Fireman Sim Webb, survivor of the crash which killed Casey Jones on April 30, 1900, near Vaughn, Mississippi, recounts the details of the accident in his later years.
I'm in the process of writing a Song to to keep John Sim and the Entire Road Crew of the ICRR CANNONBALL EXPRESS # 382 ALIVE! AND I AM GOING TO DO MORE THEN JUST WRITE SING AND PLAY THIS SONG I'D LIKE TO BE IN TOUCH WITH THE WEB FAMILY JONES FAMILY AND THOSE OF THE ROAD CREW ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED I LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY AND SEE THAT JOHNS DEATH WAS NOT IN VAIN
Thanks so much for sharing this video! My Dad retired as engineer from C&O and got to meet Sim Webb when he came to speak at a UTU Union meeting in Chicago back in late 1950's.
@@TheDoctor1225 must have been quite an experiance, the surviving first hand account of perhaps the most famous railroad engineer in american history, though there were many brave surehanded hard running engineers in the era of steam, as if they were hauling passengers and were late they got docked in pay I was told on an excursion trip, now you cant even go over 1 mph with a freight train or you get in a titanic load of trouble, that is not without extraordnary permission and within the rated rail for such things, as for the steam it was hard dirty work but you kept up the steam and they would just keep going faster till they broke apart or could not muster anymore speed with the load they had, or broke into a wheelslip. and they are iron horses in every sense of the word, they needed feed and watered and if you dont keep a hand on the reigns like a real horse they will get away from you but too little steam on the throttle and you dont make a climb up grade, too much and it can get away from you or go into a wheelslip, and you end up wasting steam, at least from my hands on with throttletime during fort wayne railroad historical soc events, once in 2021 with 765 herself and once for a handfull of minuts with one of the gramlings tank engines at the openhouse this year on the indiana northeastern, one of the perks of membership those that wanted for the time we had could take the engine down and back on the shop track, it was only a few minutes but any chance to run a steam loco is rare no matter how big or small and people pay good money often times to get to do it , anyway sarry to sort of hijack the comment, and go off on a tangent, but it must have been neat to make that aquantance in the glory days of the railroads in america when they were the lifeblood before the interstate systom and when passenger trains could still be found by more then just a few places aside amtrak
My understanding is that during the ensuing investigation by the Illinois Central, Mr. Webb was pressured to change his account. He refused and gave the same description of the accident throughout his life. He is very precise and has provided history with an accurate accounting of that tragic event.
Sim Webb was also a hero with Casey. Had he not spotted that caboose the wreck would've been 10x worse. I mean he spotted that caboose just in time for Casey to at least slow it down enough.
True. Casey gets all the credit because he died, but it took both of them to save the passengers. Were it not for Sim, they would have hit the train at 70 mph instead of 30.
@@michaelramsey82 Sadly America was extremely racist back then. How can anyone not give Sim credit? He didn't choose to jump, Casey himself told him to jump.
I think this recording of Simeon Webb was made at Sun Studios here in Memphis. There is a small museum about the wreck at Vaughn, Mississippi, a much larger one in Jackson, Tennessee including a steam locomotive similar to the 382 Casey was engineering that night. This was kind if a freak accident, Casey was only going about 30 mph when he hit the other train, it should not have necessarily been fatal to him.
The impact probably wasn't what killed him, because he should have been able to brace for that. If they went through the caboose and several other cars on the other train, flying debris could've hit him, or he might have been crushed by something after the 382 went off the rails.
In a documentary I recently watched about Casey, I'm not sure if he was killed in the wreck or not. I heard a variation that they pulled him out of the cab where he was severely injured and scalded by steam, and walked him by stretcher to the Vaughn freight Depot where he died soon after. Wish I knew the actual facts
The crazy part is what he said “we had hit the caboose, gone through it, a car of cay, a car of corn, and halfway through a car of lumber” that is when you know that Casey was on the highball
Wow what a good post this was very informative it’s really something to hear a first-hand account and see photographs what a tragedy what a tragedy How do you know whatever happened to the people responsible for leaving the freight train in case his way without a flagman to warn him whatever happened to those people
I followed the tracks from Memphis to Canton in Google Maps. I did see a (now overgrown) short siding near what appears to be Vaughan but no S bend that swings to the right, then to the left, as he described. Anyone knows where the place is exactly?
That's so sad but I have a very strong interest for steam engines and all trains so maybe I'm related ? Also the tracks are still their and the boiler impact is still visible
Pourait-on croire que j'aurais été cet homme quand j'ai été réveillé au moment où il a récupéré la petite fille sur les voies ?en tout cas on ne remplace personne aussi j'oses espérer que son épouse aura été confortablement soutenue par ses enfants d'abord psychiquement et phisiquement !
Jones had a very poor safety record during his time with the ICRR. Over his 12-year career he had been suspended for a told of 145 days due to nine rules violations issued by the railroad.
There is a lot of issues with this account. Many dispute the claims of the railroad and their proper placement and flagman since Simm's continued to contest the claim there were torpedos, flusees, or a flagman at all on the track. Stating he had violations was also ignorant of history, considering the railroad purposely chose Jones because of the fact he was known for going fast to run the Cannonball that night. Furthermore, he was under orders that he had the right of way and was the priority train for the night so he had no reason to suspect there was going to be another train on the track since he was informed the track would be clear for him. It is hugely ignorant to believe that Casey would ignore a flagman, torpedos, or fusees as evidenced by the simple fact when he did find out about the other train on the track he ordered his fireman to jump and he stayed on the whistle and the hand brake to bring the train from 75 to 35 miles before striking the caboose at the cost of his own life. Though some have tried to still stick with the railroads claim all safety was monitored and instead all fault was to be laid at Jones feet, there are a lot of issues with this account, to the point even if torpedoes were given credit even in the "official" record, they were so close it would not have mattered even if the Cannonball was at normal speed. Hell companies still try to absolve themselves of any wrong doing to this day, so people being shocked that Jones became the sole reason for the accident is unsurprising, or how people blow things out or proportion. Hell, he had his detractors on both sides, look up the Union Scab, essentially what most consider a sellout these days. I mean you don't have to look far for people either changing the facts or even making things up based on what the company record says to discredit one man. See the Titanic disaster and how people and even the White Star Line made up all manner of excuses for that disaster and how many keep making up things that Captain Smith did not actually do (no thanks to that fucking movie by Cameron). While the truth of the man lies somewhere probably in the middle, I think it leans more towards heroic. Simm's account, as can be heard above, disputes what the railroad claims he said, which is not surprising because even today the word of a colored man tends to be ignored over that of what the white folk say.
