John Luther Jones was an American railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. As a boy, he lived near Cayce, Kentucky, where he acquired the nickname of "Cayce" which he chose to spell as "Casey." On April 30, 1900, he alone was killed when his passenger train the Cannonball Express collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi, on a foggy and rainy night. His dramatic death trying to stop his train and save lives made him a hero; he was immortalized in a popular ballad sung by his friend Wallace Saunders, an African American engine wiper for the Illinois Central. Casey's initial railroad experience was as cub operator on the M & O Railroad at Columbus, Kentucky. A few months later he transferred into more active railroading as a brakeman on the line between Columbus and Jackson, Tennessee. With his long range goal of becoming an engineer in mind, Casey made another transfer; this time becoming a fireman on the M & O line between Jackson, Tennessee and Mobile, Alabama. Finally, in March 1888 he made his final move, to the lllinois Central as fireman on the Water Valley and Jackson (Tennessee) Districts with his seniority board at Water Valley, Mississippi. Opportunities for advancement looked good on the ICRR and Casey's seniority rights as fireman and later as engineer were on all road and yard jobs from Jackson, Tennessee, to Canton, Mississippi. In addition, there were several blanket passenger runs from Memphis to Canton manned on alternate trips by Water Valley crews. Casey had seniority rights on these runs also. In the summer of 1893 the Chicago World's Fair was attracting huge crowds to the grounds along Lake Michigan on Chicago's south side. This was ICRR territory and the line was being taxed to provide transportation for the thousands coming to the fair. A call was sent over the system for engineers. Casey responded and spent the summer of 1893 in suburban service in Chicago. It was here that he became acquainted with No. 638. The Illinois Central had this big new freight engine on display at the fair. At the closing of the fair the 638 was due to be sent to Water Valley for service on the Jackson District. When this became known to him, Casey asked for permission to run the engine back to Water Valley. His request was approved and the No. 638 ran its first 589 miles with Casey Jones at the throttle all the way to Water Valley. On the night of April 29, 1900, Casey and engine 382 with Sim Webb firing were listed out of Memphis on train #1 with six cars southbound for Canton. Conductor was J. C. Turner. The scheduled departure time was 11:15. Records indicate he left at 12:50; one hour and thirty-five minutes late. A good engine, a good fireman, a light train and away late; the perfect setting for a record run. He made that record run too, if the often quoted departure time of 12:50 is correct, for Casey went to Goodman on time for a meet with #2. While Casey was rolling south, the stage was being set for his tragic wreck. Freights #72 and #83 were both in the passing track at Vaughan and there were more cars than the track would hold. It was necessary for these trains to move north or south to clear the main line switches in order to allow other trains to pass; this is known as a saw- by. Meanwhile, northbound local passenger #26 arrived from Canton and had to be sawed in on the house track west of the main line. As #83 and #72 sawed back south to clear the north passing track switch, an air house broke on #72 and he couldn't move. Several cars of #83's train were still out on the main line above the north switch. Engine 382 crashed through the caboose and several cars and came to rest on the right side pointing back north. Casey was fatally wounded in the throat. He was carried one-half mile to the depot were he died lying on a baggage wagon. The railroad's formal investigation concluded that "Engineer Jones was solely responsible for the accident as consequence of not having properly responded to flag signals."
No comments:
Post a Comment