It is stated that many railway lines in the State that have never paid and are considered never likely to pay, will shortly be closed. They were mostly built out of loan money. - News item.
Long since a roadway used to go
Down to the town of Windywoe,
And teamsters' waggons on the track
Carried our trade goods forth and back,
But Joseph Jimpson-Jones Esquire,
The leading light within our shire,
Proposed a railway line as well.
The interest? Pah! A bagatelle.
Now this same Joseph Jimpson-Jones,
At that time owned -- in fact still owns
Vast tracts of land about the place.
He said it was a gave disgrace
That Windywoe possessed no train;
And so he labored might and main
To pull at certain secret strings
(In those dark days they did such things.)
The ultimate result was fine,
And Windywoe secured its line;
And cash from certain public loans
Bought certain lands from Jimpson-Jones
At certain fancy prices which
Inclined to make him passing rich.
The interest? Pah! What should we acre?
That was posterity's affair.
Then twice a day the train came down
To wake our slumbrous little town;
And twice a day the train puffed out
A pretty sight, which marked, no doubt,
Great progress, tho' I've heard them say
The line was never made to pay.
'Twas progress, and unwept, unsung,
The old-time teamsters all went bung.
Time mooched on slowly, year by year,
And motors started to appear
Upon the road to Windywoe.
More progress, as of course, you know,
As for the railway, we confess
Its revenues grew less and less.
The interest? Well, as you're aware;
Taxpayers see to that affair.
We owned, in backward days of yore,
One blacksmith's shop, one pub, one store,
Today we have, as times enlarge,
One pub, one store and one garage.
There's progress for a little town!
They railway? Oh, they shut that down.
The train that used to run is gone...
Of course, the interest still runs on.
First published in The Herald, 19 December 1934
Author reference sites: C.J. Dennis, Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
