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#1
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02-16-2010, 11:45 PM
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 Super ********* Poster Rank:90 Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 17,370 17,370Posts 13,735Thanked 99Quoted 5Mentioned 0Contrib. |
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1913 Staged Locomotive Collision at California State Fair in Sacramento
Two retired steam locomotives were deliberately crashed head-on at the California State Fair in Sacramento in 1913 as a paid public spectacle. Billed as "California State Fair Specials," the engines were placed on a specially laid track in the fairground infield. Their crews opened the throttles and jumped clear before the locomotives struck each other. The silent footage shows a diamond-stack locomotive under steam, an engine moving through heavy smoke and "STATE FAIR SPECIAL" lettering on a tender. A man is also seen running away from one of the engines before the impact. The final views show the crushed fronts of both locomotives. The fair staged similar collisions in subsequent years, with the final event held in 1917. |
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#2
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11-16-2014, 10:36 PM
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| ♚ Legacy Gold Member ♚ Poster Rank:92 Male Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 17,197 17,197Posts 44,976Thanked 4,710Quoted 8Mentioned 0Contrib. |
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Re: 1913 Staged Locomotive Collision at California State Fair in Sacramento
There were about 25,000 locomotives of the 4-4-0 type built, and this is how a lot of them wound up. This was a popular event at county and state fairs. Eventually people started getting closer and closer to the wrecks, and when people started dieing from large chunks of metal, these events stopped. (These aren't 4-4-0 locomotives, but the 4-4-0's were popular as crash locos because they were small and easy to move.) (These were referred to as "Cornfield Meets")
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