# Casey Jones **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 19, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316 "2009-06-19T18:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/1 "2009-06-19T18:46:43Z")
\*\*Elendil’s Heir \*\* has turned in a first rate staff report on Casey Jones. > **[Who was the real Casey Jones?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343959/who-was-the-real-casey-jones)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD Nice work! ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/2 "2009-06-19T19:21:20Z")
Nice article! Very well written. And some ignorance was fought, too. I didn’t know Casey Jones was a real person.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/3 "2009-06-19T20:18:50Z")
Very nice. I’m a Dead fan…not quite a “Dead Head”, but that song really isn’t fair to Casey Jones. Good to see it debunked. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/4 "2009-06-19T23:14:03Z")
This is just toooooooooooooooooooo WEIRD. I am, as the universe knows, a stone cold blues fan & read up on Casey Jones, whenever info strikes (and I was never a Deadhead, contrary to popular opinion) … I did not know Casey Jones wrecked a train in Toone, Tennessee … a ex-Gentleman Friend of mine was from Toone,TN. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/5 "2009-06-19T23:19:16Z")
And, in case y’all don’t know, there is in fact a real live blues drummer, CASEY JONES, who worked with Albert Collins, among others. I used to see him play when I was living in ChiTown, '70’s & 80’s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/6 "2009-06-20T01:34:40Z")
Great timing! [The Casey Jones Home and Museum](http://www.caseyjones.com/caseyjones/) reopened today in Jackson, Tennessee with some expansions. Four of his descendents were present. Casey was a local legend when I was a kid, but I had no idea that he was widely known until I was grown. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/7 "2009-06-20T02:15:58Z")
There is also a Casey Jones museum in [Vaughan, MS](http://www.trainweb.org/caseyjones/home.html). There used to be some old railroad guys who’d sit around the square in Canton and talk about this wreck, having been alive when it happened. It’s just up the road from us, here. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/8 "2009-06-22T03:01:18Z")
Fabulous! Thanks for the new info on the Casey Jones MUSEUMS. If I ever can back Down South, I’d love to check them both out. Jackson TN was the birthplace of Sonny Boy I, (John Lee Williamson) who certainly deserves a museum of his own. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/9 "2009-06-23T06:15:20Z")
[Here are the lyrics](http://www.trainweb.org/caseyjones/song.html) to engine wiper Wallace Saunders’ original song about his friend Casey Jones. The tune would eventually become famous with a modified set of lyrics that were pretty inaccurate long before the Grateful Dead got to them; Casey was said to be headed to “Frisco”, for instance, rather than New Orleans. There was also a bawdy verse featuring Casey’s widow consoling the children that they had “another papa on the Salt Lake Line”, which greatly offended the widowed Janie Jones - she was devoted to her Casey and never even remarried. Johnny Cash recorded a version that dropped that verse and corrected a few of the other errors, though he still sings about a “six-eight wheeler”, which never existed and would look pretty foolish if it ever did… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/10 "2009-06-23T13:23:19Z")
Thanks, everybody, and thanks to **Gfactor** , **C K Dexter Haven** and **Tuba Diva** for their able assistance. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/11 "2009-06-23T13:24:38Z")
That was a great article, **Elendil’s Heir**. Informative and entertaining…well done! I don’t recall every hearing the Grateful Dead version, but I’ve heard the Cash version. ve ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/12 "2009-06-23T13:40:39Z")
Allan Sherman did a marvelous parody of the Casey Jones song called [J C Cohen](http://www.metrolyrics.com/j-c-cohen-lyrics-allan-sherman.html). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/13 "2009-06-23T14:27:39Z")
There are several versions of _Casey Jones (including Kassie Jones_, Parts 1 and 2) on [this](http://www.amazon.com/People-Warning-Ballads-Disaster-1913-1938/dp/B000ULQV20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1245766928&sr=1-1)CD set which I got for my birthday last year. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/14 "2009-06-23T17:12:04Z")
So was Casey a scab? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/15 "2009-06-23T17:32:34Z")
> [@villa](#): > > So was Casey a scab? No. I found nothing to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/16 "2009-06-23T17:42:25Z")
Do you know where that comes from? I remember that song from ages ago but I can’t find any reference as to why it developed. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/17 "2009-06-23T17:59:31Z")
> [@villa](#): > > So was Casey a scab? That’s what I was wondering too. I heard Pete Seeger singing \*Casey Jones - the Union Scab \*song, and then latterly heard reference to Mr. Jones in Josh Ritter’s \*To the Dogs Or Whoever \*so was wondering whether he was a real person or not. I’ll never forget the day him and John Henry got in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/18 "2009-06-23T19:09:34Z")
Excellent report! I have vague memories of the [Casey Jones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Jones_(TV_series)) television series from 1958-59. I think they reran it on local stations in the 1960s, too. Starred a pre-_Gilligan’s Island_ Alan Hale Jr in the title role. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/19 "2009-06-23T20:32:37Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > Nice article! Very well written. > And some ignorance was fought, too. I didn’t know Casey Jones was a real person.:smack: I knew he was read, and I knew the story of his death, but I had no idea he was so notable before his fatal accident. Great work. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316/20 "2009-06-23T21:41:56Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Do you know where that comes from? I remember that song from ages ago but I can’t find any reference as to why it developed. Nope, sorry. I’d never even heard about that song until reading your post. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-jones/500316.md?page=2)