(Syndicated, 1957) [This series took as its point of departure the life of John Luther "Casey" Jones, a real-life train engineer hero who saved a town by crashing the runaway locomotive he was driving, but lost his life in the process of that heroic deed . Jones was a native of Tennessee who became an engineer on the Illinois Midwest and Central Railroad line during the late 1800s. He took his nickname "Casey" from a town near his home named "Cayce", Kentucky. At one point in his career he ran the famous "Cannonball Express" which from Chicago to New Orleans, Louisiana. This Screen Gems TV series elaborated on the adventures of railroad man Jones so that it became more of a western than a realistic railroad series. 26 episodes were produced and syndicated. The life of Casey Jones was also the subject of a Disney short subject called "The Brave Engineer" scored by Ken Darby. Actor Hale went on to his best known role as the "The Skipper" on the sitcom "Gilligan's Island".]
[aka: "Casey Jones"; aka: "The Brave Engineer"; This THEME was a folk ballad originally composed by black "engine wiper" Wallace Saunders of Mississippi, about his friend and co- worker, the real-life train engineer hero John Luther "Casey" Jones. After his basic version was sung among friends, it was taken up by folk singers and vaudevillians who added new verses. Over 40 variants of the short original song were written over the years. The vaudeville team of Eddie Newton and Lawrence Seibert filed for copyright in 1909 a version they made, and they were considered the "composers" for legal purposes after that. Folk Singer Burl Ives performed a version used on the TV series and it was recorded later.] Composers: music & lyrics by Wallace Saunders (not affiliated), adapted by T. Lawrence Seibert (not affiliated), and Edward "Eddie" Newton (not affiliated) Original Publisher: Seibert & Newton (1909) 2001 Publisher: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. (ASCAP), of New York, NY Published Copyright Date: 1909 Recordings: 45 single: by Burl Ives