Who was the American engine driver and folk hero on the Cannonball Express who died in 1900 trying to prevent his train from crashing into a freight train?
"Casey Jones Jonathan Luther ""Casey"" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) from Jackson, Tennessee, was an American railroader who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad (IC). He was killed on April 30, 1900, when his train collided with a stalled freight train near Vaughan, Mississippi. His dramatic death while trying to stop his train and save the lives of his passengers made him a hero; he was immortalized in a popular ballad sung by his friend Wallace Saunders, an African-American engine wiper for the IC. As a boy, he lived near Cayce, Kentucky, where he acquired the nickname"
"the engine, making the train run fast. There were approximately 176 stokers on board the coal fed ocean liner ""RMS Titanic"". During the sinking of the ship, these men disregarded their own safety and stayed below deck to keep the steam driven electric generators running for the radiotelegraph, lighting, and water pumps. Only 48 of them survived. Simeon T. Webb was the fireman on the ""Cannonball Express"" when it was destroyed in the legendary wreck that killed engineer Casey Jones. Jones's last words were ""Jump, Sim, jump!"" and Webb did jump, survived, and became a primary source for information about"
"porch chair, frequently comes up with half-baked get-rich-quick schemes and ill-conceived hotel promotions. Early on, much of the show also focuses on the ""Hooterville Cannonball"", an 1890s vintage steam-driven train run more like a taxi service by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/railway conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). It was not uncommon for the ""Cannonball"" to make an unscheduled stop for the crew to go fishing, or to pick fruit for Kate's apple butter and pies. The single-tracked Hooterville spur line was cut off from the rest of the railroad 20 years before the start of the show by"
"of St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife, Alice, their young son, Casey, Jr., and their dog Cinders. Although there really was a famous locomotive engineer named Casey Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad, the television series is loosely based on him. However, it uses the real names of his train, the ""Cannonball Express"". The name of the character Wallie Sims is a conflation of Illinois Central employee Wallace Saunders, who wrote the earliest version of ""The Ballad of Casey Jones,"" and the real Jones' fireman, Simeon ""Sim"" Webb. Unlike Wallie Sims, both Saunders and Webb were African-American. Kenneth Gamet, the"
"Wabash Cannonball ""The Wabash Cannon Ball"" was a fast express train line on the Wabash Railroad. This express train traveled throughout the middle and western United States and also, on the Great Rock Island Route in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. ""The Great Rock Island Route"", also known as ""Wabash Cannonball"", is the title of an American folk song which describes the scenic beauty and predicaments of the Wabash Cannonball Express as it traveled on the Great Rock Island train route. Over many years, this popular song's music has remained unchanged, while the verses have been updated"
"Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as ""Wild Bill"" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his work across the frontier as a drover, wagon master, soldier, spy, scout, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, showman, and actor. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales that he told about his life. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and"
"fueled half the world's navies during the 20th century and today stokes steel mills and power plants all over the globe. Kimball died in 1903, and is buried in Philadelphia, PA. He was succeeded as president of the Norfolk and Western Railway by Lucius E. Johnson. A request was made to rename the town of Big Lick, now Roanoke, in his honor, but Mr. Kimball turned it down. Kimball Avenue in Roanoke, Virginia, was named in his honor. A decorative fountain in downtown Roanoke was named for him and dedicated in 1907. The rail station Kimball, just north of the"
"Earle Canavan Earle Samuel Canavan (December 5, 1937 – February 9, 2016) was an American racing driver from Fort Johnson, New York. Canavan immigrated to the United States from Northern Ireland in 1951. Always interested in racing and speed, he admired Malcolm Campbell and his land speed record car, ""The Bluebird"". Canavan built his first gas hot rod during high school. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army, serving his time at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After service and upon completing his gas rodder, Earle headed to California to compete in NHRA and IHRA events. As his interest in"
