When We Ran With The Old Machine - song lyrics 
American Old-time song lyrics from www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
When We Ran With the Old Machine Copyright, 1887, by T. B. Harms & Co. Written and sung by Gus Williams. 
Brave relics of the past are we, Old firemen staunch and true, We're thinking now of days gone by, And all that we've gone through. Thro' fire and flame we've made our way, And dangers we have seen, We never can forget the time, When we ran with the old machine. 
Chorus. Through night and day, in sunshine or in rain, We answered then, the warning bells refrain, Those good old times we'll never see again, When we ran with the old machine. 
No rival could approach us then, In valor, or in speed, And often we have taken part In many a daring deed. The fire bell was the bugle cry, That brought us to the scene, Where lives were saved and dangers braved, When we ran with the old machine.-Chorus. 
In numbers now, we are but few, A host have pass'd away, But still we're happy, light and free, Our spirits ne'er decay. We often sigh for those old days, Whose mem'ry we keep green, Oh, there was joy for man and boy; When we ran with the old machine.-Chorus.