4 ms·

> ...stupid spectacle...The difference from 1896 is we have enough regulations to prevent such a thing. I dunno exploding buildings by carefully planning an in

by kirykl 9y ago

> ...stupid spectacle...The difference from 1896 is we have enough regulations to prevent such a thing. I dunno exploding buildings by carefully planning an inward safe collapse is both regulated and celebrated as entertainment

danso 9y ago
Sure, but I don’t think you give enough credit to the senseless spectacle that Crush, Texas seems to have been. Blowing up a building is entertaining but it is also (usually) useful and necessary. A more accurate analogy would be building a respectable, expensive structure and then blowing it up for the hell of it. But that doesn’t capture the fundamental chaos of the Crush, TX. Even if the standard of physics education was much lower back then than it is today, I would have to think that people knew the result of slamming trains together would have an amount of pure chaos and risk. And of course they went out en masse to see it!
- kirykl 9y ago
  Its definitely a senseless tragedy for those injured and killed, as it would be today. I agree there's risk involved when there's a an audience for such an event. But necessity or foolishness of an explosion doesn't really negate the ability to perform it both safely and for entertainment. But the modern equivalent of say crashing two high speed trains in front of an audience? would probably not occur due to insurance reasons
  - coding123 9y ago
    What I find interesting is they didnt really know if 2 or 3 people died, so I do question if the people of that time thought it was a tragedy or just didn't care about the aftermath as much as we'd think.
- alanbernstein 9y ago
  The aggie bonfire was only put to an end relatively recently, and we still have burning man.
- lucas_membrane 9y ago
  >> A more accurate analogy would be building a respectable, expensive structure and then blowing it up for the hell of it. Locomotives do reach end of life. Where do you get the idea that they were not old clunkers donated by the same railroad interests that profited by running excursion trains to the event from Dallas, Ft. Worth and Waco?
  - danso 9y ago
    One of the footnoted articles says that the engines were due for retirement (there were also boxcars involved) though the engines were painted to look brand new and were in good enough condition to be used in a nationwide tour to advertise the event: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/train-company-crashed-two-trains-you-will-believe-what-happened-next-180964237/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/train-company-crashed... > Whatever Crush’s motivations were, he managed to sway the Katy managers. For weeks leading up to the event, Crush and a fleet of workers scurried around the state in preparation. Crush found two 35-ton steam engines that were being retired for new 60-ton engines and commissioned them for the spectacle, after consulting with company engineers about the safety of the undertaking (only one suggested the collision might cause an explosion, and he was overruled). Engine No. 1001 was painted red with green trim, while its opponent, No. 999, was painted green with red trim In the building demolitions I've seen, it has always been completely obvious that the building has been condemned and not in any kind of usable condition, because it doesn't need to be "usable" in order to be blown up. A train that is set to run into another train at full speed doesn't have to be brand new, but it does have to be able to actually execute the actual act.
    - Retric 9y ago
      End of life is still a thing as maintenance cost grow over time. Demolition derby cars for example need to be able to run, but that does not stop them from being nearly worthless otherwise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_derby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_derby
stevenwoo 9y ago
In US and other developed countries it is. Other countries it is entertainment but not so safe. A few examples within the last five years or so around the world. https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/68gzpe/surprise_building_demolition_in_china_gif/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/68gzpe/surprise_buildi... https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/29g7n9/flying_debris_from_a_building_demolition_xpost/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/29g7n9/flying_debris_f... https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/4m7qzp/standing_too_close_to_a_building_demolition/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/4m7qzp/standing_too_cl...

by kirykl 9y ago

danso 9y ago

Sure, but I don’t think you give enough credit to the senseless spectacle that Crush, Texas seems to have been. Blowing up a building is entertaining but it is also (usually) useful and necessary. A more accurate analogy would be building a respectable, expensive structure and then blowing it up for the hell of it. But that doesn’t capture the fundamental chaos of the Crush, TX. Even if the standard of physics education was much lower back then than it is today, I would have to think that people knew the result of slamming trains together would have an amount of pure chaos and risk. And of course they went out en masse to see it!

kirykl 9y ago
Its definitely a senseless tragedy for those injured and killed, as it would be today. I agree there's risk involved when there's a an audience for such an event. But necessity or foolishness of an explosion doesn't really negate the ability to perform it both safely and for entertainment. But the modern equivalent of say crashing two high speed trains in front of an audience? would probably not occur due to insurance reasons
- coding123 9y ago
  What I find interesting is they didnt really know if 2 or 3 people died, so I do question if the people of that time thought it was a tragedy or just didn't care about the aftermath as much as we'd think.
alanbernstein 9y ago
The aggie bonfire was only put to an end relatively recently, and we still have burning man.
lucas_membrane 9y ago
>> A more accurate analogy would be building a respectable, expensive structure and then blowing it up for the hell of it. Locomotives do reach end of life. Where do you get the idea that they were not old clunkers donated by the same railroad interests that profited by running excursion trains to the event from Dallas, Ft. Worth and Waco?
- danso 9y ago
  One of the footnoted articles says that the engines were due for retirement (there were also boxcars involved) though the engines were painted to look brand new and were in good enough condition to be used in a nationwide tour to advertise the event: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/train-company-crashed-two-trains-you-will-believe-what-happened-next-180964237/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/train-company-crashed... > Whatever Crush’s motivations were, he managed to sway the Katy managers. For weeks leading up to the event, Crush and a fleet of workers scurried around the state in preparation. Crush found two 35-ton steam engines that were being retired for new 60-ton engines and commissioned them for the spectacle, after consulting with company engineers about the safety of the undertaking (only one suggested the collision might cause an explosion, and he was overruled). Engine No. 1001 was painted red with green trim, while its opponent, No. 999, was painted green with red trim In the building demolitions I've seen, it has always been completely obvious that the building has been condemned and not in any kind of usable condition, because it doesn't need to be "usable" in order to be blown up. A train that is set to run into another train at full speed doesn't have to be brand new, but it does have to be able to actually execute the actual act.
  - Retric 9y ago
    End of life is still a thing as maintenance cost grow over time. Demolition derby cars for example need to be able to run, but that does not stop them from being nearly worthless otherwise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_derby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_derby

stevenwoo 9y ago

In US and other developed countries it is. Other countries it is entertainment but not so safe. A few examples within the last five years or so around the world. https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/68gzpe/surprise_building_demolition_in_china_gif/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/68gzpe/surprise_buildi... https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/29g7n9/flying_debris_from_a_building_demolition_xpost/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/29g7n9/flying_debris_f... https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/4m7qzp/standing_too_close_to_a_building_demolition/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/4m7qzp/standing_too_cl...