Episode 56: Two Steam Engines, Zero Feet Apart

CW: Train Wreck, Death, Bodily Harm, Eye Trauma

What’s the strangest promotion you could think of? There’s a long list of them— and today we discuss the strangely popular trend that railroad companies engaged in to attract more customers. We point at one event in particular, where catastrophe was served alongside circus peanuts for the enjoyment of thousands. Come one, come all— to Crush, TX for the ultimate rubbernecking experience.

Let’s start with this article with pictures from Buckeye about the initial train demolition from Ohio. The pictures are amazing.

Buckeye

This is just the historical marker site where you can see the marker and some of the locations of significance to the Crash at Crush.

The Marker

M said they took plenty of information from the Texas Almanac, so I’ll start with the link that takes you there.

The Historic Almanac

This article has the bare essentials in it, but most importantly, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, there’s some great pictures and a link to hear those bare details in a two and a half minute audio recording.

Pictures!

And this one is about Scott Joplin’s song that we sampled during the episode. We’ll also drop the whole song right below to end this page.

The Song