When railroad engineers were rock stars of the day

Florence railroad engineer W.W. Corrie made an unusually fast and efficient run between Ashley Junction near Charleston and Florence in 1894 and got a lot of attention.
It was part of a larger drama. There had been considerable debate about which route, the Atlantic Coast Line or the Southern, made quicker and more efficient runs between Florida and the nation’s capital.
So a race was arranged with cooperation of both companies, between Jacksonville, Fla., and Washington, D.C. “We’re gonna see about this,” you can imagine people around the headquarters of both railroads saying. The agreement provided for “a fair and square race.”
It is easy to guess which side Florence was on. The ACL route ran through Florence, and railroads since the birth of the town had been the largest employers.
The Southern route, the Florence Daily Times reported in 1894, was several miles shorter. However, the Coast Line was flatter and straighter, so that simplified routing of trains.
The Southern train left Jacksonville at 4 p.m. and the ACL train left at 4:20 p.m.
“We think they have never been beaten in the South and but little anywhere,” it was said afterwards about the winners.
The ACL won by nearly two hours, the Daily Times reported on Aug. 27, 1894. The ACL train (the article did not say what the locomotives were pulling, but it is safe to assume the negotiations made them pretty equal) covered the 783 miles in 949 minutes.
In other words, it left Jacksonville at 4:20 p.m. and arrived in Washington at 8:09 a.m., 15 hours and 49 minutes later.
Making the run was 19th century equipment. There were steam engines at the head of the trains that required reloading of water from time to time. It was about that time that fuel changed from wood to coal, so it might have been either, but probably coal. The Times article noted that engines were changed from time to time on the route. Several hours from Jacksonville, the ACL competitor left Ashley Junction near Charleston at 9:30 p.m. and arrived in Florence at 11:36 p.m. with Corrie at the throttle. He was driving engine number 28, which had an 18-inch cylinder.
It “fairly flew to Florence,” the Times said of Corrie’s run, 96 miles in 98 minutes. It had a stop once at the Santee River drawbridge and at Lane for water and a “break loose” at Ashley Junction, with no explanation of what that meant. (Perhaps it meant a “brake” loose or maybe it was a railroad term that outsiders do not understand.)
Corrie’s train passed Lake City at 11:12½ p.m. before the 11:36 arrival in Florence which is a little better than a mile a minute.
Engineer Jack Bisset took over in Florence and carried the train to Rocky Mount on engine number 132, which it was explained was similar to Corrie’s engine. He had seven stops on the way, three for water.
“These runs are the best on record,” news reports said.
W.N. Royal, superintendent of the Northeastern Railroad that ran between Florence and Charleston and was part of the ACL route, “was jubilant over the run that was made on his division.”
Afterwards, Corrie received a telegram from E. Borden, superintendent of transportation for the ACL, who had his office at the Wilmington, N.C. headquarters. Borden said, “The general manager directed me to say to you that he is very much gratified at your work yesterday. The run is entirely satisfactory.”
That was very big stuff in Florence where railroad engineers were the rock stars of the day for local youth. An example of that was when the same week, the Daily Times carried this report: “Engineer George Wilson beat his own as well as Henry Jaeger’s record from Sumter” to Florence. He made it in 46 minutes, covering the 39 miles with seven stops.
Jaeger, according to Florence historian Wayne King, was one of the idols of Florence youth of the time because of his reputation of making fast runs as a railroad engineer. Jaeger, who was known as an efficient and cautious but speedy engineer, died in a railroad accident in 1918 near Kingstree, result of a “spreading rail.” He is buried near the entrance to Mount Hope Cemetery in Florence.

— Thom Anderson is a retired journalist who has 40 years experience with South Carolina newspapers, including the Morning News. He can be reached at .