On this day, John “Casey” Jones, a steam train driver, died when his train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi. Casey had worked his way up from brakeman to fireman, to engineer on the prestigious “cannonball” passenger run from Chicago to New Orleans, and he had a widespread reputation for his exceptional punctuality. On the night in question, the service was running late and Casey was trying to make up for lost time. As he was approaching Vaughan station, he saw that the rear wagons of a stationary train were protruding on the line ahead of him. It was too late to avoid a collision. Casey told his fireman to jump off the train while he remained on board doing everything he could to reduce the impact, saving the lives of all the passengers on board, except for his own. He died a hero and many singers from Johnny Cash to the Grateful Dead have since sung tributes to his memory.
