Fast Mail (Southern Railway train)

One such trip made by the train, on September 27, 1903, derailed at Stillhouse Trestle in Danville, Virginia,[1][2][3] and was later known as the "Wreck of the Old 97",[4][5] for which the service was most well known.

[9][10] A decade later, the Post Office Department hailed the importance of fast mail service saying in an 1884 report to congress: "The establishment of this fast mail system is a vast improvement over the old service on slow passenger trains that were subject to frequent delays and failures to connect.

[18][19] Another Southern Railway southbound Fast Mail train, number 35 which was scheduled to depart Washington at 11:15 am, had already been providing connecting passenger service from Philadelphia beginning in 1901.

[20] A 1901 Senate report recommended that a portion of the Post Office Department's appropriations should be used as "'special facility' pay" to fund a dedicated fast mail service on the Southern Railway.

[24] The Pennsylvania Railroad operated the train between New York City and Washington, where it was handed off to Southern Railway.

[7] Southern Pacific Railroad also collaborated with a connection in New Orleans on its own fast mail trains westward into Texas.

The train had just gotten up to 40 mph (64 km/h) when the locomotive ran over a small piece of iron just 3⁄4 inch (19 mm) long that was left on the track and derailed.

It was repaired in the Southern Railway Spencer Shops and placed back into regular service for many years afterwards.

[6] On February 16, 1911, a group of men stopped and robbed the northbound Fast Mail in the early morning near Gainesville, Georgia.

[37] The thieves set off explosives in the express car to gain access to safes that were carried on it, and were reported as stealing packages worth $14,000 (equivalent to $457,800 in 2023).