Illinois Central, Monday Morning Rail

The Illinois Central began giving names to trains in 1912 with the Chicago-New Orleans "Panama Limited" that would become a luxurious all-sleeping car express. The line was renamed City Of New Orleans when it was outfitted with new streamlined coaches aimed at the rural intermediate market and became known more for its speed than for luxury.

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As Illinois Central's first through train connecting Chicago and New Orleans in 1873, the route included stops in Kankakee, Champaign and Cairo, Illinois, Jackson, Tennessee, and Grenada, Mississippi. By 1900 the route was altered and would proceed via Memphis, which was fast becoming the railroad's most important intermediate terminal.

It was on this line, April 30, 1900, that the legendary Casey Jones would be killed when his train crashed into the caboose of a freight train, just north of Canton, Mississippi.

Newspaper reports from the time refer to the train as the "New Orleans Express," the "New Orleans Fast Mail" or the "Southbound Fast Mail." The Illinois Central designation used in official reports about the wreck refer to it as the No. 1. The train has also been called the "Cannonball Express" but there is no apparant record of that name until it was used in a newspaper article describing another wreck of No. 1, in 1903, near the Florence Pump works in south Memphis.

In 1947, the No. 1 train received its current name City Of New Orleans.

The congressionally created Amtrak took over the City Of New Orleans in April, 1971. On June 10, the No. 1 train would derail and Amtrak would experience its first wreck with 11 killed and 163 injured.

Poor maintenance was cited as the cause of the derailment.

The song City Of New Orleans, made famous by Arlo Guthrie in 1972, portrays a dilapidated image of the train. Perhaps because such imagery is considered part of the romanticism of rail travel.

Today, the City Of New Orleans boasts superior service and accommodations along a historic route from the Great Lakes to Lake Pontchartrain.

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This Old Engine Makes It On Time

This Grateful Dead original song tells the least accurate story about Casey Jones and is hardly worth mentioning for historical reference. From that perspective, it is unfortunately perhaps the most popular modern incarnation of the tale.

For starters, alcohol was the drug of choice at the time, not cocaine, and there is no record of Casey using either at the time of the incident.

The song continues, "Trouble ahead, trouble behind." Trouble ahead, yes, a disabled freight train on the tracks. Trouble behind? His record with the Illinois Central line shows nine suspensions for offenses including low-speed collisions, running through switches and "gross carelessness in handling orders." Yet, this was still considered to be a reasonably good record.

"Leaves Central Station about a quarter-to-nine ... at a quarter-to-ten you know it's drivin' again." Casey left Memphis' Poplar Street Station on his way to Canton, Mississippi, with a departure time of 12:50 AM. The accident occurred at 3:52 AM.

"Train 102 is on the wrong track and headed for you." Casey was in train No. 1, pulled by engine 382. The two other trains "involved" were both freight trains, the No. 83 and the No. 72. The No. 83 was the train Casey collided with. An air hose broke on the No. 72, which left it immobile thus blocking the No. 83 from pulling completely onto the sidetrack.

The Grateful Dead oft used trains as metaphors in the music they performed and their version of Casey Jones is chock full of its own metaphors, as well as cutesy little rhymes, which serve not to provide an accurate account of the event, but rather to appeal to the addled mind of the average Deadhead.

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The Story About A Brave Engineer

Wallace Saunders, an engine wiper (one who cleans the engines when they come in) at the railroad shop in Canton, Mississippi, had a talent for making up little songs and ballads about people and events. A few days after the accident that killed Casey Jones, Saunders was singing a song, a tribute to his friend, which would spread the story of his tragic death far and wide.

One version of the song's history is that another engineer on the Illinois Central line, William Leighton, overheard Saunders singing the song and shared it with his brothers Frank and Bert who were vaudeville performers. The brothers added some polish and a chorus to the song and included it in their act. However the song was copywrited to another vaudeville pair, T. Lawrence Seibert and Eddie Newton, in 1902.

By the time of World War I, many versions of the song were in existence as folk singers all over the world applied their own spin to the simple melody. More than 40 versions of the song have been published.

