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| Commentary: 100 years after 'The Wreck of Old 97'
DANVILLE, Va., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- On a Sunday afternoon 100 years ago, Southern Railway's fast mail train Old 97 came roaring down White Oak Mountain more than an hour late on its run from Washington to Atlanta. Traveling at a speed estimated at 90 miles an hour, engineer Joseph A. BizVantage – All the Net, all the time, just for you. "Steve" Broady held the whistle cord down as the train approached a street crossing and a curving wooden trestle. But Old 97 failed to make the curve that day, Sept. 27, 1903, jumped the tracks and plunged into a deep ravine. Eleven crewmen were killed and six injured. In the annals of train disasters, the wreck probably would not have attracted as much attention as it did had it not been for a song, "The Wreck of Old 97," written by David Graves George, who visited the scene. Records of the song, whose authorship was claimed by several others, were made by the Victor Talking Machine Company and sold in the millions. The song was credited with giving impetus to the fledgling country music industry. It was the first country music tune to sell more than a million records and was recorded by such music world greats as Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie. Train buffs and country music lovers converged on Danville, a textile and tobacco marketing city of about 50,000, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the wreck. The observance extended over a week and included tours of the site, Old 97 exhibits, country music performers and the release of butterflies in memory of the trainmen, including Broady, 33, who, according to the song, was "scalded to death by the steam." The release of canaries perhaps would have been more befitting. When the wreck occurred, witnesses reported seeing large numbers of yellow and green birds, freed from their smashed cages in the express car, fluttering around a macabre scene of twisted steel, splintered trestle pilings, escaping steam and the dead and injured lying on the banks of the ravine where they had been placed by rescuers. The last of the eyewitnesses to the wreck died nearly a decade ago. One of them, 100-year-old Herman Lester, said in a 1994 interview that he watched as engineer Broady was pulled from his wrecked engine. "His skin was black from the fire and steam," Lester said. "He couldn't talk. People were asking him his name. He pointed to his chest and pulled out his wallet. He died shortly after that." The Stllhouse trestle was quickly repaired, as was Engine 1102 which pulled the Old 97 train. It continued in service until scrapped in 1930. The Southern Railway line, however, was moved two miles to the east, the trestle was torn down and the ravine partly filled in for a highway. Today a Virginia historical marker designates the site. A coroner's jury ruled that excessive speed caused the wreck. Still unanswered is whether the excessive speed was caused by mechanical failure or poor judgment by Broady. Southern Railway eventually paid a $10,000 indemnity to the families of the victims but not a penny to Broady's survivors. The railroad blamed him for the disaster and Broady's estate lost a civil suit against Southern. His body was removed to Saltville, Va., where it was interred in the family cemetery. Grazing cattle knocked over his tombstone. Cow dung and weeds obscured the plot. In 1993, 90 years after Broady's death, a group of Saltville area residents appealed for help to restore the Broady grave site, and the money poured in. A chain link fence was installed, the tombstone repaired, a white brick and marble memorial erected and historic markers placed on nearby roads. Locals referred to Broady as a "famous engineer" and a "true hero of American folklore." Danville citizens held the engineer in high regard and scheduled a "Steve Broady Day." Although train wrecks generally are soon forgotten, a song written a century ago may keep alive the memory of the wreck of the Old 97 for many years to come.
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