Crash of the Old 97

[Weatherman2020]

On this day in Danville Virginia:

Wreck of the Old 97

Here, on September 27, 1903, occurred the railroad wreck that inspired the popular ballad, "The Wreck of the Old 97." The southbound mail express train on the Southern Railroad left the tracks on a trestle and plunged into the ravine below. Nine persons were killed and seven injured, one of the worst train wrecks in Virginia history.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

LOL............leave it to Johnny Cash to put a deadly wreck to upbeat music.

 

[Weatherman2020]

LOL............leave it to Johnny Cash to put a deadly wreck to upbeat music.

Song dates to 47

 

[1srelluc]

If there's a nickel to be made.....

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

LOL............leave it to Johnny Cash to put a deadly wreck to upbeat music.

Like he did with the tragic story of Ira Hayes.

 

[ozro]

Like he did with the tragic story of Ira Hayes.
View attachment 702670

Neither song was written by Johnny Cash.....

 

[whitehall]

With all due respect to the Va. sign post, I doubt if it was a "popular ballad".

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

With all due respect to the Va. sign post, I doubt if it was a "popular ballad".

I remember hearing Johnny Cash's rendition on the radio when I was a kid.

 

[ozro]

I remember hearing Johnny Cash's rendition on the radio when I was a kid.

The Wreck of the Old 97 was an American rail disaster involving the Southern Railway mail train, officially known as the Fast Mail (train number 97), while en route from Monroe, Virginia, to Spencer, North Carolina, on September 27, 1903. Travelling at an excessive speed in an attempt to maintain schedule, the train derailed at the Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia, where it careened off the side of the bridge, killing 11 on-board personnel and injuring seven others. The wreck inspired a famous railroad ballad, which was the focus of a copyright lawsuit and became seminal in the genre of country music.[1]

Wreck of the Old 97 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ozro]

Currently no shortage of dumb-ass booger eating know-it-all know-nothings is there.