The Story of Casey Jones and the Wreck That Made Him Famous John Luther Jones was born March 14, 1863. As Jones took a turn into Vaughan, Mississippi, Webb warned him that there was another train parked on the tracks ahead of them. The caboose and two of the cars were smashed to pieces, the engine left the rails and plowed into an embankment, where it overturned and was completely wrecked, the baggage and mail coaches also being thrown from the track and badly damaged. 1, having arrived that morning on No. Mrs. Deto was identified as the spouse of an IC engineer, and in the update her claim for injuries was still unsettled. On 25 Nov 1886 he married Mary Joanna “Janie” Brady whose father owned the boarding house where Casey lived. As his engine is badly in disrepair he crashes from a bridge, dies and goes to Heaven. IWW activist Joe Hill wrote and sang a protest song parody of “The Ballad of Casey Jones”. Popular legend holds that when his body was pulled from the wreckage, his hands still clutched the whistle cord and brake. Going to the fireman's side, he saw the markers of the caboose of No. He was only two minutes behind schedule. In the report Fireman Sim Webb states that he heard the torpedo explode, then went to the gangway on the engineer's side and saw the flagman with the red and white lights standing alongside the tracks. ", In Season 4 episode 15 (entitled "Us") of, Casey Jones Railroad Museum State Park in Vaughan, Mississippi (Museum closed in 2004), This page was last edited on 7 January 2021, at 21:13. By all accounts he was a devoted family man and teetotaler. Casey Jones was a railroad engineer known for his speed who died in 1900, when he collided with another train. He was a near-magician at knowing exactly how much and what gauge copper a certain size still would require. The two sections of northbound local passenger train No. Sixth Grade Worksheets. During its 37 years of service, "Ole 382" was involved in accidents that took 6 lives before it was retired in July 1935. 382. In 1884, he moved to Jackson, Tennessee, where he was promoted at M&O to the position of flagman. The story of a brave engineer. 638 was due to be sent to Water Valley for service in the Jackson District. The engineer's exploits were also sung of in an earlier folk song called " The Ballad of Casey Jones ", which the Grateful Dead … They would have two sons and a daughter together. [7], His regular fireman on No. 72, locking its brakes and leaving the last four cars of No. The last thing Webb heard as he jumped was the long, piercing scream of the whistle as Jones warned anyone still in the freight train looming ahead. She reached out her arms for Casey and sat right down on the floor, holding him on her lap, listening to the story of his suffering. He was known for his insistence that he "get her there on the advertised" (time) and that he never "fall down": arrive at his destination behind schedule. [13] At the time of Jones' death at age 36, his son Charles was 12, his daughter Helen was 10 and his youngest son John Lloyd (known as "Casey Junior") was 4. Jones then turned to Webb and told him to jump to safety, all the while still trying to slow the train. He had reduced his speed from about 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) to about 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) when he hit. As the combined length of the trains was ten cars longer than the length of the east passing track, some of the cars were stopped on the main line. A Jackson, Mississippi, newspaper report described the accident: The south-bound passenger train No. Jones pulled out of Goodman only five minutes behind schedule. Railroad Wreck at Vaughan's on Illinois Central Railroad – Terrible Fatality Prevented by Engineer's Loyalty to Duty – A passenger's Story," The Times-Democrat, New Orleans. That was Engine No. Casey Jones's fame is largely attributed to the traditional song, “The Ballad of Casey Jones”,[6][15] also known as "Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer", recorded by, among others, Billy Murray, Mississippi John Hurt, Furry Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ed McCurdy, and played live by the Grateful Dead, as well as Jones' friend Wallace Saunders, an African-American engine wiper for the IC. 83 that Jones hit. Miller, Express Messenger, injuries to back and left side, apparently slight – $25.00 ($768 in 2019), W. L. Whiteside, Postal Clerk, jarred – $1.00 ($31 in 2019), R. A. Ford, Postal Clerk, jarred – $1.00 ($31 in 2019), Engine No. He is also survived by his bother Ray (Joyce) Jones and their family. "Oh my Lord, there's something on the main line!" A ballad written by Wallace Saunders entitled "The Ballad of Casey Jones" made Jones a permanent figure in American folklore. The event was partially spoofed in The Brave Engineer, in which the hero rescued a damsel from a cliché bandit. