Well, she comes out at night with the cold winds of December
And when it's quiet you hear her engines cry
She blows smoke at her wheels and her gears pound the steel
As they carry her on down the line

Now I'm sure that you've heard stories, as most of us have
In the lunch counter and barber shop queues
She's the Ghost of Virginia and from here up to Richmond
She runs by the light of the moon

Well a few years back on the old Suffolk Road
Where it crosses the abandoned rail line
My Grandpa claimed that he'd seen a freight train
And it wasn't no sleek streamline

She was cold black and steel and she screamed as she cut
Her way clear of the pines
But he swears to this day he can feel the earth shake
And smell her smoke when the wind's just right

Ah, but back in her day she was a real working horse
Haulin' coal out for old man Ward
She was tied up in ribbons and set out of Richmond
Haulin' soldiers during the war

Ah, but some say she wrecked and she rides these rails
Hopin' one day that she'll get it right
Others say she roams out picking up lost souls
And carryin' 'em down to Carolina
So if you're ever out on the old Suffolk Road
And see this strangest of sights
She's the Ghost of Virginia bound from Raleigh up to Richmond
And you'd best stay out of her line
Yeah you'd best stay out of her line