Casey Jones

Stopped in Jackson, TN to visit the museum that honors the most famous of railway engineers. Was said you could set your watch by Casey's schedule and the night of the fateful crash he had made up almost 40 minutes on the Cannonball run when he rounded the bend and saw the last four cars of a freight train weren't on the siding.
His fireman, Sims, wrote the ballad that made Casey famous in gratitude for getting the chance to jump from the train. Casey slowed the cannonball from 75 to 35 by impact and was the only one killed. The passengers otherwise suffered only minor injuries and none of the passenger cars derailed.