The Dying Hogger
Channel: Stephen Griffith
Date: 2020-07-09

Day 115 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series

Sandburg writes: "Once on a newspaper assignment during the copper mine strike in the Calumet region, I spent  an hour with a "wobbly" who had been switchman, cowboy, jailbird. He sang this song. . . .  "Hogger " is railroad slang for an engineer or " boghead," while a " tallow-pot " is a fireman. " Snake"  and "stinger" are pet names among switchmen and brakemen, whose two brotherhood organizations  during a number of years have antagonized each other and engaged in jurisdictional disputes."

This song needs a little more explanation. It's like when my wife talks about her profession, education. Teacher's have their own ling, so do railroad personnel.

Hogger: Railroad engineer
Tallow-Pot: locomotive fireman
Snake: railroad switchman
Stinger: railroad brakemen
Draw-bar: (rail transport) A bar of iron with an eye at each end, or a heavy link, for coupling a locomotive to a tender or car.
Way car: caboose
Wobbly: In 1905, a new radical union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), began to organize workers excluded from the AFL. Known as the "Wobblies," these unionists wanted to form "One Big Union." Their ultimate goal was to call "One Big Strike," which would overthrow the capitalist system.
Water Tank: A water stop or water station on a railroad is a place where steam trains stop to replenish water. ...