| Wreck of the Old 97 | |
|---|---|
The wreck of Old 97 at Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia, 1903. The photograph is believed to have been taken a few days after the occurrence of the wreck, as the locomotive, which had overturned, has been righted. |
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| Details | |
| Date | 27 September 1903 |
| Location | Stillhouse Trestle |
| Country | USA |
| Rail line | Virginia Midland |
| Operator | Southern Railway |
| Type of incident | Derailment |
| Cause | Excessive speed |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 11 |
| Injuries | 7 |
Old 97 was a Southern Railway train officially known as the Fast Mail. It ran from Washington DC to Atlanta, Georgia. On September 27, 1903 while en route from Monroe, Virginia, to Spencer, North Carolina, the train derailed at Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia. The wreck inspired a famous railroad ballad, which was the focus of a convoluted copyright lawsuit but became seminal in the genre of country music.[1]
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The wreck of Old 97 occurred when the engineer, 33 year old Joseph A. ("Steve") Broady, at the controls of engine number 1102, was operating the train at high speed in order to stay on schedule and arrive at Spencer on time (Fast Mail had a reputation for never being late). Locomotive 1102, a ten wheeler (4-6-0) engine built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, had rolled out of the factory in early 1903, less than a year before the wreck. After the wreck the engine was rebuilt and served for slightly over 32 years before being scrapped on July 9, 1935.
On the day of the accident, Old 97 was behind schedule when it left Washington, DC and was one hour late when it arrived in Monroe, Virginia. When the train arrived in Monroe, it switched train crews and when it left Monroe there were 17 people on board. The train personnel were Joseph Broady (the engineer), John Blair (the conductor), A.C. Clapp (a fireman), John Hodge, (a fireman), and J.S. Moody (the flagman). Also on board were various mail clerks including J.L. Thompson, Scott Chambers, Daniel Flory, Paul Argenbright, Lewis Spies, Frank Brooks, Percival Indermauer, Charles Reames, Jennings Dunlap, Napoleon Maupin, J. H. Thompson, and W. R. Pinckney, an express messenger. When the train pulled into Lynchburg, VA, Wentworth Armistead (a safe locker) boarded the train so at the time of the wreck, there were 18 men on board. Eleven of them died and seven were injured.
At Monroe, Broady was instructed to get the Fast Mail to Spencer, 166 miles distant, on time. The scheduled running time from Monroe to Spencer was four hours, fifteen minutes, an average speed of approximately 39 mph (62.4 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, an intermediate stop normally made during the run.
The route between Monroe and Spencer was 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, engineer Broady rapidly descended a heavy grade that ended at the 45-foot high Stillhouse Trestle, which spanned Cherrystone Creek. 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. Nine people were killed, including the locomotive crew and a number of clerks in the mail car coupled between the tender and the rest of the train.
The Southern Railway placed blame for the wreck on engineer Broady, disavowing that he had been ordered run as fast as possible to maintain the schedule. The railroad also claimed he descended the grade leading to Stillhouse Trestle at a speed of more than 70 mph (112 km/h). Several eyewitnesses to the wreck, however, stated that the speed was probably around 50 mph (80 km/h). In all likelihood, the railroad was at least partially to blame, as they had a lucrative contract with the U.S. Post Office to haul mail (hence the train's name), the contract including a penalty clause for each minute the train was late into Spencer. It is probably safe to conclude that the engineers piloting the Fast Mail were always under pressure to stay on time so the railroad would not be penalized for late mail delivery.
Southern Railway's Train 97 was in another fatal accident earlier in the year of 1903. On Monday, April 13, Train 97 left Washington, DC at 8 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. Southern #1102 had yet to be delivered to the railroad at that time.
| "'Wreck of the Old 97'" | |
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Original artist | G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter |
| Recorded by | Vernon Dalhart |
The wreck of the Old 97 served as inspiration for balladeers, the most famous being the ballad first recorded commercially by Virginia musicians G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter.[2] 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.[3] Since then, "Wreck of the Old 97" has been recorded by numerous artists, including The Statler Brothers (feat. Johnny Cash), Charlie Louvin of The Louvin Brothers, Pink Anderson, David Holt, Flatt and Scruggs, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Chuck Ragan, Hank Williams III, Patrick Sky, Nine Pound Hammer, Boxcar Willie, Lonnie Donegan, The Seekers, Bert Southwood, Ernest Stoneman & Kahle Brewer, and Hank Snow, as well as Portland, Maine Celtic punk band The Pubcrawlers.
Originally, the ballad was attributed to Fred Jackson Lewey[4] and co-author Charles Noell. Lewey claimed to have written the song the day after the accident, in which his cousin Albion Clapp was one of the two fireman aboard the ill-fated train. Lewey worked in a cotton mill that was at the base of the trestle, and also claimed to be on the scene of the accident pulling the victims from the wreckage. Musician Henry Whitter subsequently polished the original, altering the lyrics, resulting in the version performed by Dalhart.[1]
In 1927 it was claimed that the actual author of "Wreck of the Old 97" was David Graves George, a local resident who was also one of the first on the scene. George apparently did write a ballad about the wreck, but his claim of authorship was not upheld by the United States Supreme Court, nor did the Court invalidate the 1924 copyright claimed by F. Wallace Rega,[5] in part due to the testimony of folklore expert Robert Winslow Gordon. Subsequent research by others, notably Alfred P. Scott, determined that Charles Noell was most likely the originator of the famous ballad, and that George's and Lewey's claims were spurious.[1] The melody is closely derived from that of The Ship That Never Returned.
"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 lyrics begin, "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.'"
During the late 1940s, a parody of the ballad was sung that mocked the ties that the folk singer Pete Seeger had to the Communist Party. The lyrics began, "Well they gave him his orders up at Party headquarters, saying, 'Pete, you're way behind the times; this is not '38, it is 1947, there's been a change in that old Party line.'"
An episode of the Suspense radio program,[6] broadcast on March 17, 1952, and starring Frank Lovejoy, was loosely based on the ballad, which appears in snatches throughout the play. The facts of the wreck are changed, however, eliminating all but one fireman, all but one mail car clerk, and adding two escaped killers.
The ballad was referenced in the song "Blood on the Coal", a folk parody song from A Mighty Wind, the mockumentary film from Christopher Guest. The reference seems to be a tribute to the ballad, although the wreck described in "Blood on the Coal" is an absurd one in which the train crashes into a coal mine.
In the movie The Blues Brothers, the band is handed a list of songs to play at a gig. While the band is cleaning up Elwood says, "Sorry we couldn't remember 'The Wreck of the Old 97'."
A version of the song, by Ramblin' Jack Elliott, is part of the ambient soundtrack to the video game Sid Meier's Railroads!
The popular alt-country band The Old 97s take their name from the ballad.
In Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Starlight Express, CB the Red Caboose claims that, among other things, "the state police they don't suspect I got Old 97 wrecked".
Well they gave him his orders at Monroe Virginia
sayin' Steve you're way behind time
This is not 38 this is old 97
you must put her into Spencer on timeThen he turned around and said to his black greasy fireman
shovel on a little more coal
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain
watch old 97 rollBut it's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville
With a line on a three mile grade
It was on that grade that he lost his air brakes
see what a jump he madeHe was goin' down the grade makin' 90 miles an hour
his whistle broke into a scream
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
A scalded to death by the steamThen the telegram come to Washington station
and this is how it read
Oh that brave engineer that run old 97
he's a layin' in old Danville deadSo now all you ladies you better take a warnin'
He may leave you and never return
from this time on and learn
Never speak harsh words to your true lovin' husband