Shunting engines

I'm not a big fan of poetry - it rather passes me by. I like a limerick but the "proper" stuff? No thanks.

Despite this, I picked up a little booklet by Mirfield signalman Walter Nugent Sinkinson and since it was only 25p, my curiosity was piqued.

It seems that the author wrote all the poems inside himself and to my untutored eye, they seem pretty good. Being railway subjects probably means the art world wasn't interested but since this is the third volume in the set, presumably other were.

From the book, I bring you a poem called "Shunting Engines" which seems to sum them up nicely:

Shunting Engines

Snorty little Shunters,
 Busy at the Docks;
Simulating lions,
 Really bantam cocks.

To-and-fro unceasing.
 Jostling over joints,
Buffer clapping buffer,
 Clattering over points.

Dwarfs among the hoppers,
 At whose bulk they tug,
Piping pygmy whistles,
 Fierce with chuff and chug.

Out in early morning,
 Quick with steam and blast,
Evening slowly homing,
 Each faint sh! the last.