Casey Jones and Sim Webb: A History Lesson

John Luther “Casey” Jones was born on March 14, 1863. Casey was an american railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad (IC). Casey was a natural born railroad man. Casey became a legend as one of the fore runners of the present day speed demons on mucho macho. He blew a special whistle, which sounded like a whippoorwill. The fast rolling train and the whippoorwill whistle announced to the communities through which they passed that Casey Jones was coming through. He was a cub operator on the M & O Railroad at Columbus, Kentucky. Casey transferred several months later as a brakeman on the line between Columbus and Jackson Tennessee. He also became a fireman on the M & O line between Jackson Tennessee and Mobile Alabama. He drove Locomotive 382 on the Memphis to Canton, Mississippi run. Sim Webb was a black fireman. He was the man who kept No. 382 hot as Casey and Sim roared through the dark, ominous night, hitting 80 miles an hour at times. Casey and Sim were a team. Sim Webb was the equally fast fireman who made it possible to travel at a high rate of speed. Sim Webb was born on May 12, 1874 in McComb, Mississippi. Sim Webb went to school in New Orleans. There he learned bricklaying as a trade as well as reading, writing and arthimetic. Sim couldn’t leave the railroad yards. John Webb, Sim’s dad worked with the Illinois Central Railroad for 48 continuous years as a carpenter. Sim got a job as a callboy for about a year and later started firing a switch engine. Sim Webb attended Tulane University in New Orleans, and at the age of 14 he was serving his community as a county schoolteacher. He was a man who was destined for a life of varying excitements.

On the night of April 30, 1990, when Casey’s Cannon Ball express rounded a curve at Vaughan, Mississippi, Casey saw a freight car approaching fast ahead. Casey realized that death would come to both of them if they remained on the train. Casey gave the order for Sim his fireman to jump to his safety. Following Casey’s last instructions to “Jump Sim, Jump”; he leaped from the 382 just before it plowed into the rear of the freight train. Sim and all the passengers on the train survived the wreck while Casey rode into eterninty. Casey had slowed the cannonball down enough to save lives. Was Casey Jones a hero? “Perhaps not to those with small imagination.” Railroad historians have written….”Casey Jones was something of a swashbuckler and a show-off, perhaps like Babe Ruth, “ they say…“But genuine and down-to-earth, like Johnny Appleseed. A man who did his job, enjoyed life and put a little color and romance into what some call the ordinary. It is reported by an un-known newspaper he was an American Hero.