Indian Pacific

From coast to coast by night and day
Hear the clickin' of the wheels,
The hummin' of the diesel
On her ribbons of steel;
Carryin' the mem'ries
Of a nation built by hand,
See the Indian Pacific span the land.

She's the pride of all the railway men
'Cross country where she flies,
From the blue Pacific waters
To where the mountains rise;
By lakes and wide brown rivers,
Through desert country dry,
See the Indian Pacific passin' by.

Chorus:
Oh, the Indian Pacific
She goes rollin' down the track,
Five thousand miles to travel,
Before she's there and back.

Beside the line a drover waves
His battered old grey hat,
And kids are catchin' yabbies
Down by the river flat,
And a woman hangs her washing
In the backyard near the line,
As the Indian Pacific's rollin' by.

Hear the whistle blowin' lonely
'Neath the Nullarbor starlight,
Salutin' those who walked across
The track she rides tonight;
Callin' to the railway camp
And the fettlers on the line,
I'm the Indian Pacific right on time.

From the silver of the Broken Hill
To old Kalgoorlie gold,
She mirrors all the colours
Of a land so hard and old;
Then the western flowers are blooming,
And the air is just like wine,
And the Indian Pacific's makin' time.

Last chorus:

Oh, the Indian Pacific
She goes rollin' down the track,
Five thousand miles to travel,
Before she's there and back.
From the waters of the western sea
To the eastern ocean sand,
The Indian Pacific spans the land.
Oh, the Indian Pacific spans the land.

(Words and music by Joy McKean) Sung here by Slim Dusty