 Texas Historical Commission sign commemorating the event Crush, Texas was a temporary "city" established as a one-day publicity stunt in 1896. The media itself often stages stunts for movies and television shows. ...
In 1896 William G. Crush, general passenger agent of the Katy Railroad concieved the idea to fabricate a train wreck as a spectacle. No admission was charged, and train fares to the crash site were at the reduced rate of $5 from any location in Texas. As a result between 30,000 and 50,000 people showed up on Sept. 15, 1896 making the new town of Crush Texas the second largest city in the state. Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ...
The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (known as the MKT, or Katy) began as the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch (unrelated to the Union Pacific Railroad) in 1865. ...
Train wreck at Gare Montparnasse, Paris, France, 1895 A train wreck occurs when a train crashes. ...
In general spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. ...
Preparations
Two wells were drilled at the site, 3 miles south of the town of West, Texas in McLennan County. Circus tents from Ringling Brothers were erected as well as a grandstand. The train engines were painted bright green (engine #999) and bright red (engine #1001). A special track was built along side the Katy track so that there was no chance a runaway train could get onto the main line. The trains toured the state for months advertising the event. West is a city in McLennan County, Texas, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,692. ...
Location in the state of Texas Formed Seat Waco Area - Total - Water 2,746 km² (1,060 mi²) 48 km² (18 mi²) 1. ...
The Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884. ...
The Crush At 5:00 pm the two trains rolled back a mile from the intended point of impact. The engineers and crew opened the steam to a prearranged setting, rode for exactly 4 turns of the drive wheels, and jumped from the trains. The trains each reached a speed of about 45 mph by the time they met very near the anticpated spot.
The impact caused both engine boilers to explode. Debris, some as large as half a drive-wheel was blown hundreds of feet into the air. Some of this came down among the spectators killing two and injuring several more. A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated under pressure. ...
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotives pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). ...
Aftermath Mr. Crush was immediately fired from the Katy railroad. However, in light of a lack of negative publicity, he was rehired the next day.
Ragtime composer Scott Joplin wrote a song Great Crush Collision to commemorate the event. Scott Joplin (born between June 1867 and January 1868[1] – died April 1, 1917) was a black musician and composer of ragtime music. ...
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