By Betsy Thorpe

On July 9th 2007 at 8:15 am (7:15 am Central Standard Time) I walked near the railroad tracks at Dutchman's Curve with NC&St.L Preservation Society Vice President, Terry Coats. At that exact moment in 1918 two passenger trains on the historic Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway collided. As we viewed the empty tracks, my minds eye visualized the drama that unfolded that morning long ago. The knowledge we would soon meet descendants and relatives of victims, survivors, and rescue workers caused me to reflect on the ties that bind a community to its past and how the events of the past create the future.

As family members gathered with us on the "Old White Bridge," I wondered what Willis Farris Sr. would say to the twenty grandchildren and great grandchildren assembled in his memory. Would Dan Timmons be surprised his niece and great niece were present to honor him and his place in their family? What tales would Engineers William Lloyd and David Kennedy share recounting their railway's history? Were ghosts of the unfortunates listening as we recaptured the past?

If uneasy ghosts hover near Dutchman's Curve, taking cover as the tracks rumble and trains roar do they realize their place in history? Do they ponder fate wondering with the passing decades how they might have affected change had more days and deeds been allotted them? Do they lie in wait near the bridge positioned to repel disaster? Do their spirits linger hoping to be remembered or are they anxiously awaiting something we can't understand? If ghosts do abide near Dutchman's Curve perhaps they sensed our presence that day and were soothed by our remembrance of their lives, their deaths and their story as we gathered to commemorate the eighty ninth anniversary of the calamity that consumed their souls on the darkest and most sorrowful day in the saga of American railroads. May they rest in peace.