"driver, in nineteen episodes of the NBC western series, ""Laramie"", with John Smith and Robert Fuller. Waller had a supporting role in the 1957-1958 syndicated series, ""Casey Jones"" starring Alan Hale, Jr.. Waller played ""Red Rock"", the train conductor of Casey's ""Cannonball Express"". He also played John Finney in the 1960-1961 miniseries ""Daniel Boone"", which ran as part of ""Walt Disney Presents"". Waller died of a stroke in Los Angeles, California, at the age of eighty-eight. Eddy Waller Edward C. Waller (June 14, 1889 – August 20, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Waller was originally from Chippewa"
"Drive in Indianapolis. The home overlooks Garfield Park. Erwin Baker Erwin George ""Cannon Ball"" Baker (March 12, 1882 – May 10, 1960) was an American motorcycle and automobile racing driver and organizer in the first half of the 20th century. Baker began his public career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to driving and racing after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race in Crawfordsville, Indiana in about 1904. Baker was also famous for his record-setting point-to-point drives, in which he was paid to promote the products of various motorcycle and automobile manufacturers. In all, he made 143 cross-country motorcycle speed runs"
"the town. The town was saved by the bravery of four railway staff, Benjamin Gimbert (driver), James Nightall (fireman), Frank Bridges (signalman) and Herbert Clarke (guard), who uncoupled the rest of the train and drove the engine and lead wagon clear of the town, where it exploded, killing Jim Nightall and Frank Bridges but causing no further deaths. Ben Gimbert survived and spent seven weeks in hospital. Although small in comparison to what would have happened if the entire train had blown up, the explosion caused substantial property damage. Gimbert and Nightall were both awarded the George Cross (Nightall posthumously)."
"The Ballad of Casey Jones ""The Ballad of Casey Jones"" is a traditional song about railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death at the controls of the train he was driving. It tells of how Jones and his fireman Sim Webb raced their locomotive to make up for lost time, but discovered another train ahead of them on the line, and how Jones remained on board to try to stop the train as Webb jumped to safety. It is song number 3247 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song helped preserve the memory of Jones' feat down through the"
"Engine One-Forty-Three ""Engine One-Forty-Three"" is a ballad in the tradition of early American train wreck songs, based on the true story of the wreck of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's ""Fast Flying Virginian"" (FFV) near Hinton, West Virginia on 23 October 1890. The train was on its way to Clifton Forge, Virginia, when it hit a rock slide. Early accounts record that the engineer, George Alley, remained on the train to try to slow it and save the lives of its passengers. Alley died at the scene, but the fireman is said to have jumped to safety. The ballad elaborates"
"Erwin Baker Erwin George ""Cannon Ball"" Baker (March 12, 1882 – May 10, 1960) was an American motorcycle and automobile racing driver and organizer in the first half of the 20th century. Baker began his public career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to driving and racing after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race in Crawfordsville, Indiana in about 1904. Baker was also famous for his record-setting point-to-point drives, in which he was paid to promote the products of various motorcycle and automobile manufacturers. In all, he made 143 cross-country motorcycle speed runs totaling about . In 1908, Baker purchased an"
"Brothers. The Ballad of Casey Jones ""The Ballad of Casey Jones"" is a traditional song about railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death at the controls of the train he was driving. It tells of how Jones and his fireman Sim Webb raced their locomotive to make up for lost time, but discovered another train ahead of them on the line, and how Jones remained on board to try to stop the train as Webb jumped to safety. It is song number 3247 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song helped preserve the memory of Jones' feat down through"
"he drove a new Crosley Covered Wagon across the nation in a troublefree run to prove the economy and reliability characteristics of Crosley automobiles. Other record and near-record transcontinental trips were made in Model T Fords, Chrysler Imperials, Marmons, Falcon-Knights and Columbia Tigers, among others. Baker died of a heart attack at Community Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 10, 1960, at age 78. He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. In 2017, an Indiana state historical marker commemorating ""Cannon Ball"" Baker was installed by the Indiana Historical Bureau in front of Baker's home at 902 East Garfield"
