Tornado - original song

A song I wrote in January 2009 to celebrate the launch of 'Tornado', the first steam engine to be built in Britain for almost fifty years.

Chorus: I want to see that smoke-cloud
Take me back to the golden age of steam,
Where the firebox glows and the whistle blows,
Why, it comes back like a dream.
I love to hear those steel rails humming
To the song of a railway train,
And now "Tornado" means we'll see
One pulled by steam again.

In nineteen-sixty-three
When I was no more then a boy,
The Atlantic Coast Expresses
Brought a special kind of joy:
Smoke-belching steel dragons,
How they thundered and they roared!
I wept the night they said that steam-hauled
Trains would be no more.

Steam trains weren't the only loss
We suffered in those times,
As Beeching butchered what he called
'Uneconomic lines'.
Rural routes were closed in droves,
Old stations turned to dust.
In scrapyards engines by the score
Were left to rot and rust.

Though forty years and more have gone
Since steam trains passed this way,
And grass grows through the sleepers
On the lines of yesterday,
The last guard's lamp has winked goodnight;
It's hanging on the wall;
"Tornado" means well see its light
Again now, after all.

For "Tornado", built in Darlington,
Let's have three hearty cheers:
The first steam engine to be built
In almost fifty years.
She's going to work on main lines,
Number six-o-one-six-three
In golden-age style apple-green,
Fresh-painted livery.

Words and music ©Paddy Wex 2009

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tornado
• original song
• acoustic
• singer/songwriter
• Paddy Wex
• steam engine
• steam train
• steam railways
• 60163
• folk song
• latest songs 2009
• new song
• A1
• apple green
• locomotive

[JumpStyle212]

very very good! Keep it up!

[oldfolkiepad]

@JumpStyle212 You are most kind - thank you very much!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[TheMakemFolksinger]

love songs about train, really like your song, i write about my life as a Makem lad coming from sunderland, cheers Dave

[oldfolkiepad]

@TheMakemFolksinger Thanks for listening and your kind comment; I'll pay a visit to your channel in a few minutes.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[tich4472]

That is an amazing song really enjoyed listening to it :) a brilliant song for a brilliant engine. Well done mate really is brill.

[oldfolkiepad]

@tich4472 Thank you very much for your very kind remarks! Please accept my apologies for taking so long to reply - I took a month's break from YouTube.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[mamodfan]

@oldfolkiepad

You're very welcome,

I did enjoy listening to that song!

Best wishes

Alex

[oldfolkiepad]

@mamodfan I'm delighted that you approve. Thank you very much for your kind comment!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[mamodfan]

What a fantastic tribute to a fantastic loco!

Really good :-D

[4472peter]

@oldfolkiepad Thanks, They are planning to build a P2 steam engine.