Sim Webb's Description of Casey Jones Wreck

Fireman Sim Webb, survivor of the crash which killed Casey Jones on April 30, 1900, near Vaughn, Mississippi, recounts the details of the accident in his later years.

[Infoslave.]

Being able to hear my great great great grandfather voice is absolutely amazing!! This is definitely something in keeping close to me

[yourlocalbluntfriend]

You can hear the sadness come from him when he talks about him learning of John.

[dannyedelman]

wow the voice of the last person to talk or see casey jones alive

[kototheantichrist]

This is truly mind blowing to hear. From the mouth of the greatest witness . What a piece of history

[sonnydean]

And there it is folks. From a man who shared the cab with Casey on that sad night.

[edwardgilhooley]

My understanding is that during the ensuing investigation by the Illinois Central, Mr. Webb was pressured to change his account. He refused and gave the same description of the accident throughout his life. He is very precise and has provided history with an accurate accounting of that tragic event.

[lembriggs]

Thanks so much for sharing this video! My Dad retired as engineer from C&O and got to meet Sim Webb when he came to speak at a UTU Union meeting in Chicago back in late 1950's.

[walterstrains]

Sim Webb was also a hero with Casey. Had he not spotted that caboose the wreck would've been 10x worse. I mean he spotted that caboose just in time for Casey to at least slow it down enough.

[valkillion]

Great video & recording. Thanks so much for sharing, much appreciated.

[Thunderbolt__Siren]

Could I use bits of this testimony for a documentary recounting the Casey jones incident? Full credit will be given

[TheTennTexan]

I think this recording of Simeon Webb was made at Sun Studios here in Memphis. There is a small museum about the wreck at Vaughn, Mississippi, a much larger one in Jackson, Tennessee including a steam locomotive similar to the 382 Casey was engineering that night. This was kind if a freak accident, Casey was only going about 30 mph when he hit the other train, it should not have necessarily been fatal to him.

[martinthemillwright]

Thank you for this. A fine man explains it perfectly for us.

[timreisel]

His dialect and description are beautiful.

[RonGreeneComedian]

Being from the South, it's good to hear the old fashioned Southern accent spoken by an educated man.

[DVR]

Today is the 118th Anniversary of the accident.

[michaelhutton]

Glad i checked this Out. interesting piece of History from a man who knew his trains very well...

[AshlynnsMom]

This is a cousin of mine from the 1800s

[joshbreck]

The crazy part is what he said “we had hit the caboose, gone through it, a car of cay, a car of corn, and halfway through a car of lumber” that is when you know that Casey was on the highball

[reedhryals]

It's super to hear about history first hand

[paducahandlouisvillerailro]

I have a Illinois Central railroad spike from Vaughn Mississippi and the railroad spike is from 1900 and it’s 6 1/2 inches long