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Unofficially though, the penalties were far more severe for running behind than breaking the rules. 26 to gain access to the west house track. All passengers on the train survived, with the exception of Casey Jones, who was struck in the throat while still holding one hand on the break and one hand on the whistle. That year he drove the engine that became most closely associated with him, for one time. ″Casey Jones—the Union Scab″ portrays Jones as a strikebreaker at Southern Pacific. Casey Jones Lyrics: Casey Jones / Come all you rounders / If you want to hear / The story of a brave engineer / Casey Jones / Was the rounder's name / On the big six wheeler / Boys he made his fame 2 passenger train to pass, and then continue on to Vaughan. A stretcher was brought from the baggage car on No. The Legend of Casey Jones - Reading Comprehension Worksheet Preview. He is best known for his courage, sacrificing his life by keeping one hand on the brake to slow the train and one hand on the whistle to warn others who might be near the train, as well as for his tenacity in keeping trains on schedule and his famous "whippoorwill whistle." 384 until the night of his fateful last ride on Engine No. [7], A conductor's report filed five hours after the accident stated, "Engineer on No.1 failed to answer flagman who was out proper distance. Now Nancy Farmer, two-time Newbery Honor winner, brings us an entirely new account of what might have happened on that fateful night, told from the perspective of the legendary engineer's fireman, Sim Webb.Sim Webb was born to work for the railroad. Casey Jones Mysteries Vol. He was due to run the southbound passenger service from Memphis to Canton, Mississippi, departing 11.35pm. [7], The next morning Jones's body was transported on the long trip home to Jackson, Tennessee on passenger train No. He advanced from the running board to the steam chest and then to the pilot beam to adjust the spark screen. Casey Jones is a short film inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. At Senatobia, Mississippi (40 miles (64 km) into the run), Jones passed through the scene of a prior fatal accident that had occurred the previous November. This is a traditional song, with Jerry playing the version recorded by Mississippi John Hurt. Jones liked No. He was told that No. Without any warning we plowed into that caboose."[6][7]. [7], A little-known example of Jones's heroic instincts in action is described by his biographer and friend Fred J. Lee in his book Casey Jones: Epic of the American Railroad (1939). On the "six-eight" wheeler, boys, he won his fame. [7][dubious – discuss], Jones was an avid baseball fan and watched or participated in the game whenever his schedule allowed. The weather was quite foggy that night, reducing visibility, and the run was well known for its tricky curves.[6][7]. One Sunday during the summer of 1898, the Water Valley shop team was scheduled to play the Jackson shop team and Jones got to haul the team to Jackson for the game.[7]. [7], In any event, they departed Memphis on the fatal run at 12:50 a.m., 75 minutes behind schedule owing to the late arrival of No. It is called the Kinmundy Wreck[11] as it happened near Kinmundy, Illinois. Jones himself was the only fatality, his watch stopped at 3:52am. John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. THE TALE OF CASEY JONES has inspired many songs and stories. Jones's wife received $3,000 in insurance payments (Jones was a member of two unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and had a $1,500 policy with each union) and later settled with IC for an additional $2,650 (Earl Brewer, a Water Valley attorney who would later serve as Governor of Mississippi, represented her in the settlement). 1 was running under a full head of steam when it crashed into the rear end of a caboose and three freight cars which were standing on the main track, the other portion of the train being on a sidetrack. [7], There has been some controversy about exactly how Jones died. His watch stopped at the time of impact: 3:52 am on April 30, 1900. But in the year prior to his death, Jones had not been cited for any rules infractions. January 22, 1912: 382 (now numbered 2012) was involved in a wreck that killed four prominent railroad men and injured several others. 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