September 27 - The Wreck of the Old ‘97

Labor History in 2:00 · Sep 27, 2026 · 1m

On this day in Labor History the year was 1903.

That was the day that is remembered in Virginia as the “Wreck of old 97”.

Old 97, also known as the Fast Mail, was a Southern Railway freight train.

It carried the mail from Washington D.C. to Atlanta, Georgia.

The train wreck happened on the leg of the trip from Monroe, Virginia to Spencer, North Carolina.

The train had come in late to Monroe.

It was reported that the railway company ordered the engineer to increase the speed of the train to make up time.

The company had to pay a penalty for delivering the mail late.

But when the trained neared…