Steam Engines Collide Head On | Last Moments

september 15 1896 two steam engine locomotives are traveling in opposite directions at high speed in texas usa sometime around 5 pm the two trains collide head on resulting in death and injury how could two trains collide like this well it was planned established in 1865 the missouri kansas texas railroad or mkt also known as the kt operated an extensive network of railways in the states it was named for as the railroad expanded the kd was left with a surplus of decommissioned 35 short ton baldwin engines as they were replacing them with newer locomotives seeing the old engines go to waste katy passenger agent william crush concocted a plan to generate publicity for the katy railroad by making use of these engines in an unusual fashion inspired by a recent staged crashing by the columbus and hawking valley railroad crush proposed that the kt could similarly crash two old engines into one another in a spectacular event intended to draw new customers to the railroad crush's superiors accepted this proposal and put him in charge of the project under the condition that the event could guarantee the safety of its spectators of particular concern were the steam engines boilers if they were to rupture in the crash there would be a catastrophic explosion engineers evaluated the risk involved and concluded that the staged crashing would be safe assuring crush that the boilers could withstand large impacts and were designed to do so and so a site in texas was chosen for the stage crashing and named crush after george crush here four miles of track was built alongside the katy railroad so the crashing could be performed separate from the main track crush became a makeshift town as water wells were drilled telegraph offices were installed and grandstands were erected a circus tent housed a restaurant and various stands sold various goods as well as offering carnival games and sideshows the key decided that this event would be free to attend hoping to make their money back from the increased attention to the railroads as well as various sponsorships that would be advertising at the event this was not all though they set up temporary routes to the site for a reduced admission meaning spectators could take special excursion trains from any location in texas to the event and back two 35 short ton baldwin engines were dusted off for the event and each given six box cars to pull the box cars were adorned with sponsors advertising in the lead up to the crash engineer crews ran the trains up and down the track determining the point of impact and the speed at which they would collide the engines then set out on a tour along the katy promoting the so-called crash at crush this promotional campaign proved to be hugely successful and on the date of the event the 15th of september 1896 an estimated 40 000 people attended they were to be kept 200 yards away from the crash site while members of the press were allowed within 100 yards at around 5 pm it was finally time for the main event the two trains were rolled to their final destination point to allow for photos then they were each brought to the ends of the track the crews on board opened and set the throttles allowing the trains to begin accelerating before jumping off the two trains were now on an unavoidable collision course the trains rumbled down the tracks at an estimated speed of 50 miles per hour before finally crashing together the air was filled with the clattering of iron and splintering of wood and then both trains boilers exploded simultaneously the resulting escape of pressure tearing the locomotives to pieces and sending them flying into the crowd the crowd entered a panic as the debris rained on them two people were killed outright after being struck by pieces of the trains and more were injured a photographer at the event lost an eye to a flying bolt immediately after taking this photo but the disaster was over in a moment the crowd turned back to the wreckage to make off with lumps of iron steel and wood from the trains souvenirs of the day reportedly this caused more injury as people burnt their hands on the piping hot debris in response to the disaster the katy immediately fired george crush for his involvement in the incident however the crash did garner attention for the railroads and surprisingly did not generate much negative publicity despite the tragedy the promotion was a success george crush was rehired and worked for the kt until his retirement the katie settled lawsuits with victims family members with paths and lifetime rail passes which was a small price to pay for the worldwide attention they had received many railroads staged similar crashes for years to come hoping to achieve the same success as the crash at crush the story of the crash of crush is emblematic of a different time from the conception of the bizarre idea to the low cost of human life such an incident would have a very different outcome today if it were allowed to happen at all which seems highly unlikely similarly there are many dangerous events we allow to occur today that will maybe be perceived through a different lens in the future so whether it be by crashing trains racing cars or walking a high wire we still have no shortage of interesting ways to spend your last moments [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Qxir

Views: 891,694

Keywords: crash at crush, trains, train crash, collision, explained, crashes, tracks, track, irish

Id: BG_Jae2Me64

Length: 6min 47sec (407 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 04 2022