All
along the new straight track we plough the old fields hunder
Seven good feet and a quarter inch broad rails to steal the thunder
100 picks and 36 head having to meet the maker
As black folks tunnel worms its way past the company undertaker
Hard cast in iron that engineer,
God bless his impart
Fist and scraping furnace busting flames the winning card
Oh,
a rain steam speed at maidenhead,
turners vish and wide
Over bridges,
girders,
hot driven rivets safely guide
Passenger wagons from Paddington to Bristol's briny blue
On the break the waves are with a thousand horses,
turn the turning screw
Hard cast in iron that engineer,
God bless his impart Fist and scraping furnace busting
flames the winning card
But those bonnie lads from way up north had to have the final laugh
The right new age was the standard gauge,
four foot eight and a half
And rolling out across all Europe,
across the mad bad empire world
Came the age of steam and the engines roaring,
bold praise and jack unfurled
Arching palaces of frayed streets stand lofty and serene
Home to their maker and his last two miles,
to sleepy Kensal Green
Hard cast in iron that engineer,
God bless his impart
Fist and scraping furnace busting flames the winning card
Hard cast in iron that engineer,
God bless his impart
Fist and scraping furnace busting flames the winning card