The cane crushing season is due to start soon and it’s a good time to be reminded about looking out for cane trains as they move around the region.
Local musician Warren Wrangell is doing his bit to spread the message by partnering with Wilmar Sugar Australia in their 2020 cane rail safety campaign.
Warren's Train Brain Song is the flagship of Wilmar’s safety awareness campaign that's running across the Herbert, Burdekin, Proserpine and Plane Creek milling regions.
The catchy song urges people to look out for cane trains and to use their train brains, or risk ending up “flat out like a toad”.
Warren said he wrote the song after his own close encounter with a cane train last year.
“I was going along and then there was a cane train right in front of me and I thought ‘look out for those cane trains’,” he said.
“Every time I came to a cane train track after that, those words popped in my head, so I thought I would put a bit of music to it to get the safety message out.
“I hope the song wakes people up to the fact that they need to be safe around cane trains. Hopefully, it will save lives.”
Wilmar Sugar’s general manager cane supply and grower relations, Paul Giordani, said he hoped the Train Brain Song connected with people of all ages and helped keep them safe this crushing season.
“The lyrics are fun but it’s a serious message about using your train brain and staying safe around cane trains,” he said.
“Using your train brain means to always be on the lookout for cane trains, to obey all signs and signals at cane railway crossings, and to always give way to oncoming cane trains.”
