On this date 111 years ago, the Southern Railway’s Train 97, the “Fast Mail,” derailed north of Danville, Virginia, killing 11 of the 18 men on board. Train 97 carried the mail from Washington, D.C., to Atlanta, Georgia. That day, it consisted of Locomotive 1102, two postal cars, an express car, and a baggage car. It was late setting off from Washington and by the time it reached Monroe, Virginia, it was one hour behind schedule. Here, it changed crews. Coming on board were engineer Joseph A. (Steve) Broady (1870-1903), conductor John Blair, fireman Albion C. Clapp and his student John Hodge, and flagman James Robert Moody. Also on board were postal clerks Paul Argenbright, Frank Brooks, Scott Chambers, Jennings J. Dunlap, Daniel Flory, Percival Indermauer, Napolean C. Maupin, Charles Reames, Lewis Spies, J. Harris Thompson, J. L. Thompson; and express messenger W. R. Pinckney. Safe locker Wentworth Armistead boarded the train down the line at Lynchburg, Virginia. The Southern Railway’s contract with the U.S. Post Office Department included a clause that penalized the railroad for each minute the train was late. As a result, Broady was ordered to arrive on schedule at Spencer, North Carolina. This stop was 166 miles down the line, a distance scheduled to be run in 4 h 15 m, for an average speed about 39 mph. To make up the lost hour, Broady would have to average at least 51 mph. Mindful of his orders, Broady descended the steep curving grade leading down to the Stillhouse Trestle at speeds estimated by witnesses at 50-70 mph. At the 45-ft high trestle, the entire train jumped the tracks and plunged into the ravine below where it burst into flames, destroying nearly all the wooden rail cars. Eleven of the men died including Broady, Blair, Clapp, Hodge, and Moody. Those who survived, including Dunlap, Maupin, and Pinckney, leapt from the train before it plunged into the ravine. Also among the survivors were a flock of canaries who flew to safety when their cage burst. The ballad that tells the story of the wreck was of controversial authorship. The music was lifted from “The Ship That Never Returned,” written by Henry Clay Work in 1865. This melody is familiar to modern audiences from a second adaptation, Charlie on the MTA, which served as a campaign song for the Progressive Party’s 1948 candidate for mayor of Boston, Walter A. OBrien (1914-1998), and which was recorded in 1959 and popularized by The Kingston Trio. The lyrics were credited to Fred Jackson Lewey (a cousin of Clapp) and Charles Noell, as polished by Henry Whitter, on the 1924 Victor Talking Machine Co. recording by Vernon Dalhart. David Graves George later claimed to be the real author and the courts twice found in his favor before a higher court found against him.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:30:43 +0000
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