On this day in Labor History the year was 1903.
That was the day that is remembered in Virginia as the “Wreck of old 97”.
Old 97, also known as the Fast Mail, was a Southern Railway freight train.
It carried the mail from Washington D.C. to Atlanta, Georgia.
The train wreck happened on the leg of the trip from Monroe, Virginia to Spencer, North Carolina.
The train had come in late to Monroe.
It was reported that the railway company ordered the engineer to increase the speed of the train to make up time.
The company had to pay a penalty for delivering the mail late.
But when the trained neared Danville, Virginia the tracks curved at the Stillhouse Trestle Bridge.
The speed was too much.
Despite the engineer’s efforts to slow the train, it careened off the tracks and plummeted to the rocky ravine forty-five feet below.
Eleven of the sixteen people on board the train died, including the conductor, the engineer and the flagman, and both firemen.
The railway company blamed the wreck on the deceased engineer.
Newspapers across the country carried photos of the wreck.
The disaster became the subject of multiple ballads.
One version by Vernon Dalhart in 1924 is thought to be the first million-selling country record in the United States.
Johnny Cash recorded another well-known version of the song.
In 1993 an alternative country band took the name the “Old 97’s” harking back to the disaster and the songs it inspired.
October 2 - Rebuilding in Tough Times
October 1 - The Jerry Level
September 30 - The Elaine, Arkansas Massacre
September 29 - Creating a Standing Army
September 28 - Solidarity on the Docks
September 26 - Disaster on the Job Around the Globe
September 25 - Martyred for the Vote
September 24 - Banned in Canada
September 23 - Dr. Harriet Louise Hardy is Born
September 22 - The First Farm Aid
September 21 - Fighting Just to Maintain Standards
September 20 - The Fight for Equality
September 19 - The End of My Sweet Jennie
September 18 - The Atlanta Compromise
September 17 - Striking in the South
September 16 - NHL Managers Lock Out Players
September 15 - The Invergordon Mutiny
September 14 - The Murder of Ella Mae Wiggins
September 13 - Attica!
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