Casey Jones was a great American railroad engineer and a hero who gave his life while doing his duty. Casey was the engineer of the train called the Cannon-ball, which ran between Tennessee and Mississippi. He was skillful and brave and always brought the train in on time. He was also famous for his special whistle — the locomotive whistle. He had a special way of blowing it: starting softly, rising to a loud sound, and then fading away. People could hear it at night and say, “There goes Casey.”
On the night of April 29, 1900, when Casey had just finished his own trip and brought the Cannon-ball into town on time, he learned that another engineer was ill and could not work. Casey offered to take his place and pulled the big engine out of the station at 11 p.m., already one hour and thirty-five minutes late.
Casey wanted to make up the lost time and worked very hard at the engine.
By four o’clock in the morning, he had almost caught up, but suddenly, as he came around a curve, he saw a standing freight train on the tracks.
“Jump, Sim!” he cried.
Sim Webb, Casey’s fireman, jumped and lived to tell the story. Casey’s body was found with one hand still on the whistle and one on the air brake.
There is a monument to Casey Jones in his hometown in Kentucky. In 1950, the United States government released a three-cent stamp in honor of American railroad engineers. It shows the portrait of Casey Jones and a picture of his old engine, number 382.
