Has anyone ever heard of the engineer John Luther Jones aka Casey Jones?

Question

In April 21, 1900 Casey Jones was heading the "Cannonball" in engine # 382 until he rear ended freight train # 83 and died after a few minutes. Now days people seem to have forgotten him and his legacy. Is he still remembered or is he a has been now days please help keep our past and our hero's memories alive?

Answer 1

John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad (IC). On April 30, 1900 he alone was killed when his passenger train collided with a stopped 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 railroad icon who became immortalized in a popular ballad sung by his friend Wallace Saunders, an African American engine wiper for the IC. Due to the enduring popularity of this classic song, he has been the world's most famous railroad engineer for over a century.

John Luther "Casey" Jones was born March 14, 1863 in southeast Missouri to country school teacher Frank Jones and his wife Anne. His exact place of birth is unknown. He was the first of five children. In 1876 his family moved to the small community of Cayce, Kentucky, which is how he eventually got his nickname. As a boy he developed a growing obsession with trains from hanging around the bustling train depot there. In 1878, at the age of 15, he went to work for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad as a telegrapher in nearby Columbus, Kentucky. Casey grew to be quite tall for his day at 6’4 1/2" with dark hair, gray eyes, and a slim build. His size and strength made him a natural for the often brutal work of railroad life. In 1884 he moved to Jackson, Tennessee, still in the employ of the M&O but now as a flagman. There he stayed at a boarding house for railroad men run by the mother of his future wife who worked there as well

It was at the dinner table in this boarding house that John Luther Jones became "Casey" Jones. Bose Lashley, a brakeman for the M&O, looked up from his plate one day and spoke to the gangly lad who had entered to be seated:

"What's your name, son?" he asked.

"John Luther Jones," the young man replied.

"Where are you from?"

"Cayce, Kentucky."

"Well, sit right down Cayce, and make yourself at home!" Lashley rejoined

"Well, sit right down Cayce, and make yourself at home!" Lashley rejoined.

It was common practice at the time for railroaders to give fellow railroaders nicknames to make it easier to tell them apart from others who shared the same name. Though Casey spelled his name "Cayce," his wife spelled it "Casey" in the letters she wrote, which became the accepted spelling of his name

Dark-haired Mary Joanna "Janie" Brady, daughter of the owner of the boarding house, noticed Casey's remarkable appetite and the way he blushed whenever she flashed her smile at him. Casey soon fell in love with her and got up the courage to propose. They were married at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Jackson on November 25, 1886 and bought a house at 211 West Chester Street in Jackson where they set about raising three children. By all accounts he was a devoted family man and teetotaler.

Casey performed well and was promoted to brakeman on the Columbus, Kentucky to Jackson, Tennessee route and then to fireman on the Jackson, Tennessee to Mobile, Alabama route.

In March 1888 he switched to the Illinois Central Railroad and was promoted to engineer, his lifelong goal, on February 23, 1891. Casey went on to reach the pinnacle of the railroad profession as a crack locomotive engineer for the I.C. Railroading was a natural talent, and Casey Jones was recognized by his peers as one of the best in the business. He was known for his insistence that he always "get her there on the advertised" that is, that he would never be found to be "falling down" (behind schedule) when he arrived at his destination. He was so punctual that it was said that people set their watches by him. His work in Jackson primarily involved freight service between Jackson and Water Valley, Mississippi. Both locations were busy and important shops for the Illinois Central Railroad and he developed close ties with both between 1890 and 1900.

Casey was also famous for his peculiar skill with a locomotive whistle. His whistle was made of six thin tubes bound together, the shortest being half the length of the longest. Its unique sound involved a long-drawn-out note that began softly, rose and then died away to a whisper, a sound which became his trademark. The sound of it was variously described as "a sort of whippoorwill call" or "like the war cry of a Viking.” People living along the Illinois Central right-of-way between Jackson, Tennessee and Water Valley, Mississippi, would turn over in their beds late at night upon hearing it and say “There goes Casey Jones” as he roared by.

Casey strongly supported the principles of collective bargaining advanced by the young rail labor movement and his name first appears on the register book of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division 99 at Water Valley, Mississippi, on March 10, 1891. He maintained membership in both the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (a practice known as “doubleheading") which also showed Casey's concern for his family's security, for one of the benefits of brotherhood membership was its life insurance protection. Mrs. Jones collected from both groups when he died. Not only did the brotherhoods strive to improve the pay and working conditions of the men, but their moral conduct as well. Casey sat as Master Pro Tem one night in 1898 when a brother was tried before the lodge on the charge of “alienating the affections of another brother’s wife.”