All of the songs tell a similar story, but each with variations and verses which embellish the true tale, some of which were not altogether flattering. Janie Jones, Casey's wife, spent much of her life refuting some of the vulgar references made in some versions of the song.

Johnny Cash's version has been selected for its lack of outright vulgar references, relative historical accuracy, adherence to folklore and for Cash's superior prowess as a story-teller. While the melody and storyline mimic the original, this version, however, does not reproduce the musical style that Wallace Saunders would have sung around the railroad yards, nor the vaudeville style which initially popularized the tune.

In the early morning hours of April, 30, 1900 Casey's train careened around the curve at Vaughan, Mississippi, doing 70 mph. His fireman, Sim Webb, saw the lights of the caboose ahead and shouted that they were about to hit something, the the caboose of the No. 83 freight about 100 yards ahead.

"Jump, Sim, jump," yelled Casey.

It would have been easy for Casey to jump with him, but Casey remained in the cabin and continued to apply the air-brakes. Webb recalls, "As I jumped Casey held down the whistle in a long, piercing scream."

Opinions vary that Casey could have safely jumped from the train as he had done all that he could, or that his sacrifice and brave efforts to slow the train as much as possible lessened the impact such that he was the only one killed.

On the day after the accident, The Jackson Sun reported that dense fog prevented Casey from seeing far enough ahead to avoid a collision. The official report stated that Casey failed to heed warning signals, disregarded signals given by a flagman and found Jones solely responsible for the crash.

Some versions of the story say that Casey was crushed by the engine, some that he was scalded to death by steam. Still others say that he was struck in the throat by an iron bolt or a piece of wood.

Perhaps only adding more to the legend, it is said that when they took Casey Jones from the wreckage he had one hand on the whistle cord, the other on the air-brake lever.

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Over The Rails He'd Go

Train engineers at the turn of the 20th century took great pride in their train whistles. It was more than a simple noisemaker to sound an alert or other basic forms of communication. By finessing the whistle mechanism, engineers developed distinctive whistles so that people could recognize who was driving the train.

Casey Jones was well known among railroad workers for his peculiar skill with a locomotive whistle. Casey's whistle has been described as a long-drawn-out note that began softly, rose and then died away to a whisper, an inimitable method which became his trademark. Those living along his route became so familiar with it that upon hearing the call they would say, "There goes Casey Jones."

Casey was also so well known for being on time that people relied on his punctuality, combined with his unique whistle, to set their watches.

In the early morning hours of April 30, 1900, it was perhaps Casey's great desire to arrive at the advertised time that was his undoing.

Volunteering to make a return trip in place of another engineer who was ill, Casey started his last trip one hour and thirty-five minutes behind schedule. He was determined to make up the time. Starting the 188 mile journey in Memphis, Casey made up 60 minutes after the first 103 miles at Grenada, Mississippi. Upon reaching Vaughan, just 14 miles from the final destination of Canton, he was on schedule.

Canton would not be reached that day as Casey's train collided with a freight train that was unable to get out of the way because of another stalled train. Casey Jones was killed but has been immortalized as an American folk hero.

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You Can Hear His Whistle For A Hundred Miles

Casey Jones, the legendary train engineer whose name has become a part of American folklore, was born John Luther Jones. He got the nickname "Casey" from Cayce, Kentucky (pronounced "Casey"), which is near where he was born.

Having been spent several years as a freight and passenger engineer, Casey was assigned to the Illinois Central's Memphis-Canton run.

On April 30, 1900, Casey Jones made his final run.

Trying to make up time, and thus going faster than other freight crews were prepared for, Casey's train crashed into the back of a freight train along a long, winding curve on a sidetrack. He was the only one killed.

Minstrelry was a form of music that began in the 1820s and became popular in 1844 when Edwin "Pop" Christy formed the Christy Minstrels.

The New Christy Minstrels were formed in 1961 by Randy Sparks and featured an ever changing lineup which included Barry McGuire, known best for his own number one song Eve Of Destruction, and "The Gambler" Kenny Rogers.

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