Casey and his fireman, John Wesley McKinnie are shown in the photograph below which was taken at the yard limit board just north of Water Valley in 1898. The 638 is fresh with paint and full of coal as Casey "breaks her in" after an overhaul at the Water Valley shop, according to Bruce Gurner.
This picture was made at "Hunter's Cut" on the original Water Valley-Oxford road which crossed the track one-half mile north of the yard. The photographer, J. E. France, often went to this spot to take pictures of engines and crews during the golden age of steam railroading when men were proud of their engines and their jobs, Gurner says.
This is the engine that the Illinois Central Railroad had on display at the 1893 World's Fair at Chicago. Mrs. Jones wanted to see the big city so Casey "borrowed out" in suburban service for the summer. When the fair closed, Casey asked permission to run the engine back to Water Valley where it had been assigned to the Jackson District. He ran it most of the time in the late 1890's until he went to Memphis in Feburary of 1900. This engine was sold to the Mexican government in 1921 and was still running down there in the 1940's.
Copyright © 2000 Jack Gurner