The Final Failure's Dream

A Poem by Frank Brown©Frank Brown 1930

                    "Expectation"

Oh, Mr. Trueman, I think I'll die,
If you don't let me have one last try!
I'll promise you my train won't fly.
    Through Leura.

I'll run them gently o'er Number Nine;
I know each grade along that line;
And I'll bet that I am dead on tlme
    Through Wentworth Falls.

I'll have them quiet on Sixty-six
Where most at the driver's get In a fix
And I'll stop at the "home" or "distant" sticks
    At Lawson.

To those girls in the stone house I'll not wave
But all my energy I'll save,
And you'll see for yourself how I behave
    Through Woodford.

I'll catch them over that Thirty-three,
And bring them down to a nicety;
And you'll have no fault to find with me
    Through Linden.

Then you wlli see that I'm no goat.
I'll glide along like a Manly boat;
And I'll pick up Hansell's five pound note
    At Weemalah.

Then I'll let them run, then pick them up.
Dear "Harry," I wouldn't sell you a pup !
I'll promise you faithfully I won't stick up.
    On Faulconbridge.

Down through Springwood we will go on our way,
And the guard will look at his watch and say:
"Now, here is a man who can run O.K.
To Valley Heights."

                    "Realization"

We left Katoomba and I thought it grand.
I said: "This job I understand;"
And I had the whole train well in hand
    Through Leura.

One application--but it must have been fate!
I said: "I don't think they're holding, Mate!"
And we were ahead at it 'stead or late,
    Through Wentworth Falls.

With the air all gone at that Sixty-six
I round myself in an awful fix
And I passed at danger all the sticks
    At Lawson.

Those girls in the stone house I couldn't see.
I cried "Oh, what will become ot me,
When I get on to the Thirty-three.
    Near Woodford.

Just past "Bull's Camp" I did my dash !
I began to think of the Springwood smash !
I trie d to picture the awful crash
    At Linden !

I tried to think who would miss me most.
I vowed that never again I'd boast
Of getting' that fiver off the post
    At Weemalah !

My heart sank down; my hair stood up;
I cried "Dear Harry--I've sold you a pup!"
I prayed to God that I could stick up
    On Faulconbridge.

When passing Sprlngwood my heart went thump
I said "Well Mate--I'm going to jump !"
Just then I felt an awful bump
    At Valley Heights.

I thought I landed on my head !
They came and picked me up for dead !
Then I found I'd fallen out of bed
    In Lithgow Barracks.

Notes

First published in The Locomotive Journal, Sydney July 31, 1930. Written by Frank Brown in Penrith 7 July 1930. Published in Frank Brown's book Engine 1174: And Other Verses, Enfield NSW, 1948.