A Deadly Publicity Campaign

Crush

Crush- Point of impact

Crush- Boiler explosion

Many companies use publicity campaigns to regain customers, promote a new product or to general attract attention, but not many cases end in death and injury to the general public. In 1886 William Crush a general passenger agent for the Katy Railroad who was considered a conservative and solid citizen had the idea of slamming two 35 ton steam locomotives into each other in front of an audience to attract attention to the railroad he worked for. What a brilliant idea I hear you shout, what could go wrong?

 

Crush decided to build a temporary four mile track 15 miles north of the town of Waco, Texas. In addition a grand stand was constructed for VIP’s, two wells and a circus tent was put up to serve as a dining hall for the large crowds. The actual event was free to watch but because the track was 15 miles from the nearest town almost all the visitors had to use the Katy Railroad which is where the money would be made. The organizers expected 20,000 – 25,000 spectators however on the day of the event, September 15^th 1896 the crowds swelled to between 30,000- 40,000! There were so many spectators that political figures decided to use the event as a platform to give speeches and luckily Crush had hired 200 constables to control the crowds.

 

Before the event there had been discussions about the safety of such an event. It was worried that the boilers which contain boiling water and high-pressure steam could rupture and explode. Crush had consulted with the Katy railroad engineered who had ensured him that the boilers were designed to resist rupture in a high speed crash and would not exploded. With such confidence just after 5pm Crush mounted on a large black horse raised his hat to signal the 35 ton locomotives to begin their charge. The engineers on board each train put the throttles to full and once the locomotives had gained some speed they jumped clear. The engines took only two minutes to close the distance and were traveling at around 60mph. The trains collided almost exactly on the spot which they were expected too, unexpectedly however the boilers of both locomotives exploded firing pieces of metal into the crowd. Ernest Darnell, a teenager was killed when a 10 pound section of brake chain nearly cleaved his head in to, while another chunk of iron hit a local farmer’s daughter which fractured her skull. Other shrapnel wounded many other spectators while steam and hot metal scorched others who hurried towards the wrecks for souvenirs.

 

Despite the deadly outcome the publicity campaign essential worked. Crush was sacked on the evening of the event in anticipation of the back lash, but the reaction was relatively small and so Crush was reinstated the day after. The event was also immortalized in music by Scott Joplin who wrote ‘The Great Crush Collision.’ Strangely the fondness for train crashes did not end but rather continued with crashes arranged at events such as the 1913 California State Fair, fortunately in this instance the boilers did not exploded and spectators were not killed.

 

Information and images taken from The Museum of Unnatural Mystery, ‘The Great Texas Train Crash at Crush’, <http://www.unmuseum.org/crash.htm>

 

Information taken from History Net, ‘Crush’s Locomotive Crash Was a Monster Smash’, < http://www.historynet.com/crushs-locomotive-crash-was-a-monster-smash.htm>

The Stiffs Express

Necropolis train- 1902

Necropolis Station today

Necropolis station

Necropolis logo

When reading about  a train filled with the dead it was hard not to conjure up images of some awful ‘zombies on a train’ low budget film featuring C list celebrities with a story line as dismal as Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill. But in any case the London Necropolis Railway, affectionately termed the ‘Stiffs Express’ shows an interesting capitalisation of death. During the 19^th century London’s population boomed, the population numbered around 958,863 (1801). By 1841 the population had grown to 1,948,417 and increased almost 3 times by 1881 with the capital’s population at 3,815,544. With such a population increase mortality in the capital rocketed and a problem emerged concerning what to do with all the dead. During the Victorian Period cremation was virtually unpractised and so graves were need for all the cadavers. The inner city grave yards were over filling with graves being reused and the previous occupant’s bones spread across the grass which as well as being a gruesome sight, increased the chance of disease spreading.

 

In response to the grave shortage in London Sir Richard Broun and Richard Sprye bought a 1,500 acre plot just outside Woking, about 25 miles outside of London which was soon named the Brookwood Cemetery. To transport both mourners and the dead it was thought that the railway could be used but the bustle of the usual passenger trains were not seen to be dignified enough for a Victorian funeral coupled with the recurring social issue for the middle and upper class of having to be in close proximity to their social inferior. In response the Necropolis railway was created and inaugurated on the 13^th of November 1854, with a dedicated platform at Waterloo Station. The timetable was designed so that during the night coffins would be transported from London to Brookwood Cemetery while the mourners would travel in the day. On both of these services class was still clearly visible. As with normal train services mourners could purchases a First, Second or Third class ticket but more bizarrely the trains which pulled the coffins were also spit into class, meaning the rich deceased did not have to mingle with the cadavers of the poor. The railway operators were also aware of religious differences of those on board which resulted in two stations at Brookwood, one for the Anglican dead while the other was for nonconformists and non-believers.

 

The Railways London terminus moved in 1902 from Waterloo Station to its own dedicated site on Westminster Bridge Road, the station can still be seen today. The Railway never lived up to expectation carrying around 3,000 (6.5% of London’s dead) corpse a year which was far below what was expected. Bizarrely because a golf course was constructed close the Brookwood Cemetery golfers sometimes used the necropolis line as it was cheaper than the mainline service which meant them dressing as mourners for their journey to get changed at the club house.

 

By 1930 the line was only running once or twice a week from London as other cemeteries and motor hearse were becoming more popular and taking business away Brookwood and the Necropolis line. The final blow came during the Second World War when on the 16 April 1941 the Luftwaffe bombed London which caused serve damage to the Westminster Bridge Road station with the locomotive used on the line taking serve damage.  At the end of the war the company decided that it would not be profitable to rebuild the station and continue to operate the line and so the service was dissolved. Although this official funeral train had stopped, regular passenger service continue to carry coffins in the brake van with the practice of carrying coffins by rail only being banned in 1988!

 

Information

 

taken from, Planet Slade, ‘Last train home’, <http://www.planetslade.com/necropolis-railway1.html>

Information and pictures taken from, Dark Roasted Blend, ‘London Necropolis Railway’, <http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2013/06/london-necropolis-railway.html>