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The Wreck Of Ol 97 Pack

Hello Hello! Welcome back to another upload from The Huber Show! I am your HOOOOOST! Mark Huber and today we are going to discuss the Wreck of the old 97. This was a significant crash that had happened in 1903, the worst in Vriginia History. Join me, as we take a look at the dark history of this crash.


The wreck of Old 97, known as the Fast Mail, occurred when the engineer, 33-year-old Joseph Andrew ("Steve") Broady at the controls of Southern Railway 1102, was operating the train at high speed in order to stay on schedule and arrive at Spencer on time. The 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.

On the day of the accident, the Fast Mail was behind schedule when it left Washington, D.C., and was one hour late when it arrived in Monroe, Virginia. When the train arrived in Monroe its crew was switched, and when it left Monroe, there were 17 people on board. The train personnel included Broady, conductor John Blair, fireman A.C. Clapp, student fireman John Hodge (sometimes known as Dodge in other documents), and flagman James Robert Moody. Also aboard were various mail clerks including J.L. Thompson, Scott Chambers, Daniel Flory, Paul Argenbright, Lewis Spies, Frank Brooks, Percival Indermauer, Charles Reams, Jennings Dunlap, Napoleon Maupin, J. H. Thompson, and W. R. Pinckney, an express messenger. When the train pulled into Lynchburg, Wentworth Armistead, a safe locker, boarded the train, bringing the number of on-board personnel to 18. (A safe locker is a railroad employee entrusted with the combination to a train's safe.)

At Monroe, Broady was instructed to get the Fast Mail to Spencer, 166 miles (267 km) distant, on time. The scheduled running time from Monroe to Spencer was four hours, fifteen minutes – an average speed of approximately 39 mph (63 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 in Gretna, an intermediate stop normally made during the run.

The route between Monroe and Spencer ran through 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, Broady rapidly descended a heavy grade that ended at the 45-foot-high (14 m) Stillhouse Trestle, which spanned Stillhouse Branch. 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. The flames that erupted afterwards consumed the splintered debris of the wooden cars, and it was very hard for the local fire department to extinguish the blaze. The investigation that followed was greatly hampered by the fire and the few witnesses to the incident.

Of the eighteen men on board, eleven men died (nine on impact)[2] and seven were injured. Among the deceased were the conductor Blair, engineer Broady and flagman Moody.[3] The bodies of both firemen were recovered, but they were mangled so badly they were unrecognizable.

Several survivors of the wreck believed they stayed alive because they jumped from the train just before the fatal plunge. Among the survivors were mail clerks Thompson and Harris. Pinckney, the express messenger, also survived the wreck, went home to Charlotte, North Carolina, and immediately resigned after his life-changing experience. Two other survivors, Jennings J. Dunlap and M.C. Maupin, did not resign, although they transferred to new departments. Dunlap went to work on a train that ran between Washington and Charlotte, while Maupin worked at the Charlotte union station.[4]

Only a fraction of the mail had survived, including a large case filled with canaries that managed to escape and fly to safety. Engine 1102 was recovered and repaired, and it went on to perform further duties until it was dismantled in July 1935.

The day after the wreck, vice-president Finley made a speech in which he said: "The train consisted of two postal cars, one express and one baggage car for the storage of mail.... Eyewitnesses said the train was approaching the trestle at speeds of 30 to 35 mi (48 to 56 km) an hour."[5] The Southern Railway placed blame for the wreck on Broady, disavowing that he had been ordered to run as fast as possible to maintain the schedule. The railroad also claimed he descended the grade leading to the trestle at a speed of more than 70 mph (110 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 it had a lucrative contract with the U.S. Post Office to haul mail, and the contract included 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 that the railroad would not be penalized for late mail delivery.


The Fast Mail was in another fatal accident earlier in the year of 1903. On Monday, April 13, the train left Washington at 8:00 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.


The disaster inspired several songs, the most famous being the ballad first recorded commercially by Virginia musicians G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter.[6] 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, with Frank Ferera playing guitar and Dalhart playing harmonica.[7][8] Since then, "Wreck of the Old 97" has been recorded by numerous artists, including Dalhart himself in 1924 under the name Sid Turner on Perfect 12147, The Statler Brothers (feat. Johnny Cash), Charlie Louvin of The Louvin Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Hank Williams III, Patrick Sky, Nine Pound Hammer, Roy Acuff, Boxcar Willie, Lonnie Donegan, The Seekers, Ernest Stoneman & Kahle Brewer, Carolyn Hester, Hank Thompson, John Mellencamp, Pink Anderson, Lowgold, Chuck Ragan, and David Holt. The music was often accompanied by a banjo and a fiddle, while the lyrics were either sung, crooned, yodeled, whistled, hummed, recited, or chanted. The song rivaled that of "Casey Jones" for being the number one railroading song of all time.

Credits and Conclusion

Thanks to CygnusOX for the great Pacific locomotive, I had changed just a bit.

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