In 1896, roughly 40,000 people gathered in a remote Texas town to witness two trains deliberately collide head-on in an event known as the “Crash at Crush.” The impact caused both boilers to explode, launching debris into the crowd, killing at least two spectators and seriously injuring several others. The Crash at Crush was organized on September 15, 1896, by William George Crush, a passenger agent for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Designed as a publicity stunt, the event featured two retired locomotives deliberately colliding near Waco, Texas, before an enormous crowd. Organizers built a temporary town with food stands, entertainment, and special trains transporting spectators. Although officials expected a controlled spectacle, both locomotive boilers exploded upon impact, sending deadly fragments flying. Despite the tragedy, the stunt became one of Texas’s most infamous publicity events.