NEW  ZEALAND
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The Wreck of the Old 2-2-7

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

Oh they gave him his orders at Taihape station,
Saying, "Driver, you're way behind time!
This isn't eighty-one, it's old two-two-seven,
You must run her into Marton on time."

So the driver turned fiercely to his black and greasy fireman,
Sayin' "Shovel on a little more coal!
This isn't eighty-one, it's ol' two-two-seven,
And we've gotta make these engine wheels roll."

Oh! They went from Taihape like a howling tornado,
With the regulator open wide,
And the funnel belching smoke, like an angry volcano,
An' the mile-posts a-passing each side.

Now, the road from Taihape, is very steep and winding,
And it's hard on the driver's nerves,
They were going down a bank, when the driver lost his air brakes,
Just before they hit the worst of the curves.

They went rockin' in the bend, doing sixty miles an hour,
When the whistle broke into a scream,
They found him in the wreck, with his hand on the throttle,
He was scalded to death by steam.

Now all you young ladies come listen to my story,
There's a lesson that you must learn,
Never speak a harsh word, to a driver or a fireman,
They may go away and never return!



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.

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


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Published on web Dec 2005