Freight Train from Kyogle
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I read every hobo book collected on my shelf
I fancied that I'd like to try the hobo life myself
I'd live on beans and move about exclusively by freight
No matter that it's Lismore in the year of '98
My first trip would be to Sydney, a thousand K's away
My girlfriend had moved down there nursing for the RPA
I gave notice on my room and said to forward any mail
And told the dole clerk I got work experience with New South Rail
I got a call from Patrick this guy I kinda knew
He'd heard about my grand plan and decided he'd come too
Well, I listed every risk and the potential mortal cost
So I found him at the depot a week later looking lost
I took his hand and shook it, the two of us well met
But the day growing long, and there's a place we had to get
We thumbed an easy ride out on the road that heads due west
To where the main line runs and if we're lucky we'll invest
In a freight train from Kyogle, here we are I see one now
And it's snaking through the town, stop the car and set us down
Hey Hey, it's a long way down the line
We're standing by the station, the trains flying by so near
You could nearly touch them, but they're going way too fast to commandeer
We had no choice to give up and crestfallen hit the pub
When these locals told us all about this outta town train hub
So we walked the line three miles north, and found they were legit
Here the track splits into two where trains can rest there and refit
No sooner had we got there than way off down the straight
We saw the twinkling of the headlights of a Southbound SP freight
Well to find a train is one thing another is to stop it
Preferably a plan in which the two of us don't cop it
The signal light shone green, I wondered could I change the gels
But Pat said that's a sure way to get locked in separate cells
Well, If I must choose a life of crime, I might as well go deeper
I found an empty cardboard box and placed it gently on a sleeper
I'm still not sure if it did it or the driver saw us bolt
But the night lit up with screaming steel and the thing came to a halt
A string of empty flatbeds stretched all along the siding
Each one had big metal ends with corners we could hide in
So we shot out of the long grass at which time we could afford
I laced my hands into a stirrup and gave Pat a boost aboard
We melded with the shadows and dared not make a sound
We could hear voices and footsteps in the gravel all around
Then our carriage gave a jolt which set off a chain reaction
Then the wheels started to groan and pretty soon we got some traction
On this freight train from Kyogle, now we're really on our way
Hear the driver sound the horn, tell the town we're coming on
Hey hey, it's a long way down the line
Went slow into a town I read a sign that says Casino
Feed Supplies, we thought our trip already done but what did we know When we cleared the yard again we thought the guard he could've seen us We had to get back from the engine and put some distance between us
We moved along the empty flatbed in the opposite direction
It's complicated physics but a thrill to bring to action
We climbed the ends and like in some old western celluloid
As the ground roared below us we both leapt across the void
Well, 5 cars back we stopped, a chance to study my new friend
To me he seemed a cross between Mighty Mouse and Sean Penn
But whereas I carried not much more than I was wearing
Pat was way more tactical and better at preparing
You see, He'd brought along this knapsack he'd had since Air Cadets
It was full of fruit and muesli bars and Beedi cigarettes
When he produced a bottle o' beer I said Patrick I like that trick'
Then he fished out two more tallies and then Patrick won the hattrick
The beer ran was gone by Grafton, our bladders like balloons
We were drunk and silly and light-headed from the diesel fumes
The full moon lights the landscape all around us as we ride
We hold each other by the belt and pee-pee off the sides
Of this freight train from Kyogle, no one can stop us now
And our spirits might be filled but there's a chance we'll both be killed
Hey hey, it's still a long way down the line
Our faces stung with icy raindrops brought on a salty breeze
As we tunneled through steep hilltops lousy with banana trees
Of course Pat brought a raincoat and fashioned a makeshift tent
And we huddled underneath it wet and shivering till it went
But the sky had cleared by Taree, where we took a different course
South westerly we traced the Manning River toward it's source
It's water gave a glowing pink reversal of the dawn
We both sat there mute with wonder as the hills lit up reborn
But this romance part was over as the sun increased it's power
As this metal car that carried us grew hotter by the hour
There's no way we could sit down cause it stung just like a hive
We had to get off soon lest we're barbecued alive
But we're going through more towns now we had to crouch down with our knees up
And people kept on spotting us and Patrick got the breeze up
Then coming into Newcastle or somewhere near enough
We heard a station master yell at us, Pat says, 'That's it, I'm getting off'
Of this freight train from Kyogle, it's some kind of living hell
We're covered from head to foot, in grease and grime and sweat and soot
Hey hey, it's still a long way down the line
Well, Patrick up and took the leap before I could protest
He hit the ground and tripped and flailed and rolled three times and came to rest
Then, lying with an outstretched arm as if to say 'now you'
But I just stood there stunned and watched his figure fade from view
Now I'd lost Patrick forever the train slowed to a crawl
I wished him here to see how easily I made landfall
I walked back 3 miles -well hallelujah! - he's still sat there in place
With blood from shin to shoulder and tear streaks down his face
I scooped him up and said I'd get him home to convalesce
I got us to the comfort of a city bound express
The passengers all stared like we'd just crawled out of the earth
And the afternoon commuting suits gave us a 6 foot berth
We ran into my girlfriend at the Marlborough Hotel
Pat says 'nice to see you' and she answered 'go to hell!'
You two can go play cowboys while I worry every hour
She sent Pat off to tend his wounds and me to find a shower
Now I'm stuck in Sydney living in the nurse's quarters
My girlfriend sneaks me in, so far the night guard hasn't caught us
And Patrick's moved to Albury on some employment scheme
I wonder does he wake at night haunted in his dream
By the freight train from Kyogle it's still calling through the land
'Come on you try-hard bums I will brush you off like crumbs'
Hey hey, we took the long way
Some say it was the wrong way
But I'll stay on this long way
Down the line