Wreck of the Old 97
Wreck of the Old 97 | |
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Southern Railway | |
Incident type | Derailment |
Cause | Excessive speed |
Statistics | |
Deaths | 11 |
Injured | 7 |
The Wreck of the Old 97 was an American
Wreck
The wreck of Old 97, known as the Fast Mail, occurred when the
On the day of the accident, the Fast Mail was behind schedule when it left
At Monroe, Broady was instructed to get the Fast Mail to Spencer, 166 miles (267 km) distant, on time. The scheduled running time from Monroe to Spencer was four hours, fifteen minutes – an average speed of approximately 39 mph (63 km/h). In order to make up the one hour delay, the train's average speed would have to be at least 51 mph (82 km/h). Broady was ordered to maintain speed through Franklin Junction in Gretna, an intermediate stop normally made during the run.
The route between Monroe and Spencer ran through rolling terrain, and there were numerous danger points due to the combination of grades and tight radius curves. Signs were posted to warn engineers to watch their speed. However, in his quest to stay on time, Broady rapidly descended a heavy grade that ended at the 45-foot-high (14 m) Stillhouse Trestle, which spanned Stillhouse Branch. He was unable to sufficiently reduce speed as he approached the curve leading into the trestle, causing the entire train to derail and plunge into the ravine below. The flames that erupted afterwards consumed the splintered debris of the wooden cars, and it was very hard for the local fire department to extinguish the blaze. The investigation that followed was greatly hampered by the fire and the few witnesses to the incident.
Of the eighteen men on board, eleven men died (nine on impact)[2] and seven were injured. Among the deceased were the conductor Blair, engineer Broady and flagman Moody.[3] The bodies of both firemen were recovered, but they were mangled so badly they were unrecognizable.
Several survivors of the wreck believed they stayed alive because they jumped from the train just before the fatal plunge. Among the survivors were mail clerks Thompson and Harris. Pinckney, the express messenger, also survived the wreck, went home to Charlotte, North Carolina, and immediately resigned after his life-changing experience. Two other survivors, Jennings J. Dunlap and M.C. Maupin, did not resign, although they transferred to new departments. Dunlap went to work on a train that ran between Washington and Charlotte, while Maupin worked at the Charlotte union station.[4]
Only a fraction of the mail had survived, including a large case filled with canaries that managed to escape and fly to safety. Engine 1102 was recovered and repaired, and it went on to perform further duties until it was dismantled in July 1935.
The day after the wreck, vice-president Finley made a speech in which he said: "The train consisted of two postal cars, one express and one baggage car for the storage of mail.... Eyewitnesses said the train was approaching the trestle at speeds of 30 to 35 mi (48 to 56 km) an hour."
The Fast Mail was in another fatal accident earlier in the year of 1903. On Monday, April 13, the train left Washington at 8:00 am, en route to New Orleans. As the train approached Lexington, North Carolina, it collided with a boulder on the track, causing the train to derail and ditch, killing the engineer and fireman. The locomotive that was pulling the train is unknown.
Ballad
"Wreck of the Old 97" | |
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Song by G. B. Grayson, Henry Whitter | |
Written | Unknown |
Songwriter(s) | G. B. Grayson, Henry Whitter |
The disaster inspired several songs, the most famous being the ballad first recorded commercially by Virginia musicians G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter.[6] Vernon Dalhart's version was released in 1924 (Victor Record no. 19427), sometimes cited as the first million-selling country music release in the American record industry, with Frank Ferera playing guitar and Dalhart playing harmonica.[7][8] Since then, "Wreck of the Old 97" has been recorded by numerous artists, including Dalhart himself in 1924 under the name Sid Turner on Perfect 12147, The Statler Brothers (feat. Johnny Cash), Charlie Louvin of The Louvin Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Hank Williams III, Patrick Sky, Nine Pound Hammer, Roy Acuff, Boxcar Willie, Lonnie Donegan, The Seekers, Ernest Stoneman & Kahle Brewer, Carolyn Hester, Hank Thompson, John Mellencamp, Pink Anderson, Lowgold, Chuck Ragan, and David Holt. The music was often accompanied by a banjo and a fiddle, while the lyrics were either sung, crooned, yodeled, whistled, hummed, recited, or chanted. The song rivaled that of "Casey Jones" for being the number one railroading song of all time.
The ballad was sung to the tune of "
In 1927 it was claimed that the author of "Wreck of the Old 97" was local resident David Graves George, who was one of the first on the scene. George was a
"Wreck of the Old 97" is 777 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
The ballad clearly places the blame for the wreck on the railroad company for pressuring Steve Broady to exceed a safe speed limit, for the lyric (on the Dalhart recording) begins, "Well, they handed him his orders in Monroe, Virginia, saying, 'Steve, you're way behind time; this is not 38 it is Old 97, you must put her into Spencer on time.'"
Carson Robison, not Frank Ferera, plays guitar on the Dalhart recording on Victor.[13]
See also
- List of train songs
- Old 97's, a band named after the ballad
References
- ^ a b Scott, Alfred P. (1965). "Wreck of the Old 97: The Origins of a Modern Traditional Ballad" (PDF). Retrieved November 25, 2011.
- ^ Gendiasters
- ^ Freeman H. Hubbard, Railroad Avenue: Great Stories and Legends of American Railroading (New York: Whittlesey House, 1945), 253
- ^ Freeman H. Hubbard, Railroad Avenue: Great Stories and Legends of American Railroading (New York: Whittlesey House, 1945), 255
- ^ Lance Phillips, Yonder Comes The Train: The story of the Iron Horse and some of the Roads it Traveled (New York: A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc, 1965), 371
- archive.org
- ^ Vernon Dalhart Archived December 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Nashville Songwriters Foundation
- ^ "Tim Gracyk's Phonographs, Singers, and Old Records – Vernon Dalhart". www.gracyk.com. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ^ Lewey, Fred. "Old Ninety Seven (Oct 15, 1925" (mp3). Library of Congress. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- ^ Stewart H. Holbrook, The story of American Railroads (New York: American Legacy Press, 1981), 430
- ^ Freeman H. Hubbard, Railroad Avenue: Great Stories and Legends of American Railroading (New York: Whittlesey House, 1945), 259
- ^ George v. Victor Talking Machine Co., 293 U.S. 377 (1934)
- ^ Country Music Records, Tony Russell
Further reading
- Aaron, Larry (2010). The Wreck of the Old 97. Disaster (1st ed.). ISBN 978-1-59629-876-7.
- Cohen, Norm (2000). Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong (2nd ed.). ISBN 0-252-06881-5.