During the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, Illinois, in 1893 the I.C. was charged with providing commuter service for the thousands of visitors to the fairground. A call was sent out for trainmen who wished to work there and Casey answered it, spending a pleasant summer there with his wife. He was assigned to Engine No. 201 and shuttled well over 100,000 people from Van Buren Street to Jackson Park during the exposition. It was his first experience of passenger service and he liked it.

It was at the fair (also called The Chicago World's Fair), that he became acquainted with No. 638, a big new freight engine the I.C. had on display there as the latest and greatest technological advancement in trains. It had eight drive wheels and two pilot wheels. At the closing of the fair No. 638 was due to be sent to Water Valley for service in the Jackson District. Casey asked for permission to run the engine back to Water Valley himself. His request was approved, and No. 638 ran its first 589 miles with Casey at the throttle all the way to Water Valley. Casey liked No. 638 and especially liked working in the Jackson District because his family was in Jackson. They had once moved to Water Valley but Jackson was really home to the Jones family. Casey drove the engine until he transferred to Memphis in February 1900. No. 638 stayed in Water Valley. That year he would drive the engine that became most closely associated with him through tragic circumstances. And he actually drove it only one time. That was Engine No. 382, known affectionately as "Ole 382." The engine Casey drove the night of his fateful last ride was a steam-driven Rogers Ten Wheeler with six drivers, each approximately six feet high. Bought new in 1898 from the Roger's Locomotive Works, it was a very powerful engine for the time. When a potential disaster arose, all of Casey's skill and its responsiveness would be put to the greatest test.

His regular fireman on No. 638 was his close friend, John Wesley McKinnie, with whom he worked exclusively from about 1897 until he went to the passenger run out of Memphis with his next and last fireman, Sim Webb in 1900.

A little known example of Casey's heroic instincts in action is described by his biographer and friend Fred J. Lee in his 1939 book Casey Jones: Epic of the American Railroad (Southern Publishers, Inc.). In Chapter 35, entitled "The Rescue," is described an incident that occurred sometime around 1895 as Casey's train approached Michigan City, Mississippi. He had left the cab in charge of fellow Engineer Bob Stevenson who had reduced speed sufficiently to make it safe for Casey to walk out on the running board to quickly oil the relief valves. He then moved from the running board to the steam chest and then to the pilot beam to adjust the spark screen which he hoped to complete and return to the cab before they arrived in town. As he finished and was returning he noticed a group of small children dart in front of the train some sixty yards ahead. All cleared the rails easily except for a little girl who suddenly froze in fear on the tracks at the sight of the oncoming iron horse. Casey yelled to Stevenson to reverse the train and yelled to the girl to get off the tracks in almost the same breath. Realizing that the girl was still immobile, he quickly swung into action. He raced to the pilot (commonly called the "cowcatcher") and braced himself on it as he reached out as far as he could to pull the frightened but unharmed girl from the rails.

Casey was an avid baseball fan and watched or participated in the game whenever his busy schedule allowed. During the 1880s he had played at Columbus, Kentucky, while he was a cub operator on the M & O. And one Sunday during the summer of 1898 the Water Valley shop team was scheduled to play the Jackson shop team and Casey got to haul the team to Jackson for the game.

Casey was issued 9 citations for rules infractions in his career, with a total of 145 days suspended. Railroaders who worked with Casey liked him but admitted that he was a bit of a chance taker.

Unofficially though, the penalties were far more severe for running behind than breaking the rules. He was by all accounts an ambitious engineer

Answer 2

Are you kidding about whether or not Casey Jones has been heard of? I already had heard about Casey Jones before I was ten. Though a real person, Casey Jones has become something of a folk legend, imortalized in legend and song for his actions the night he died. Actions that took his life but saved the lives of passengers on the train.

Answer 3

"Come all you rounders if you want to hear

The story of a brave engineer

Casey Jones was the rounder's name

On the six-eight wheeler, boys, he won his fame

The caller called Casey at half past four

He kissed his wife at the station door

He mounted to the cabin with his orders in his hand

And he took that farewell trip to the promised land."

-From "Casey Jones", as sung by Pete Seeger (and the Grateful Dead, among others)

Answer 4

Every year !!

http://www.taco.com/roots/caseyvillage.h...

http://www.taco.com/roots/caseyjones.htm...

Answer 5

I remember the TV show...now you know I ain't some kid.