According to Mrs. Casey Jones, the original ballad was all right but some terrible things were done later. She spent much of her life refuting the slanders in subsequent versions. http://www.trainweb.org/caseyjones/song.html

I wonder if the same person who wrote the Ballad of Casey Jones wrote the one about the wreck on the C & O and what George Alley's family thought of it if anything. Since his children were quite young at the time it's likely over the years some of them heard it. Although this source lists the train as the "Fast Flying Virginian," and all others name it the "Vestibule," it contains some interesting details.

http://www.wvculture.org/history/timetrl/ttoct.html

Fascinatingly, almost every affecting aspect of the ballad is inaccurate, while all the most touching details of the real story are omitted from the ballad.

--The ballad has George's mother warning him about excessive speed. According to the Wikipedia article, his mother was no longer living at this time.

--The ballad has George racing the train. In real life, the train struck a rock George didn't see until too late as it appeared after rounding a curve. The only way to tell if the train was running at excessive speed would be to know what time it left the previous town and when the accident occurred, then calculate miles per hour and determine if this was too fast for conditions.

--George likely made none of the statements attributed to him. Not only, as Guest Jim pointed out, was he trapped in a burning engine, but far from expressing the ballad's noble and melancholy request to die free on the railroad for love of his engine, George spent his conscious moments asking for his family. This would not seem to indicate an inclination to leave them.

--In real life, George Alley was a hero. When he saw the rock, he had time to bail and save his own life, but it would have meant leaving the train to speed toward the rock, derailing and throwing cars and passengers into the river. Instead, George stayed to slow the train, saved the passengers, and ended up the only fatality--not so much as mentioned in the ballad!

Strangely, it remains a great ballad.