train brakeman in snowstorm

The Dying Mine Brakeman

Posted by

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

B&W mine brakeman photo

Before the widespread use of air brakes, brakemen had the dangerous jobs of ensuring that the brakes on each side of the train’s cars were stopped.

Middle brakemen (as there were on some trains) rode out in the open to manually stop the trains. Brakemen carried a brake “club” which gave them leverage in applying the brakes that were located on top of the freight cars.

Thus, brakeman had to run on top of the cars – and leap from car to car to do his job. Bad weather and slippery tops of freight cars, a stuck brake that would not free up, all could cause a brakeman to lose his balance and fall to his death.

Another responsibility the brakeman had was to stand between two cars and couple or uncouple them with a latch and pin system. Here, he risked being crushed or having arms and fingers maimed. The danger of the brakeman’s job generated poems and songs such as the ‘The Dying Mine Brakeman,’ that mourned the loss of these young men.


Listen now while I tell you
Of a story you do not know;
Of a true and trembling brakeman,
And to heaven he did go.

Do you see that train-a-coming,
Oh, it’s (?through) old Ninety-nine;
Oh, she’s puffing and a-blowing,
For you know she is behind.

See that true and trembling brakeman,
As he signals to the cab;
There is but one chance for him,
And that is to grab.

See that true and trembling brakeman,
As the cars go rushing by;
If he miss that yellow freight car,
He is almost sure to die.

See that true and trembling brakeman,
As he falls beneath the train.
He had not one moment’s warning,
Before he fell beneath the train.

See the brave young engineerman,
At the age of twenty-one;
Stepping down from upon his engine,
Crying, “Now what have I done!”

“Is it true I killed a brakeman,
Is it true that he is dying?
Lord, you know I tried to save him,
But I could not stop in time.”

See the car wheels rolling o’er him,
O’er his mangled body ‘n’ head;
See his sister bending o’er him,
Crying, “Brother, are you dead?”

Sighing, “Sister, yes, I’m dying,
Going to a better shore;
Oh, my body’s on a pathway,
I can never see no more.

“Sister, when you see my brother,
These few words to him I send;
Tell him never to venture braking,
If he does, his life will end.”

These few words were sadly spoken,
Folding his arms across his breast;
And his heart now ceased beating,
And his eyes were closed in death.

Folk ballad credited to Orville Jenks, Jackson County, Ohio. Reportedly written by Jenks in the three months following the accident in 1915. Jenks was one of those involved in taking the brakeman’s body from the wreckage.

Cliff Carlisle-True And Trembling Brakeman

The sorrow that caused poems and songs like this also was the catalyst for an increase in innovations to promote railroad safety, and for railroad benefits for the survivors of the men who gave their lives to connect our country.


More articles on train accidents:

“Their bodies were covered with the wreckage of logs’(Opens in a new browser tab)

Dey didn’ pay me nothin’ fer gittin’ my legs cut off(Opens in a new browser tab)</

It throwed the lead mule way up on the hillside(Opens in a new browser tab)

She haunted that damn train all night!(Opens in a new browser tab)

One comment

Leave a Reply