Water Valley Will Honor Legendary Railroader
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
A time capsule will be buried to mark the 125 anniversary of the death of Casey Jones. The box has two valves installed, valve will be pulling a vacuum inside it. The second box will be for flooding it with nitrogen to help preserve the contents.
WATER VALLEY – The city will honor the 125th anniversary of the tragic train wreck that claimed the life of Casey Jones on Wednesday, April 30. Casey Jones Railroad Museum curator Grant Thompson reported activities are planned throughout the day at the museum including the hourly blowing of the train whistle and tours that include new displays about the city’s rich railroad heritage that were unveiled during the Casey Jones Music Festival last month.
John Luther “Casey” Jones was a railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Miss. on April 30, 1900. Jones started working for Illinois Central in 1888 in the Water Valley and Jackson, Tenn. districts and he resided in Water Valley for several years.
The story of his wreck was immortalized in song by many artists, including Mississippi-born bluesmen Furry Lewis and Mississippian John Hurt. The songs were so influential that a Mississippi Blues Trail marker was placed at the museum in 2012.
Thompson plans to have the museum open all day and he will present a lecture on the details of the famous wreck at 2 in the afternoon.
A time capsule will also be buried to be opened in 2050, or the 150th anniversary of Jones’ death. James McCormick is in charge of this project and reported that pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and sixth grade students at Davidson Elementary School (DES) will provide mementoes for the capsule.
McCormick plans to seal the capsule to ensure the contents are preserved for the next quarter-century. The capsule will be buried on railroad depot property.
DES students are also participating in a train whistle contest prior to the April 30 observance. The competition will be held to see which class can blow the whistles the loudest, with students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade and second grade participating. Water Valley Police Chief Jason Mangrum and School Resource Officer Jaryn Gooch will judge the contest using a decibel meter sound level meter. Students in the class that makes the most noise will have a field trip to the museum during the 125 celebration Wednesday.
The Lions Club of Water Valley will serve hamburgers from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., with proceeds benefiting the club’s projects in the community. The Lions Club has a lengthy connection with the museum building, restoring the Water Valley Depot and providing a home for the museum. The club launched the project in 1985 when club members and city officials reached an agreement giving the Lions Club a lease on the building. The depot had begun to deteriorate after it was abandoned by the Illinois Central Railroad in March of 1982 when rail service was discontinued. It was further damaged during the 1984 tornado and the city had originally planned to remove it.
One of the first interior projects was restoring the main floor and creating a meeting area. Outside the depot, a flag pole was erected and the area around the building was landscaped. The Lions Club made many improvements in the decades that followed.
