The Wreck of the Old 97
N 36° 35.728 W 079° 23.566
17S E 643764 N 4051200
Site of the legendary Train Wreck the inspired the popular folk song by the same name
Waymark Code: WM1751
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2007
Views: 270
In 1903 there was a Southern Railway trestle that cross the ravine where present day U. S. Route 58 passes this location. On September 27, 1903 the “Old 97,” a Southern Railway Mail Express jumped the tracks on the trestle and crashed into the ravine below. All total 9 people including the engineer JOSEPH "STEVE" BROADY were killed. The crash inspired the popular folk-song “The Wreck of the Old 97. Today the site of the crash is an overgrown ravine with only a roadside historic marker showing the location of the crash.
The engineer, Joseph “Steve” Broady is buried in a private Cemetery near Saltville, Virginia. For more information on "Steve" Broady and the "Wreck of the Old 97: (
visit link)
Thanks to OpinioNate for his note and link to the Ballad of "The Wreck of the Old 97." You can listen to the ballad here: (
visit link)
The text of the marker reads:
"Here, on September 27, 1903, occurred the railroad wreck that inspired the popular ballard, 'The Wreck of the Old 97.' The southbound mail express train on the Southern Railroad left the tracks on a trestle and plunged into the ravine below. Nine persons were killed and seven injured, one of the worst train wrecks in Virginia."