Casey Jones

[jis]

150 years ago on March 14th Casey Jones was born. Here is a song about him for your enjoyment....



BTW Sam Webb should be Sim Webb, and "I see railroad" should be "I. C. Railroad"

 

[MrFSS]

MrsFSS and I have been to his home/museum in Jackson, TN. Use to be a really great buffet restaurant right next door. Been a number of years since we were there.

 

[the_traveler]

Another problem with the written lyrics was that it was not a "48 wheeler" , but a "4-8 wheeler" instead!

anyway I always liked Johnny Cash's version of the great railroad sons!

 

[WhoozOn1st]

MrsFSS and I have been to his home/museum in Jackson, TN. Use to be a really great buffet restaurant right next door. Been a number of years since we were there.

All the stuff is still there. Team Whooz dropped by on the way home from Gathering VI:

​

 

[George Harris]

Whoever transcribed it is the one that did not know that it was supposed to be "Sim Webb" and "IC railroad" Johnny Cash certainly knew it right.

The engine used to be where the Casey Jones house was down in town. Saw it there when I was a kid. Don't know when they moved it out to this location which is near I-40 and therefore a lot handier to tourists. Yes, the restaurant is good. I have been there several times, but it has been a few years since the lst time.

Jaclson used to be quite a railroad town. The main railroad man was Isaac Tigrett, a name spoken with all but reverence by many of the people in the generation preceeding mine. He managed to connect several streaks of rust into the GM&N and make a go of them to the point of taking over the older and better located M&O. The worst thing that they ever did was merge into the Illinois Central after his retirement.

Up until the mid 1960's, Jackson had railroads going out in 8 directions. It is now down to one through line.

They were:

GM&O (ex M&O) north to Humboldt and on to St. Louis - this was the route of the Gulf Coast Rebel. part of this was pre-Civil War

ICRR north to Milan, Fulton KY and on to St. Louis or Chicago - this was the route of the City of Miami, which could easily get to 20 plus cars in the winter time.

L&N (ex NC&St.L) to Nashville

GM&O (ex M&O), with ICRR trackage rights to Corinth MS, then ICRR to Birmingham and GM&O to Mobile - City of Miami and Gulf Coast Rebel both went this way to south. the M&O side was pre Civil was and the railroad junction at Corinth was the issue in the battle of Shiloh.

GM&O (ex GM&N) to Middleton TN and on to Meridian, Mobile, Jackson MS and New Orleans - this was the route of the Rebel to New Orleans

ICRR to Grand Jct TN on to the Memphis - Jackson MS line at Grenada MS.

L&N (ex NC&StL) to Memphis

GM&O (ex GM&N) to Dyersburg - a streak of rust always.

Today only the ex ICRR line north to Fulton KY and the GM&O/ICRR line south to Corinth remain, and they no longer form a through main line to anywhere. There are a few stubs left of some of the others, but nothing that goes even as far as the next town, unless the ex GM&O north still goes as far as Humboldt..

 

[white rabbitt]

 

[jphjaxfl]

Whoever transcribed it is the one that did not know that it was supposed to be "Sim Webb" and "IC railroad" Johnny Cash certainly knew it right.
The engine used to be where the Casey Jones house was down in town. Saw it there when I was a kid. Don't know when they moved it out to this location which is near I-40 and therefore a lot handier to tourists. Yes, the restaurant is good. I have been there several times, but it has been a few years since the lst time.

Jaclson used to be quite a railroad town. The main railroad man was Isaac Tigrett, a name spoken with all but reverence by many of the people in the generation preceeding mine. He managed to connect several streaks of rust into the GM&N and make a go of them to the point of taking over the older and better located M&O. The worst thing that they ever did was merge into the Illinois Central after his retirement.

Up until the mid 1960's, Jackson had railroads going out in 8 directions. It is now down to one through line.

They were:

GM&O (ex M&O) north to Humboldt and on to St. Louis - this was the route of the Gulf Coast Rebel. part of this was pre-Civil War

ICRR north to Milan, Fulton KY and on to St. Louis or Chicago - this was the route of the City of Miami, which could easily get to 20 plus cars in the winter time.

L&N (ex NC&St.L) to Nashville

GM&O (ex M&O), with ICRR trackage rights to Corinth MS, then ICRR to Birmingham and GM&O to Mobile - City of Miami and Gulf Coast Rebel both went this way to south. the M&O side was pre Civil was and the railroad junction at Corinth was the issue in the battle of Shiloh.

GM&O (ex GM&N) to Middleton TN and on to Meridian, Mobile, Jackson MS and New Orleans - this was the route of the Rebel to New Orleans

ICRR to Grand Jct TN on to the Memphis - Jackson MS line at Grenada MS.

L&N (ex NC&StL) to Memphis

GM&O (ex GM&N) to Dyersburg - a streak of rust always.

Today only the ex ICRR line north to Fulton KY and the GM&O/ICRR line south to Corinth remain, and they no longer form a through main line to anywhere. There are a few stubs left of some of the others, but nothing that goes even as far as the next town, unless the ex GM&O north still goes as far as Humboldt..

I rode the L&N/former NC&SL lonesome local 107/108 from Memphis to Nashville through Jackson in the late 1950s early 60s when it was 1 coach on the end of 10 mail and express cars. Also rode the Seminole through Jackson once. The Rebels were gone before I had a chance to ride them. I remember seeing the streamlined Rebel in St. Louis Union Station once as a kid back in the 1950s. My Dad grew up in Tennessee so rode most of the lines at some point as a hobo of freights and later as a passenger.

 

[railiner]

Does anybody remember retired IC/Amtrak Conductor Woody Vinson? He used to be a "P.A. Artist", regaling passengers on the City of New Orleans with the story of Casey Jones, and the infamous wreck. He made sure to tell his captive audience exactly where it happened, as No. 59 rolled by......