Eye witness account to Casey Jones Wreck.....

[Overmod]

243129

To lionize Casey Jones is ludicrous. He was speeding which was a major cause of the wreck.

This is very true... but I suspect it is also true that the railroad encouraged him to speed 'when it suited their purposes', and Casey was relying on his train's superior class and the railroad's 'other' rules to give him a clear track.  To my knowledge even though he had a reputation as a hotrod runner he was not a reckless or wildly unsafe engineer (like some of the 'cowboys' I hear tales about, some of whom I suspect you knew or knew about...)

The major point of the popular response to the Casey story wasn't 'lionization' directly; it was to enforce the sentimentality of 'how are the mighty fallen' that would go with the Titanic songs onlt a few years later, coupled with "be kind to your true live or husband because he may never return".  To make that stuff effective, the more god-like the engineer's supposed powers and progress, the more ironic his 'comeuppance' at the hands of [insert chosen version of karma/fate/chance/divine retribution, etc.]

[charlie hebdo]

Thanks CMStPnP. 

[243129]

To lionize Casey Jones is ludicrous. He was speeding which was a major cause of the wreck.

[NKP guy]

   Thanks to CMStPnP for posting not one, but two very interesting and deeply touching videos which instantly took me back to my boyhood living next door to a mainline railroad and reading the Erie Magazine article from 1928 about Casey Jones and his ride into glory and American folklore.  

   As a boy in the 1950's, Casey Jones' story thrilled me with its danger, saddened me with its loss, and inspired me because Casey Jones saved Sim Webb's life and warned others with his whistle, even as he brought his train speed down from 75 mph to 35 mph, thus saving the lives of many of his passengers.  

   "He was found in the wreck, with his had on the throttle*, scalded to death by the steam."   (The wreck of old '97)

   * poetic license, I'm sure; probably it was the brake!  Nonetheless, what a Viking Death for an engineer!

   At a time when I was learning about famous folklore figures like Paul Bunyan, Joe Magaric, John Henry, Mike Fink, Pecos Bill, Uncle Remus and others, two names stood out because they not only had been real men, but they became famous by serving their fellow man:  Johnny Appleseed and Casey Jones.  

   Casey Jones saved Sim Webb's life and Wallace Saunders gave life to the story of Casey Jones with the best possible help: a fine, tuneful song, still known in all parts of the United States 120 years later.  To enter American folklore is to enter our national Valhalla.

   Thanks, CMStPnP, for reminding us of this iconic American hero.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

   

[CMStPnP]

I can't remember if I posted this before or not but it's a pretty good historical review.   Sad about the lack of a history marker at the site, maybe TRAINS can fix that with their preservation award?

Eye witness video account:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cukvTfTYBA4

Look at the historical side ........10 years or so ago?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvfCGlXRYAA