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BJ Jones
04/15/11
March 14, 2012
Come all you rounders if you want to hear
The story bout a brave engineer
Casey Jones was the rounder's name
On a 68-wheeler boys he won his fame
Born John Luther Jones on this date in 1863, he acquired the nickname Cayce since he lived near Cayce, Kentucky, as a young man, which he later spelled as "Casey."
On April 30, 1900, with a stalled passenger train ahead of his locomotive at Vaughan, Miss., he applied the brakes and ordered his fireman to jump.
Although the Cannonball Express crashed, Casey Jones was the only casualty.
And on that foggy, rainy night, the legend began — fueled by headlines such as, "HEROIC ENGINEER – Sticks to his post at cost of life."
Didn’t hurt either he was immortalized in a popular ballad composed and sung by his friend Wallace Saunders:
The caller called Casey at a half past four
He kissed his wife at the station door
Mounted to the cabin with his orders in his hand
And he took his final trip to the Promised Land
Jones was known for getting there on time.
Also a kind of long-drawn-out note that he created on his train whistle, beginning softly, then rising, and then dying away almost to a whisper.
People living along the Illinois Central between Jackson, Tennessee, and Water Valley, Mississippi, would turn over in their beds late at night upon hearing that whistle and say as he roared by, “There goes Casey Jones.”
Casey Jones with the orders in his hand
Casey Jones mounted to the cabin
And he took his final trip to the Promised Land.
Society is founded on hero worship said historian Thomas Carlyle, and heroes are made of, “people who embody the best values of our culture..."
Values evident in the proud brave engineer from Kentucky.
Heroes come in all sizes and are heard at all decibel levels. Sometimes heroes are qu...
-Penn
Mar. 14, 2012 11:53 PM
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04/03/11
Who are today's heroes?
Who are today's heroines?
Well, about twenty three thousand of them are fixing to come home from Afghanistan and the sooner, the better.
...and a lot went to the PromisedLand, young and brave, orders in hand
and not to change the subject to blithely, but I can't think about Cayce Jones without picturing a box of Good'N'Plenty shaking noisely
Black and White kid's TeeVee programme. I remember being facinated by the scenery and terrified by those wooden railway bridges that you just knew were going to collapse and send the train plunging into a ravine. Great stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExSlyoVTX3I, ; just in case you don't remember, this may stay in your head all day. You're Welcome. Have a seat in the club car....
oooh, Floyd's Great,Great,Grand Dog made a special appearance
Andy Warhol was right about people being famous for five minutes. The days of 'legends' are over. Every day there are people working in dangerous situations. Everybody has a hero/heroine inside themselves. Some people manage to put the safety catch on and stay cocooned in a self obsessed world, but many will surprise themselves and others by responding to an emergency in a very selfless way. Today might be your turn to be a hero.
ROADYACHT: I spent the day listening everything Pre and Post Reunion, from PINK FLOYD ... intersticed with some Fabulous Jazz sent to me by a Gal Friend in California ....... Has been a Marvelous Day !!!
We've had Ballads of the Legend(s) of Casey Jones on the Iron Horse .......
We've had Ditties about the Legend of Davey Jones at the Bottom of The Sea .......
Seems just as in the 30's The Whole Town's Talking About The Jones Boys .......
And thats just the way its gonna be .......
(With Genuine Apologies to The Mills Brothers ...)
After Grand Turkin' it earlier culminating in jerk chicken and Turk's Head beer. Went for spiciest red snapper ceviche ever with many cold bottles of Magna Cerveza in Old Town San Juan. Casey Jones was stoking the fire in my belly. But not so much to keep me from searching for that perfect Banana Daquiri on St. Thomas later today. I would love to have seen ol CJ's eyes when he knew his fate was sealed. I imagine it was like Slim Pickens when he rode that A-bomb. A man on a mission. I hope to live with such passion and die with purpose.
Heroes and Heroines
With the seamy side of politics showing all the time now, it's becoming more and more difficult to believe in heroism. Then again, why am I looking to politics? The political process, its characters, methods and memes haven't changed in a hundred years.
Reminds me of an old joke going around in the Johnson era:
Accusation: "MY OPPONENT #@%&'S PIGS!"
Rejoinder: "MAY I CATEGORICALLY SAY THAT I HAVE NEVER, EVER, #@%&-ED A PIG!"
It was always like that.
People haven't changed either. We're still smart and dumb, glorious and venal,
generous and spiteful. Whatever is in me is in you. Whatever you are, I am as well. A life with computers hasn't (yet!) genetically modified the young. And their world is wide open for anyone of any age to grasp.
The people we think of as heroes and heroines often have to make a split-second decision, like Casey's, and they say, "Yes!" Is it character that distinguishes them? Strength? Adrenaline? Proper caffeine level? Good meds? We don't really know what goes on inside them. And that means that anyone can rise to be a blessing and a savior.
Let's all go out and save the day!
Just realized that hazel already said this very nicely! ;-D Thanks, hazel! Agile minds, and all that....
Look to Japan to see normal, everyday men,and women,knowing full well that they alone can save their homeland,but they themselves will perish,and into the inferno of a disabled nuclear reactor they marched...
It's interesting that Arlo Guthrie's song about the famous "City of New Orleans" passenger train allso paints railroading in the days of live steam with a romantic brush. Life was better when technology only allowed men to cross great distances at a slower more thoughtful pace.
i'll be humming the tune all day. Thank you, Cayce, for being "that guy". I love the old trains. The romance of the trips through the barren northwest with the train running alongside in the distance. Hearing and feeling the two tone whistle as the train swaggers through town. Yes, feeling. My childhood rushes over me and fills me with a longing for the old days.
Kudos to everyone for your remarks. I have to confess that I do not believe I evr knew the story of Casey Jones. I think I thought it was about getting to the ballfield to go up at bat.
Two things come to mind. First, the ability for each of us to be heroes on a daily basis in so many ways. How many unsung Casey Jones there are...
The other is the cost of building those railways across our great country. Recently on, I think, AMC, there was a series that took place in camps of railroad workers. It was fascinating and showed a real glimpse of what a harrowing and heroic experience that was. What a toll.
With reference to BERT's comment, I always prefer to drive long distances rather than fly. Its not just that common sense tells me the plane has to fall down but because I prefer to feel the distance. I like the feeling of groundlevel history and being where significant and heroic events have taken place before me.
Here's to the boys!
Switching tracks just a little here..........does any one know of a scenic (tourist) train route...have tone Durango/Silverton.....with a ride that takes more than an hour or so? We're looking for a vacation destination that we'd drive to and then enjoy a scenic train ride.
CHEFDEB: I'm with you 100% !!! I have always absolutely hated Flying ... it isn't Natural, I don't really believe it happens, even tho' I am grossly familiar with all the Science and Physics ... but, I have driven Cars in excess of two hundred miles per hour, and they never got airborne ... while a 747 has only to achieve one hundred and forty-seven miles per hour to achieve Lift ... 747 weighs a hell of a lot more than my Car ... (Y'all Please spare me the Aeronautic Diatribe ... I know all about it ...) We are told that, "God Protects Women With Child, and Fools ..." Not everybody that gets on an airplane is pregnant ... All that notwithstanding ... I'd rather drive anywhere, so's I can stop when I want, and see things I have never seen before, and eat when I'm a'mind to ... The insistent government, during my career, saw to it that I flew over two Million miles all around the world, and at one point, after all the cajoling that it took for them to get me IN the damnd plane, they wanted me to jump out of it !!! I respectfully declined ... We landed, and I took the Train ... That was during Operation ReForGer, in Germany, many years ago ....... Had a marvelous Dinner on the Train ... When I Reported In ... some pup Lieutenant, OD remarked that it smell'd to him that I had been drinking ... I complimented him on his keen sense of smell, and continued to Report ... After a ridiculous series of rapid-fire, accusative Questions, I told him simply that, it was a package deal ... a very fine Gewurztraminer came with Rouladen made with a most excellent piece of Venison, and I dared not insult the Germans by refusing it, since Diplomacy is what we were all about ... He then tried to nail me about how many Glasses I had ... I looked his 90 Day Wonder ass directly in the eyes and said, "One, Sir ..." ... then I told him that it was obvious that he did not know who I was, but if he would look ... he would see that my Orders originated out of the White House, so lets cut the crap and you show me to my Apartment (Technically he Out-Ranked me ... Reality is a whole nuther story ...) As we walked along the Halls, I reflected on the fact that I had not lied to him; I had only one Glass ... but he did not ask me how many times I refilled it ... Not that it mattered ... He'd never have had an inkling, except that, Gewurztraminer is a robust Wine with a strong but not assaultive Nose, and it lingers on the palate for a while, particularly when one has dined on High Fat Foods ...This is the only German Wine that I really like ... and I dislike like sychophantic little snot-lieutanants even more than Mosel Wines ...
There are many heros and heroines every day, but I'm with Stoney on the best ones being the men and women of our Armed Forces. Yes, there's the major places we all know about, but remember they are spread all across the world from Asia to Africa to Europe to those in US serving us right here at home. Godd bless them all.
This is a strange day in the Village....where is everyone?
Hi, Carol-- I guess my vote would go to the Zephyr which runs from Chicago to San Francisco. When we go to Iowa, we change to the Zephyr in Chicago and it leaves us off in Ottumwa, hometown of Radar O'Reilly. Sometimes my Iowa peeps get on with us, and we go for a ride! The Zephyr stops in lots of cities: Denver, Salt Lake, Reno, and goes through the Rockies,and the Sierra Nevadas. It has observation cars, and if you like train rides, it's very cool. Food's good, too.
CD--they're all probably out enjoying spring days and sunshine. I would be, too, if I weren't help hostage to terrible airborne allergies.
Thanks, Longdreams......we do dream of doing that trip one day. For now we are looking for a destination with historical charm (preferably RR history) and an excursion train ride of a couple of hours. I know the Northwest abounds with such, but we're looking for something more Midwest in location. Thanks for donning the thinking cap!
ChefDeb: And on the plane, you can't pull off and see the Giant Dinosaur Tracks or the Half-Dog, Half-Mastodon, or the Emerald City (with real emeralds), or Jack-knife World. (I'm a sucker for a roadside attraction.)
My maternal grandfather, an engineer on the Central of Georgia Railroad, taught me, a soon as I could speak, "Casey Jones." He died in my youth, and I've never known if indeed there WAS a Casey Jones who, "...with his orders in his hand, took a farewell journey to the promised land." For all I knew, he might've made it up; he was that creative. Thank you, Mr. P.
IVAN and LONGDREAM......or stop at that sign that says "fresh cherries." I just LOVE road trips. I already had one Villager sign up for my Best Sandwich Tour, always room for more.
How did we get to the roadside? PYO signs are as bad as bookshops.
I need the Best Pizza Tour. There's no pizza here. None. Bleh.
A hero: someone who puts his or her own life safety or, even braver, reputation in peril to save someone, often unknown, from death, harm or disgrace.
That's a pretty big deal in its own right but a legend is that same person bearing up under the pressure of everyone he ever meets knowing what he has done and then, continuing to to give the impression that he stands ready to do it all again.
That explains why there are more heroes than legends: not every hero wants a life under the lens with a significant media contingent hoping to be on hand when or if he stumbles.
I love to fly for the doing of it: the airplane ride. Many people fly a lot more often and to further places but not many began younger or enjoy it more.
When we schedule one of our twice-a-year flights out east, I feel like dancing.
CHEFDEB: I'll take the Sandwich Tour !!! I'll provide a Truckload of Coldbeer !!!
Today is Albert Einstein's 133rd. Birthday !!!
http://weaselspizza.com/index.php?items='house_specialties'
We drove forty-five khaki-colored miles of countryside with just a hint here and there, of the palest green to have lunch at the above location with my wife's sister and her husband.
It was a nice ride (75°F) with excellent car music. We had a pleasant visit with nice people and the lamb chops were perfect.
I am happy.
Then I'm happy too. All you can eat Smelts!!! Thats a new one on me!!
CD ~
Getting smelt is a seasonal thing to which many of us look forward.
I smelt a change of topic here.........and I agree with Stoney smelts are a good thing. We used to look forward to going to the clubhouse in Bay View with my aunt and uncle for a heap of smelt!
Always something to learn in my business. I love it.
By the way, LONGDREAM you are not that far from New Haven or NewYork--how can there be pizza any better than either of those places?!
It's Spring in this part of the village - did you all get out and enjoy it? It's the best medicine for whatever ails you - or whatever doesn't. Which makes no sense, but that's okay in the Springtime...foolishness for all!
It must be synchronicity day in the village. The
weather is spring like, but what ails me is a bug I picked up between Beantown
and home. I spent half a day at work and then came home for some rest and
drugs. Waiting for me on the steps was a USPS package, thick as a book. Hot
off the presses, rumbling down the tracks The Train Ride
by one Jim Hall! The story begins in Troy so it must be heroic, I
am not sure where it ends, but through the first seven chapters it has been
quite a riotous ride. It is the south and youth as only a few have seen it. I
am not about to write a review. I need more rest and drugs, then in between
naps I will pick up the tome and read another Chapter or two. If the drugs
don't kick in I might finish the ride tonight.
I love traveling, any mode. I have not taken a hot air balloon or blimp
ride yet, but I would not take a pass on either if offered. When I fly, it is
always at a window with my nose pressed to the glass, even the city lights at
night and intrusive cloud formations are wondrous to behold. I will bid you all a good night now before you can catch the bug.
I was at Western Pennsylvania Hospital to Celebrate Registered Dietitians' Day!!! We had an excellant dinner then a Hunger Presentation on Southwestern Pennsylvania Hunger...among all the important stats on the elabroate work that the food system procures for people we have 21% or more.....children Hungry in Southwestern Pennsylvania....then take in consideration every school child that is on a free lunch does not usually have breakfast or supper...in the entire..state....the food bank provided this last year, 22 million pounds of food given to hungry families in southwest Pennsylvania....it is sad...there is too much arrogance...money greed....? I know the answer..... but I am not going there..and signaling Politics...we need to be a movement..I am signing up to volunteer for the speakers buearu to send and get the message out about Hunger...that's what I am going to do....
I love you, Violet Rose. :-*
Today I was preoccupied with a friend I had not seen in years...We were sorority sisters and our husbands were college roommates, a s well as fraternity brothers,and she came to see me from 3 hrs. east of here,and spend the day with me, and I felt blessed by her presence.
We went to a women's club lunch with a fashion show, door prize drawing, and lots of chatter of 50 women int he same room....and then back to my house to catch up and drinks sweet tea. It was a special day. We won door prizes and then swapped, as hers was a local concert (hours from her house) and mine was a book on back pain,a nd she has it.....Then her husband came back on his Honda Goldwing and got her and they went off into the sunset back to the eastern part of GA near the SC line, and I was so happy that she came to see me!! Friends are a special blessing. Truly, I had known her since 1963....Wonderful friend!
Here, 3 miles south of the nearest RR, we can hear the train whistle at Hwy, 411 where hwy 140 crosses it on a still night. I heard it tonight. The stars are bright tonight,a nd the sky is clear....It is a magical night. My honey made peppermint schnapps and Southern Comfort nightcaps for us and lighted them up....What a lovely sight....! I feel very lucky and blessed....!!
I think my friends who got on the road on their motorcycle to ride across the state to see friends are heroes of a sort, considering the risk of the motor cycle VS cars....and they are really GOOD people.... Night all!
*spritzes a little germ-no-more on the screen*
But ChefDeb! I'm spoiled because I grew up on NY pizza! I'm 2.5 hours from Nueva, a good 1.75 away from New Haven and 1.5+ from Boston. Sometimes I just want pizza, good pizza, NOW, without having to make it myself. *whines*
(Sorry, Violet Rose. I shouldn't be whining about perfect pizza when there are people who don't have anything. Sigh.)
You guys have a book club?
Carol! I'll ask the Iowa Branch!
Park4 & Peter Lake ~
Somewhere in Arkansas
The fireflies are low
Over the river tonight
paolos ~
Starve a feeb. Drown a cold one.
I thought it was pronounced schmelt
Heroes come in all sizes and are heard at all decibel levels. Sometimes heroes are quiet mothers and fathers. Men and women fighting for freedom, who may grab the attention of a newspaper's headline or only the attention of their family, are heroes. Gandhi is a hero. Few would argue Mother Teresa is a hero.
The frugal lady next door, ironing shirts who and leaves millions to her favorite charity is a hero. She may be discovered or not...it matters not to her.
Heroes are positive and many work behind the scenes. Isn't it sweet that people care for us, even
though we may be oblivious to their actions...
more on the honor roll
Stoney, our lights are a bit dimmer tonight too.
Penn, well said as always. I bet we all have been touched by such heroes. Their reward is in the doing.....be it in a moment or over a lifetime.
Be well P
Many heros are barely known by others, or easily forgotten as the years roll by. A fellow I met in a grocery store in Cloverdale, Oregon in 2006 or 2007 was such a man. A Marine Corp aviator who flew over 250 missions, and was the only man to survive having been shot down in three wars, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. He passed in 2009, but I'll never forget our few minutes of visiting in the local grocery store line. All he wanted to talk about was the details of my dad's (a Marine Corp sargeant) WWII combat experiences in the Phillipines, etc. I'd ask him about where he had fought and he'd simply redirect the inquiries. I drive by his house in Cloverdale, on HWY 101 all the time. Semper fi.
"City of New Orleans" Written and always touchingly performed by gone too soon, Steve Goodman. Wabash Cannonball ... oh how I loved hearing Dizzy Dean sing it on baseball's Game of the Week. Roy Acuff too.
FAVORITE TRAIN RIDES (to date)Narrowed it down to two, I think:1 ... East out of Cottage Grove, Oregon up into the old Bohemia mining district on a flat car with wooden "safety" rails erected on the cars to keep us 10 year olds from falling out. Silly. A kid could have rolled through those 3 foot gaps and down a 200' embankment soooo easily ... OR, 2 ... Stopping at the Brenner Pass border between Italy and Austria, getting out to stretch legs in an alpine meadow.
I bet that alpiine meadow and trip to Italy with Margie was extraordinary, D. Thank you for sharing. Be well.