Tales from Tennessee and Beyond: Casey Jones

Casey Jones was a railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee. He worked on the Illinois Central Railroad. Jones was born in Jackson, Tennessee on March 14, 1863. Not much is known about his early life. I have a hunch though that like most young boys (myself included) he was fascinated by trains. The name "Casey"was given to Jones as a nickname. He had lived in Cayce, Kentucky during his childhood, and was given the name "Cayce" as his nickname, but he decided to spell it "Casey." Jones' first job as a railroader came with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. He did so good he rose through the ranks quickly. He was promoted to brakeman, and then to fireman. Jones' biggest goal however was to become an engineer. He decided to leave the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and go work for the Illinois Central Railroad. Jones mostly hauled freight during his railroad career, but was also known to have hauled passengers a few times. Casey Jones was most famously known for his train whistle. The whistle was made of six tubes that were all connected to each other. Legend has it that everyone knew that Casey Jones was coming long before they even saw him. Jones hauled freight for the Chicago World's Fair, it was here that he became fascinated with the 638 freight engines. He drove these engines for the rest of his career. Jones was also an avid baseball fan. He tried to go to as many games as he could. He also played on some occasions. He transported baseball teams to their games many times. Throughout his career Casey Jones was given nine citations for rules infractions on his trains. His fellow engineers called him a "risk-taker." Casey proved that he was a hero by rescuing a child from the railroad tracks. It happened near Michigan City, Mississippi. Jones and his crew were approaching the city, when they saw a little girl on the tracks. Jones jumped into action. He told his crew to reduce the speed of the train. Jones then climbed out onto the cowcatcher of the train. He was able to reach out and grab the girl, pulling her safely out of the way of the iron horse. In February 1900 Casey Jones was transferred from freight trains to passenger trains. His job was to run trains between Memphis, Tennessee and Canton, Mississippi. This new type of run was known as the "cannonball." The goal was to get passengers between the two towns as fast as possible. Many veteran engineers were against this idea, but not Casey. It was on one of these runs that Casey Jones met his maker. On the morning of April 30, 1900, Casey Jones and his crew departed Memphis carrying passengers to Canton. The train was delayed, causing Casey to have to go faster in order to make up for lost time. The night was rainy, and a heavy fog had settled in. The rails were old and rough. A freight train had broken down sometime in the night, some of the cars were left on the main line. Casey was heading right towards those cars. Once Casey saw the cars it was to late to stop. He had to apply his brakes, and not let the passenger coaches come off the rails. The impact sent Casey's engine into the back of the freight cars. Casey Jones was killed instantly. If he had jumped his passengers would have died. As a result of his actions, most of his passengers escaped unscathed. Most historians believe that if Casey would have seen warning flares, or even a flagman, then he would have stopped. The result of his death has lead to an increase in safety on railroads worldwide. Casey Jones is most defiantly an American hero.