Train Crash at Crush, Texas: America's Deadliest Publicity Stunt

by Mike Cox

On September 15, 1896, Crush boasted the highest population in Texas. Built near Waco, the town provided the staging ground for a publicity stunt ramming two trains together at top speed. Showrunner and Katy Railroad official William Crush thought he had planned for every contingency. But when elephant-sized chunks of steam locomotive began raining down into the packed stands, the extravaganza quickly unraveled into one of the Lone Star State's most confounding tragedies. The soon-to-be famous Scott Joplin commemorated the debacle in "The Great Crush Collision March,'? and entrepreneurs like "Head-On Joe'? Connolly of Iowa continued the tradition of the staged locomotive duel for decades. But the stupefying incident still slipped into the back pages of Texas lore. In the first-ever book on the subject, writer-historian Mike Cox finally tells the full story of the Crash at Crush.

224 pages, Paperback

Published August 26, 2019

About the author

I am the author of 15 nonfiction books, the most recent being "Time of the Rangers" (New York: Forge Books, 2009), the second of my two-volume history of the Texas Rangers. Also just out is "Historic Photos of Texas Oil," (Nashville: Turner Publishing), a coffeetable book containing some 200 vintage photos from the oil patch. My other books include a study of Texas disasters, three other books on the Texas Rangers, one true crime story, a biography, a memoir and three local histories, as well as numerous magazine articles, essays and introductions for other books. I have been an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters since 1993.

My byline regularly appears in a number of national and statewide magazines and I have been an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly 20 years, most of that time with the Austin American-Statesman.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this day and age it is hard to believe that an event such as this—-a train wreck——could be a much anticipated and wonderful publicity. And yet, that is what the train crash at Crush, Texas was. AND other like this happened all over the US, up until the 1930’s! The events surrounding the crash at Crush are thoroughly explored and documented by the author. Photographs, cartoons, ads, and other memorabilia add to the narrative.

What is unexplained or investigated, is “why” we are so fascinated by events such a this. We still have demolition derbies. The implosions of buildings draw huge crowds. Why is this?