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Description
Fairgoers inspect the wreckage of two locomotives. From at least 1913 to 1917, the fair staged spectacular locomotive collisions. The smashup was always a crowd pleaser. The old retired steam engines, dubbed "California State Fair Specials," were sent hurtling down a three thousand foot infield track. The sound of two battling locomotives crashing head-on at nearly 25 m.p.h., was described by the Sacramento Bee as a "shattering, tearing noise," followed by several minutes of hissing steam. Afterward, about the only working parts were their bells. Due to lack of locomotives and a metal scarcity brought on by World War I, the spectacle came to an end after a crashing finale on September 14, 1917.
Type
image
Identifier
1993C214-4B57-43E0-986E-427800537695 2008/007/017
Subject
California State Agricultural Society California State Fair Sacramento, CA Stockton Boulevard
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