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Lot 121

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The Crash at Crush original trainwreck photos

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Title: Six sequential photographs of a locomotive collision at Crush, Texas
Author: **
Description: Six original photographic prints, mounted on card stock with printed caption labels beneath. Each approximately 6¾x8¾, The group mounted together with margins overlapping, the whole measuring approximately 18¼x32¾.On September 15, 1896, in a makeshift city outside of Waco, Texas, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad staged the collision of two locomotives in a remarkable publicity stunt. By some accounts as many as 40,000 people came together to witness the spectacle. Upon colliding the boilers of the locomotives exploded, showering the crowd with hot metal and other debris, killing two and injuring numerous others. Included among the injured was the photographer responsible for this series of images, J.C. Deane, who lost an eye and who was later compensated by the railroad the sum of $10,000 and a lifetime railroad pass. The photographs sequentially show the crowd gathering; the two engines "Shaking Hands" before backing up for the final approach; the engines at the moment of collision; the explosion; the crowd rushing the wreck; and the wreck crawling with on-lookers and souvenir hunters.
Heading: zzb(Deane, J.C., photographer)Place Published: Dallas, Texas
Publisher: Deane
Date Published: 1896