The Crash at Crush - Abbott, TX
N 31° 55.557 W 097° 06.188
14R E 679326 N 3533797
The Hill County Southbound Safety Rest Area has an interpretive sign that relates "The Crash at Crush" and how a planned head-on collision of two locomotives at high speed wasn't a good idea. Three people were killed, many were injured.
Waymark Code: WM14X0H
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/04/2021
Views: 0
Inset photos show William George Crush and a pre-disaster photo of the two locomotives. A Katy stock certificate is at the bottom of the sign, which reads:
In 1896, an agent for the "Katy" Railroad, William George Crush, had an idea as wacko as those that led Don Quixote to attack windmills. His idea was a publicity stunt; he would get two 35-ton locomotives, put them on a track facing each other, several miles apart, have them get up a head of steam, and then collide them head-on at a combined speed of 120 miles per hour...and see what would happen. Of course, he publicized the event throughout Texas. He had grandstands built, borrowed a tent from the Ringling Brothers circus, created a midway with games and shows. This place later became known as Crush. On the day of the event, a carnival atmosphere prevailed. Special trains arrived bringing as many as 40,000 spectators. Three hundred policemen were hired to keep order. At a given signal, the engines, each pulling six cars, got up a head of steam, and as the crews jumped, the trains raced toward each other. When they collided, one or both boilers exploded hurling scrap metal into the crowd. Two men and a woman were killed, many seriously injured. So many witnessed the event that for one day Crush was the second largest city in Texas. By midnight, it was a virtual ghost town. The agent who dreamed up the spectacle was fired. But he was hired back the next day. After all, it was a highly imaginative way to get rid of two obsolete engines. The agent worked for the railroad for the rest of his life.
Disaster Date: 09/15/1896
Date of dedication: 09/01/2013
Memorial Sponsors: Hill County
Parking Coordinates: N 31° 55.571 W 097° 06.182
Disaster Type: Technological
Relevant Website: [Web Link]
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