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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 3 (August 1, 1931)

Railway Rhymes — The Shunter

Railway Rhymes
The Shunter
.

Refrain.
Snorting through the siding, with a steamescaping din,
Rattling over crossing-loops askew, (Toot! Toot!)
Banging cars behind her (loose hooks clanking on the pin),
The Shunting Engine hits the trail anew!
(Toot! Toot!)

I.
All day long she lay—in quiet idleness, alone (Cooling from the hectic “night before”);
Fires drawn from her fire-box, feeling chilly to the bone
Silent—pulseless—midst the traffic's roar.

II.
Came the dusk. The cleaners came, to set her for her work.
Boiler filled, see kindled fire renew
All the beating life of her—that waits for Pat McGirk,
The king-pin of that hard-baked shunting crew.

III.
Pat sets lever for the yard—he presses on the steam—
Latenf life quick answers! With a cheer (and a Toot!)
Out she rolls, right joyously, to where the waving gleam
Of Shunter Joe's bright hand-lamp signals clear! (“Aint he cute?”)

IV.
Trucks to push and pull and split, cars to slip and jerk
Merchandise of every kind to haul,
Strains to bear, with slipping wheels (sanded to the work)
She answers surely every urgent call.

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V.
Envies not the “Limited,” the “Fast Freight,” the “Express”—
Engines with their own hard hauls to do— (“Tootle-oo!”)
Hers the job to clear the roads, and straighten up the mess
That homing trains forever make anew. (Tootle too!)

VI.
Great the gifts that shunters need—
Clear heads, quick thoughts, fast acts—
Nerves calm, strength certain—unafraid,
With every chance to cope—
Time brief for preparation—straight
To boldly “face the facts”
Must be the gangs
Whose gay “grand slams”
Set trains, “to time,” afloat.
Snorting through the siding, with a steamescaping din,
Rattling over crossing-loops askew,
(Toot! Toot!)
Banging cars behind her (loose hooks clanking on the pin),
The Shunting Engine hits the trail anew!
(Toot! Toot!)

Platelayers At Work On The N.Z.R. (Rly. Publicity photo.) Renewing points and crossings in the Lambton Station yard, Wellington.

Platelayers At Work On The N.Z.R.
(Rly. Publicity photo.)
Renewing points and crossings in the Lambton Station yard, Wellington.

Railway Education Up-to-date
(From Our London Correspondent.)

The new London Underground Railways school, which was opened recently, is divided into two sections, one a signalling department and the other a train equpment section. Both the York and London establishments are equipped with lengths of model track and complete signalling installations to illustrate the lectures. At York the operating course consists of twenty lectures by skilled instructors, and the school has a seating capacity of sixty students. Through the London Underground Railways school there will annually pass something like 5000 men, the courses covering not only instruction to new entrants to the various grades, but also refresher courses for signalmen, linesmen, drivers, and others engaged in train operation. It was a one-time L. and N.E. Railway official who defined education as the art of producing “broad men sharpened to a point.” At the new schools at York and London the L. and N.E.R. and the Underground Railways are performing wonders in this direction.

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