Casey Jones

John Luther Casey Jones the Brave Engineer is a character based on the tall tale of the same name, that was released in 1950.

The Brave Engineer
In the train yard at dawn, Casey Jones is sleeping in the cab wearing his robe and sleeping cap. He gets changed in his engineer outfit getting ready to deliver the mail (of course, he's in a hurry while doing so). Once the car is finished loading, Casey starts up his engine at a rather fast speed before the conductor could call all aboard. After going through a series of track switches, Casey Jones barely makes it out of the train yard passing two other trains going opposite directions.

Back in the cab, he is seen cleaning the dust off of the coal, and putting it in the boiler one piece at a time. His peace is soon interrupted, however, when the train is covered in a flood caused by rain, which makes Casey "eight hours late." Paddling through the water, Casey finally makes it out of the rain and back on the track.

However, just as the train resumes speeds, Casey spots a cow on the track and brings the train to a screeching halt. Casey replies "What now, brown cow?" as she complains he is running late and orders the cow to shoo off the track. Once the cow leaves, the train resumes it's fast speed and Casey checks his stop watch again, noticing time elapsed because of the cow problem. So Casey loads more coal with his shovel into the fireplace to make up for lost time.

But once again, Casey Jones encounters yet another obstacle, this time a damsel in distress, tied up on the tracks by a crook with a handlebar mustache. Not wanting to stop again after before, Casey runs up to the front of the engine, but stands on its cowcatcher, and saves the lady. Still not stopping, Casey continues at a fast pace and drops the female off at the next station where a porter runs up and grabs her and thinks that she's a she-mail.

Now with very little time than he thought, Casey speeds up the train some more with more coal, now entering and later exiting a snowy plains area, into a dark canyon as if time seemingly flies by quicker than we think. Unknown to the engineer, a mad man "who's not on the level" sets explosives on a bridge and just as Casey's train is about to cross, they detonate and send the whole train falling down. Once again, having been undaunted by a seeming impassable obstacle, Casey's engine doesn't give up, struggles to huff and puff up the other side of the mountain's gorge, and continues on its way once again.

Trivia

 * In the real wreck, Casey Jones does not survive; however, he is the only casualty in the crash, and has saved untold numbers of lives that day. In the cartoon wreck, when he is on a collision course with another train, Casey survives the wreck after some works on two 4-8-0s Nos. 77 and 5, two engines, with a freight train.
 * The engine in the short that Casey pilots is a 4-4-0 Engine No. 2. In reality, it is a 4-6-0 engine numbered 382 and is currently on display at the Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum in Jackson, Tennessee.