Saluting railway people
RAIL commissioned Manchester poet Tony Walsh to write a bespoke poem to celebrate how British railways changed the world and to salute the countless men and women who keep the railway, and this country, moving. Tony Walsh presented the poem to close RAIL’s National Rail Awards 2017 at the Grosvenor House Hotel on September 21. The Railway Children, Harry Potter all the way to Hogwarts Flying Scotsman, Brief Encounter, railways are our folklore Ivor the Engine, Casey Jones, so many tales are told of Little Thomas Tank Engine and yes, the Fat Controller The Polar Express to The Orient Express, and Settle to Carlisle And serious Trans-Siberian fans can settle back a while And read what Larkin, Auden and the poets had to say Or listen to the hobo blues from freight train USA Or John Lee Hooker, Elvis Presley’s train songs of our youth Or watch Bond, James Bond with countless villains fighting on the roof Meet The Train From Kansas City but don’t miss the Last To Clarksville On The Midnight Train to Georgia, he is leaving, leaving; hearts will Always burst with pride or hurt inside from stories, songs and tales, Of how a journey Made In Britain made the world a world of rails All aboard! For a story of a vision and precision engineering Of obsession, a succession of professionals all steering All the pistons, all the engines, all the coal and soot and steam All the motion, locomotion, the emotion; all the dreams Through the valleys, over mountains, cutting tunnels, over plains Bringing people, bringing commerce, bringing trailblazers on trains Over prairies, over deserts, overcoming every test And from to sea to shining sea the trains would tame the wild west Across Europe, across Asia, across decades it unfurled It was railways, British railways that would shape the modern world Changing Britain, changing Britons, changing how we live our lives An injection of connection with a ticket bound to thrive And the railways brought identity, prosperity to places And the railways brought the horses and the people to the races And the railways brought the fish inland to bring us fish and chips And the railways brought new flavours we could savour to our lips And the railways brought the bounty of the planet to the shelf And the railways brought the timetable and thus brought time itself And from yesteryear to this room here; the rail network today It takes dedicated workers, every moment, every day And there’s many people, many people, unseen superstars For whom rail is not just what they do - no, rail is who they are And some of them are here tonight for handshakes and high fives The railways: not just livelihoods but big parts of their lives And at 2am and 4am and 6am they’re out there And on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and New Year’s Day they’re still there Through the rain and through the snow and through the heat and in all weathers Under scrutiny and pressure they still keep it all together
Some are high-vis some are low vis; at the station, at the junction All are certain they are working so the nation can still function So the workers get to work and so the kids get home to mothers So the fun-seekers find fun and so the lovers meet with lovers So in offices, in meetings, with their schedules, with their charts With the history and the future of the railways in their hearts And it’s relentless and it’s thankless and it’s endless and frustrating Oh, and everyone’s an expert but the train cannot keep waiting It takes co-operation, dedication, and resolute resilience And, as seen tonight, a guiding light of engineering brilliance And when things go wrong, they still stand strong, upholding public safety With no fear to tread, but straight ahead, as in Manchester just lately Where they felt the blast, but got there fast, the first ones on the scene We can’t imagine, shards and fragments and… all… that they have seen A city bled but then we said we’ll rise from where we’ve sank to We Stand Together, choosing love and Manchester says “Thank You!” And when London Bridge was falling down, one man didn’t hide He was stepping up and stepping in, no thought to step aside He was one man with a baton fighting three men with their knives And with no thought for his safety, buying time and saving lives And though stabbed and blinded, single-minded, still he battled on And just as bravely, fighting daily, his battle still goes on And so he and others, railway brothers, sisters, all en route to This platform where tonight we say: your industry salutes you! And so much applause, with much good cause; tonight we’ve seen the spirit Of the railways and how railway people’s spirit knows no limits And that’s as we’ve seen, at Parsons Green: there’s anger, fear and sorrow But the railway men and women will be back at work tomorrow And there’s challenges and differences but nights like this can build an’ Bring us all aboard, we stand, applaud; we all are railway children