Promotion To Engineer
Jones went to work for the Mobile & Ohio RR and performed well and was promoted to brakeman on the Columbus, Kentucky, to Jackson, Tennessee, route, and then to fireman on the Jackson, Tennessee, to Mobile, Alabama, route.
In the summer of 1887 a yellow fever epidemic struck many train crews on the neighboring Illinois Central Railroad, providing an unexpected opportunity for faster promotion of firemen on that line. On March 1, 1888, Jones switched to the I.C., firing a freight locomotive between Jackson, Tennessee, and Water Valley, Mississippi.
He was finally promoted to engineer, his lifelong goal, on February 23, 1891. Jones went on to reach the pinnacle of the railroad profession as a crack locomotive engineer for the I.C.
Railroading was a talent, and Jones was recognized by his peers as one of the best in the business. He was known for his insistence that he "get her there on the advertised" (time) and that he never "fall down": arrive at his destination behind schedule. He was so punctual, it was said that people set their watches by him.
His work in Jackson primarily involved freight service between Jackson and Water Valley, Mississippi. Both locations were busy and important stops for the Illinois Central Railroad, and he developed close ties with them between 1890 and 1900.
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“I am asked if I would not be gratified if my friends would procure me promotion to a brigadier-generalship. My feeling is that I would rather be one of the good colonels than one of the poor generals. The colonel of a regiment has one of the most agreeable positions in the service, and one of the most useful. “A good colonel makes a good regiment,” is an axiom.”
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