"Edwin S. Porter Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 – April 30, 1941) was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. Of over 250 films created by Porter, his most important include ""Jack and the Beanstalk"" (1902), ""Life of an American Fireman"" (1903), ""The Great Train Robbery"" (1903), ""The Kleptomaniac"" (1905), ""Life of a Cowboy"" (1906), ""Rescued from an Eagle's Nest"" (1908), and ""The Prisoner of Zenda"" (1913) . Porter was born and raised in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Richard Porter, a"
"by Arizona State's official balladeer, Dolan Ellis, who wanted to let the world know of the ""Casey Jones of Mexico"" who saved the town. Jesús García Jesús García Corona (13 November 1881 – 7 November 1907) was a Mexican railroad brakeman who died while preventing a train loaded with dynamite from exploding near Nacozari, Sonora, in 1907. As ""el héroe de Nacozari"" he is revered as a national hero and many streets, plazas, and schools across Mexico are named after him. García was born in Hermosillo, Sonora. At the age of 17 got a job with Moctezuma Copper Company, but"
"the train that covered the line between Nacozari, Sonora, and Douglas, Arizona. On 7 November 1907 the train was stopped in the town and, as he was resting, he saw that some hay on the roof of a car containing dynamite had caught fire. The cause of the fire was that the locomotive's firebox was failing and sparks were going out from the smokestack. The wind blew them and got into the dynamite cars. García drove the train in reverse downhill at full-steam six kilometers out of the town before the dynamite exploded, killing him and sparing the population of"
"an invisible character. J. Homer Bedloe (played by Charles Lane) is vice president of the C&FW Railroad, the owner of the ""Cannonball"". Bedloe is a mean-spirited executive, and he periodically visits the Shady Rest Hotel and attempts to end the train service of the ""Hooterville Cannonball"" (and never succeeds). In Episode 31 of Season 1, ""Charley Abandons The Cannonball,"" engineer Charley Pratt picks up his guitar and sings an ode to the train. The lyrics are sung roughly to the tune of ""Wabash Cannonball"". Two ""Hooterville Cannonball"" trains used were for filming. The working model was the Sierra No. 3"
"immensely popular during the first and second decade of the 1900s, and his company operated six major scenic railways at Coney Island alone during that time. Dozens of scenic railways operated throughout the U.S. and in Europe. Eventually, the scenic railway was eclipsed by faster and more thrilling roller coaster rides made possible by improvements in roller coaster safety technology. Thompson died at his home, Thompson Park, Glen Cove, Long Island, on May 8, 1919 at age 71. LaMarcus Adna Thompson LaMarcus Adna Thompson (March 8, 1848 – May 8, 1919) was an American inventor and businessman most famous for"
"on the line ceased in the 1990s and the tracks were removed, though a portion running north from Stewart remained and became the Bee Line Railroad which serves the grain processing facility in Stewart. The Wabash Cannonball was a passenger train that ran on the Wabash Railroad between Detroit, Michigan and Saint Louis, Missouri, starting in 1949. On September 19, 1964, the southbound Cannonball struck a truck loaded with concrete blocks at a crossing in Johnsonville. The driver of the truck was killed instantly, but although the train derailed, no other lives were lost. On the train, the driver and"
"publicly declared that he could never live away from the Black Hills. Clarke died on 5 May 1930, at the age of 84, after an extended illness. With his passing, America was said to have lost ""one of the last picturesque characters of the old west."" Clarke was buried in the Black Hills, just outside Deadwood. Richard Clarke (frontiersman) Richard Clarke (15 December 1845 – 5 May 1930), born in Yorkshire, England, was a United States frontiersman, Pony Express rider, actor, and armed forces member who was widely considered by the American public to be the original inspiration for Deadwood"
"another locomotive one mile (1.6 km) north of the station. While no passengers died, the fireman succumbed to steam scalding, dying half an hour after the crash. Criminal charges brought the engineer's arrest for manslaughter. In a more poignant incident in June 1900, engineer William Kation died in a head-on collision between two passenger trains that occurred right in front of his own home, on what was to have been his very last run before retiring. The crash resulted from a simple clerical error in the train orders for that day. Train crews are forever at the mercy of what"
"His perilous ride to tell the news of the great victory by Gen. George Crook against the camp of Chief American Horse at the Battle of Slim Buttes during the Great Sioux War made him a national celebrity. William F. ""Buffalo Bill"" Cody (1846 – 1917) was a Pony Express rider, soldier, buffalo hunter and showman. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the U.S. Army as a scout. Cody's images and narratives of the American Wild West and Native Americans are nonpareil. During the Progressive Era, Buffalo Bill was one of the most popular"
