He was driving a Bendigo engine The train was running all right It was going along as usual Till Sunshine came in sight He put on his brakes and he whistled For the signal was against the train He applied his brakes for emergency But alas ‘twas all in vain
Chorus If those trains had only run As they should, their proper time There wouldn’t have been a disaster At a place they call Sunshine If those brakes had only held As they did a few hours before There wouldn’t have been a disaster And a death-roll of forty-four
The doctors and nurses arrived there And the sight it caused them pain To see all the wounded and dying In the wreck of that fateful train The people of Sunshine ne’er faltered But assisted with all their power To help the doctors and nurses In that awful and painful hour
Chorus
This is from Ron Edwards' big book. He collected it at Lappa Junction in August 1966 from the singing of Bill Leonard who had learnt it some 30 years earlier.
In the video, Musgrove uses a chorus that Edwards collected from Frank Evans at Mareeba Qld in September 1966.
If those brakes had only gripped As they did a while before There would be no Sunshine disaster Or deaths numbering forty-four If that guard had only seen That danger lay ahead There would be no widows or orphans But happier homes instead