All the way

Its really only 7 years
since the Ghan went all the way
From Adelaide to Alice Springs
and then Darwin, and some say
That it took 125 years
of true and brutal force
Men died to make it possible
others say of course
many men did perish
backs broken in the fight
to lay this rail road
all those miles
and do it day and night
2 million concrete sleepers
the weight of each
immense
railway lines that cracked
and bruised operatives
the sense
of taking on this project
brought music to the ears
of travellers aboard the Ghan
and the famous Cameleers
Imagine just how hard it was
In 1855
working the camels through the outback
Some did not survive
the hot sun
and the lack of water
was an enormous strain
and so it was in 2004
That the Ghan was the first train
to travel really all the way
and I am proud to say
that I sat on one of its seats
just the other day.