Bruce Attwell writes "Here, as promised, is the Railways ballad that I learned when firing in the Palmerston North depot in 1952."

Bruce Attwell writes,
"This NZ version is a bit imaginative and pure doggerel, of course; and I think people probably put their own words and variations into the piece as it caught their fancy. I cannot, honestly, tell how much of it has been a product of my one-time alcohol-fueled singing or hearing. After all, it is fifty years since I first heard it! Anyway, John - enjoy arranging it as you please. It really is a form of folk ballad. I doubt if Tranz-Rail will ever produce anything similar."

This NZ song is a parody of the popular 1930s American song The Wreck of the Old 97. "Old 97" consisted of an engine and four carriages which crashed in September 1903 when running behind schedule.

The driver Joseph Broady, was trying to make up time as his train approached Danville down a three-mile grade. He realized he did not have enough air pressure to slow the train for an upcoming curved trestle, and in vain he reversed the engine to lock the wheels. "Old 97" vaulted off the trestle, and 11 people were killed.

The recording of the resulting ballad was the first record to sell a million copies in the USA.

A more recent parody

The Overlander was a daylight pasenger train between Auckland and Wellington in the first decade of this century. The rails on the line were welded together to stop the click-clacking, but they would warp when the summer sun heated them, and the Overlander had to slow down on some sections. This could lead to tourists missing their travel connections, so on the cooler lines the driver would try to make up time, giving rise to this facetious and fictitious parody. The train is now called the Northern Explorer and no longer stops at Taumarunui.

The passengers were grumpy at National Park station, Saying, "Driver, you're way behind time! This isn't some old goods train; it's the Overlander, You must get to Taumarunui on time." So the driver grabbed his cellphone and he called the electrician, Sayin' "Put your highest voltage through the wire This isn't some old goods train; it's the Overlander, And I’m going to set the rails on fire." But did she ever pull in? No, she never pulled in, Though at 2.35 she was due, We waited hours and hours on the Taumarunui platform But the Overlander never came through. They shot out of National Park like a cork from a flagon, With the regulator open wide, The collector was a’sparking like an angry dragon, And the rimu trees were flashing by each side. Now, that line from National Park, is so very steep and winding, It’s hard on the driver’s nerves, N’going down Raurimu Spiral, the driver lost his air brakes, Just before he hit the worst of the curves. And did she ever pull in? No, she never pulled in, Though at 2.35 she was due, We waited hours and hours on the Taumarunui platform But the Overlander never came through Well, he went into that bend, doing ninety miles an hour, When the whistle broke into a scream, They found him in the wreck, with his hand on the throttle, At the bottom of the Raurimu Stream So all you Overlanders, now you’ve listened to my story, There's a lesson here that you must learn, Never give the hurry-up to your Kiwi Rail driver He may crash and you’ll never return! And did she ever pull in? No, she never pulled in, Though at 2.35 she was due, We waited hours and hours on the Taumarunui platform But the Overlander never came through.

Other NZ Train Ballads

You can sing or recite these.
Kiwi Express
Taumarunui on the Main Trunk Line
The Posthole Song
Okaihau Express
The Fairlie Flier
Minnie Dean
Pillows of the Dead

Song List - Home

Published on web Dec 2005