"John Henry (folklore) John Henry is an African American folk hero. He is said to have worked as a ""steel-driving man""—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel. According to legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam-powered rock drilling machine, a race that he won only to die in victory with hammer in hand as his heart gave out from stress. The story of John Henry is told in a classic folk song, which exists in"
"and passenger section). The train is operated more like a taxi service by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). It operates on a long forgotten spur between Hooterville and Pixley that was disconnected from the railway's main line after the demolition of a trestle twenty years before the start of the series. It is not uncommon for the ""Cannonball"" to make an unscheduled stop in order to go fishing or to pick fruit for Kate Bradley's menu at the Shady Rest Hotel. Occasionally, Betty Jo Bradley can be found with her hand on the ""Cannonball's"""
"forgotten about the oncoming Southbridge Local freight. At 6:40 am, just before the East Thompson station, the two freight trains collided head-on violently, jackknifing several cars and tossing one across both eastbound and westbound tracks. Meanwhile, the Eastern States Express approached at 50 mph, unaware of the disaster. It crashed into the car across the other track, causing the engine to derail and strike a telephone pole, killing engineer Harry Taber and fireman Gerry Fitzgerald. (Fitzgerald was actually substituting for Mike Flynn, who had been scheduled but was marked off the roster since he had had a premonition of disaster"
"suggest that James was unable to pull the Express, and Toby was needed to double-head the train. Toby is also associated with the coach Victoria, who forms the ""vintage train"" with Henrietta that takes workers to and from the quarry. He appeared in the first season of the TV show and is considered to be one of the central characters. Toby has his own song, of the same name, which is based upon his theme composed by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell. Toby was originally depicted as a wise, brave and kind old engine, often giving advice to younger engines"
"but quitting after it is revealed it would kill him to keep going. Frank ""Cannonball"" Richards Frank ""Cannonball"" Richards (February 20, 1887February 7, 1969) was a carnival and vaudeville performer whose act involved taking heavy blows to his stomach. Richards began by letting people (including heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey) punch him in the gut. Dempsey hit him in the stomach a reported total of seventy-five times. He then progressed to letting people jump on his belly, being struck by a two-by-four, being struck by a sledgehammer, and finally being shot by a 104-lb. (47 kg) cannonball from a spring-loaded 12"
"courts, Bob rejoined Wells Fargo as a shotgun messenger. On the evening of March 15, 1881, the driver of the Kinnear & Company stagecoach carrying US$26,000 in silver bullion (about $ in today's dollars) en route from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona took ill in Contention City and Paul took the reins and the driver's seat. Three Cowboys: Jim Crane, Harry Head & Bill Leonard; attempted to rob the stagecoach near Drew's Station, just outside Contention City, by first stepping into the road and commanding them to ""Hold!"" Immediately, Crane fired at the guard's seat killing the popular and well-known driver"
"fireman were severely injured when the engine caught fire, and about half of the 50 passengers were injured. Over of track was torn out, and the damage was estimated at over $500,000. The last run of the Cannonball was in 1969. After peaking in the late 19th century, the county's population declined during the 20th, in common with much of the rural Midwest. The widespread adoption of the automobile in the 1920s undercut small-town businesses, which were threatened further by the Great Depression of the 1930s. World War II and the economic revival of the late 1940s and 1950s drew"
"Richard Clarke (frontiersman) Richard Clarke (15 December 1845 – 5 May 1930), born in Yorkshire, England, was a United States frontiersman, Pony Express rider, actor, and armed forces member who was widely considered by the American public to be the original inspiration for Deadwood Dick. During his career, Clarke fought alongside George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn against the combined forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. In his work with the Pony Express, Clarke often had to defend himself, others, and his cargo from Sioux raiders. Clarke lived long enough to see his country"