<h2> The Flying Gang </h2>
<p>I served my time, in the days gone by,<br/>
In the railway's clash and clang,<br/>
And I worked my way to the end, and I<br/>
Was the head of the 'Flying Gang'.<br/>
'Twas a chosen band that was kept at hand<br/>
In case of an urgent need,<br/>
Was it south or north we were started forth,<br/>
And away at our utmost speed.<br/>
If word reached town that a bridge was down,<br/>
The imperious summons rang —<br/>
'Come out with the pilot engine sharp,<br/>
And away with the flying gang.'<br/>
<br/>
Then a piercing scream and a rush of steam<br/>
As the engine moved ahead,<br/>
With a measured beat by the slum and street<br/>
Of the busy town we fled,<br/>
By the uplands bright and the homesteads white,<br/>
With the rush of the western gale,<br/>
And the pilot swayed with the pace we made<br/>
As she rocked on the ringing rail.<br/>
And the country children clapped their hands<br/>
As the engine's echoes rang,<br/>
But their elders said: 'There is work ahead<br/>
When they send for the flying gang.'<br/>
<br/>
Then across the miles of the saltbush plain<br/>
That gleamed with the morning dew,<br/>
Where the grasses waved like the ripening grain<br/>
The pilot engine flew,<br/>
A fiery rush in the open bush<br/>
Where the grade marks seemed to fly,<br/>
And the order sped on the wires ahead,<br/>
The pilot <i>MUST</i> go by.<br/>
The Governor's special must stand aside,<br/>
And the fast express go hang,<br/>
Let your orders be that the line is free<br/>
For the boys of the flying gang.<br/></p>
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