sleet on the switch, black ice on the rail You check every brake as the cold wind wails The handbrake sticks where the old wheels turn A torch in your hand, and the whole line burns [Chorus] Hold that wheel, let the consist roll Slow to the spur where the dead ends go Numbers crack through the dispatcher’s call You keep your hands steady, you answer the fall [Verse 2] The torch finds the frost, the frozen link gives way You free the brake as the cars drift away One car, then two, toward the spur’s last bend You count every coupling, you watch every end [Chorus] Hold that wheel, let the consist roll Slow to the spur where the dead ends go Numbers crack through the dispatcher’s call You keep your hands steady, you answer the fall [Guitar solo] [Chorus] Hold that wheel, let the consist roll Slow to the spur where the dead ends go Numbers crack through the dispatcher’s call You keep your hands steady, you answer the fall [Outro] The last car settles, the switch goes still You set down the torch on the frozen hill