Casey Jones's Fireman: The Story of Sim Webb

by Nancy Farmer, James Bernardin (Illustrator)

Even though the railroad fireman senses danger ahead, he follows his engineer's command to increase the train's power so that the mysterious whistle blows.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Nancy was born in 1941 in Phoenix and grew up in a hotel on the Arizona-Mexico border where she worked the switchboard at the age of nine. She also found time to hang out in the old state prison and the hobo jungle along the banks of the Colorado River. She attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, earning her BA in 1963. Instead of taking a regular job, she joined the Peace Corps and was sent to India (1963-1965). When she returned, she moved into a commune in Berkeley, sold newspapers on the street for a while, then got a job in the Entomology department at UC Berkeley and also took courses in Chemistry there. Restless, again, she decided to visit Africa. She and a friend tried to hitchhike by boat but the ship they'd selected turned out to be stolen and was boarded by the Coast Guard just outside the Golden Gate Bridge. Nancy eventually got to Africa on a legal ship. She spent more than a year on Lake Cabora Bassa in Mozambique, monitoring water weeds. Next she was hired to help control tsetse fly in the dense bush on the banks of the Zambezi in Zimbabwe. Part of the time she spent in the capital, Harare, and was introduced to her soon-to-be husband by his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. He proposed a week later. Harold and Nancy now live in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona on a major drug route for the Sinaloa Cartel. This is the setting for The Lord of Opium. They have a son, Daniel, who is in the U.S. navy.
Nancy's honors include the National Book Award for The House of the Scorpion and Newbery Honors for The Ear, the Eye and The Arm, A Girl Named Disaster and The House of the Scorpion. She is the author of nine novels, three picture books and a number of short stories. Her books have been translated into 26 languages.

Reviews

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Casey Jones since I was a child and learned about this tall tale hero while I most definitely have to say that when I saw this book I was hoping to learn about another bigger than life legend related to the former. Instead this is a horrid piece of woke work that should be condemned for its hatefulness while besmirching more than one name from the past. And what makes it worse for me is the one other work of Nancy Farmer that I have read is something I have really really enjoyed in the past.

Casey Jones's Fireman starts off with introducing the reader to the man who would be the famous fireman witness of the accident that took Casey Jones' life. At the same time the reader is also introduced to the idea that each engineer had their own whistle whose tune would announce who was running the tracks that day or night.

From there the reader is quickly introduced to the boy who wanted to be an engineer but couldn't be since of his race but even so since it would get him close to the trains he loved he chose to be a fireman. The story then proceeds to tell him following Casey Jones one night as the horrid engineer follows him to a tavern in which Sim Webb didn't want to to go. And there the pair meet up with a ne'er-to-do redhead that uncannily resembles Ol' Smokey Nick complete with his ginger locks picked up in the form of horns. The latter then tries his hardest to convince Casey Jones' he needs a new golden horn made from Gabriel's horn, which will bring the Apocalypse once all seven whistles are blown.

And thus sets the stage for the rest of the story. Horrible racist Casey Jones won't listen to his wise and all-knowing fireman who is just trying to save his soul from temptation as well as the world from its end. Instead caught up in the Devil's snare he is flogged into the course that will make him famous while Sim Webb will vanish into obscurity, which I guess is just as good since then he can protect that whistle until the time is right for Gabriel to play it.

Even though the author just had us basically read about how Casey Jones sold his soul to the Devil she chose that he was still good enough to somehow be dancing up in heaven with the angels at the end of time. Which way do you want to portray this engineer Ms. Farmer since he can't be dancing with angels if his horrible soul was sold to the Devil?

I haven't looked into it further whether there is an unbiased book about Sim Webb but if there is I would really suggest for readers to read that instead of this drivel. Really we have become a horrible nation when not only do we attempt to erase and re-write history but also to change the folk heroes we look up to instead of roundly enriching the story with the information thus bringing to light two folk heroes instead of one.

Testimony from Sim Webb: https://youtu.be/cukvTfTYBA4

[Miss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot Summary

Sims Webb was a young man who lived next to a railroad track. Everyday he would hear the trains go by. The sound to him was like a lullaby. He later began shoveling coal on board a train, a job he worked with Casey. One day as Casey was driving by, he stopped at a saloon. A man, whom Sims was very suspicious of, offered to give Casey a trumpet, whom he claimed belong to the angel Gabriel, to put on his train. Sims had a bad feeling about this man. Casey took the trumpet and put it on board his train. He blew all five of the trumpets. When it came time for the seven trumpet to be blown, there was not sufficient steam so Casey asked Sims to add more coal. Sims did not want to because he knew the danger. Casey insist he do it. So Sims did as he was told. When he did, the train began going too fast, while another train was on the track. Casey tried to slow the train down. He did. But Sims had to jump from the train, but it still crashed. Casey found in the rubble. No one else on the train was hurt. Sims retire and went back to being a brick layer.

Personal Reaction

I enjoyed the short story. I think Sims character had a lot of integrity. His skill to discern that the seventh trumpet was not a great idea displays him as a character whom Casey should have listened to.

Critical Insight

I was greatly surprised that this book was written based on a true story. I thought, "wow, what a great adventure." But as I read the end and read the side note, I realized that all of this was true. I think it made the book even more interesting now that know that piece of information.

Suggested Age

+8 I think this age group would enjoy the adventure of the trains and hearing how young Sims sat near the train tracks to listen to the trains as they went by.

[Sharon Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sim Webb was a young black boy who loved trains. He knew his whole life that he was meant to do something special and bricklaying was not it. He worked hard on the railroad and became a firefighter, which was an accomplishment because this position was second to the train conductor and normally for whites. The book’s main idea was about the train wreck on the Cannonball Express, which was conducted by Casey Jones. Sim survived the wreck because Casey told him to jump. Casey was the only person who was killed in the wreck. The story was told through Sim’s eyes.

Genre: Traditional Literature Fiction
Suggested Ages: 4 - 8 years

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biography of Sim Webb with cool extra info at the end for the moms and dads to read.