THE SUNSHINE DISASTER
(Unknown)

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.

Youtube clip

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

Sunshine train crash 1908

--Stewie.