The Crash at Crush: A Deliberate Trainwreck
The " Crash at Crush " was a publicity stunt organized by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad , otherwise known as the "Katy" Line, in 1896. The event was held in Texas area dubbed Crush, created specifically for the event. Ultimately, The Crash at Crush was a reckless, but nonetheless effective, marketing strategy to get people to visit Texas in the late 19th century. It involved two locomotives being deliberately crashed into each other at full speed in front of a crowd of thousands of spectators. The event was heavily promoted by the railroad as a spectacle, with tickets sold in advance and trains chartered to bring people to the event. However, the crash turned out to be a disaster, as the force of the impact was much greater than expected and several people were killed or injured in the resulting chaos. The "Crash at Crush" is considered one of the most notorious examples of dangerous and irresponsible corporate publicity stunts in American history. I