"Engine One-Forty-Three" is a ballad in the tradition of early American train wreck songs, based on the true story of the wreck of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's Fast Flying Virginian (FFV) near Hinton, West Virginia on 23 October 1890. The train was on its way to Clifton Forge, Virginia, when it hit a rock slide. Early accounts record that the engineer, George Alley, remained on the train to try to slow it and save the lives of its passengers. Alley died at the scene, but the fireman is said to have jumped to safety. The ballad elaborates the story, including a mother (not alive at the time of the wreck), excessive speed (a popular theme in train wreck songs), and a motive (a prior delay, and the engineer's wish to make up time on a train with a reputation for swiftness).