Editor’s Note: Western North Carolina is rich with untold stories—many resting quietly in local cemeteries. In this Tombstone Tales series, we explore the lives of people from our region’s past whose legacies, whether widely known or nearly forgotten, helped shape the place we call home.
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A monument in Riverside Cemetery marks the final resting place of a young railroad engineer who gave his life trying to save his crew during one of the most dramatic train wrecks in North Carolina history.
On November 22, 1903, a freight train departing from Asheville was making its way over the steep western grade of Balsam Mountain, home to the highest railroad station east of the Rockies. The descent proved deadly.
The train crew included 29-year-old engineer D. Guy Moore and 19-year-old fireman Robert Fortune. Just west of Balsam Station, Fortune noticed something was wrong. The engine was picking up speed. He turned to Moore and asked if the train was running away.
“At first, he said no,” Fortune later told investigators. “But then everything changed so quickly.”
Moments later, the engine disconnected from the rest of the train. The brakeman had been thrown, the cars were slipping, and the situation had turned catastrophic. Moore moved fast, working the throttle to slow the engine. His actions bought the remaining crew precious seconds.
“I have done all that mortal can do,” Moore shouted to Fortune. “Jump and save your life!”
Fortune, along with conductor J.M. Boone and flagman Guy Killian, leapt from the engine and survived, though all were injured. Behind them, the train was barreling forward, its heavy timber load breaking loose. One timber smashed into the engine cab, killing Moore instantly. Brakeman Charles Porter also lost his life in the crash.
Investigators would later determine that frost on the rails had caused the train’s wheels to slip, leading to the deadly runaway.
In the days that followed, Moore’s fellow crew members hailed him as a hero.
“There’s no doubt we’d be buried beside him if he hadn’t acted when he did,” Fortune said.
Moore’s funeral drew a crowd of mourners from across Asheville and the surrounding mountain communities. At Riverside Cemetery, his family erected a striking monument etched with a locomotive and lines of verse that still echo with the weight of that tragic day:
With his hand upon the throttle,
And the death dew on his face,
Swaying down the darkened mountain,
God in Heaven! What a race!
Well they knew beside the headlight
Death was coming swiftly on,
Life and hope and youth’s ambition,
Instantly forever gone.
Today, more than a century later, the grave stands not just as a memorial to one man, but as a reminder of sacrifice and the dangerous work that helped shape the railroads of western North Carolina.
Visit Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina
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Tombstone Tales: The gentlewoman and philosopher of Hendersonville
Henrietta “Hennie” Whitted Price (1864–1923) was a Hendersonville native, poet, and composer whose life took her from the Blue Ridge to Chicago before returning to rest in Oakdale Cemetery.
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Tombstone Tales: Before the Science Guy, there was Bill Nye the Humorist
Before there was “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” another Bill Nye made America laugh. Edgar Wilson Nye, a 19th-century humorist and journalist, found his final resting place in Fletcher. His memorial and grave at Calvary Episcopal Churchyard still draw visitors curious about the man once known as “Bill Nye the Humorist.”
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Tombstone Tales: The 1911 Asheville Murder Story Behind a Riverside Cemetery Grave
A simple grave in Riverside Cemetery marks the tragic story of Allen “Buck” Trivette. In 1911, the young Asheville man was shot by his uncle, Pitt Ballew, during a family quarrel that led to trial in Buncombe County.
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Tombstone Tales: The wreck on Saluda Mountain that changed rail safety
In 1890, engineer Lewis Tunstall was killed when his train careened down the Saluda Grade at 75 miles an hour. The wreck led to the creation of safety switches that saved countless lives. Today, Tunstall is remembered not only for his sacrifice but also by a striking monument in Hendersonville’s Oakdale Cemetery.
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Tombstone Tales: Dr. George W. Fletcher, the mountain doctor who helped build a town
Dr. George Washington Fletcher helped shape the community that now bears his name and is buried at Calvary Episcopal Church Cemetery in Fletcher, North Carolina