Victorian Demolition Derby

I think it is safe to say that in comparison to the modern world, the choices for entertainment in Victorian times were rather limited. No radio, no television, and only in the latter part were things like the first audio devices first offered thanks to Thomas Edison. But those were new and expensive and the quality was lackluster. So people had to find entertainment where they could find it. In some more rural areas a good old fashioned hanging seemed to draw a crowd. Indeed in some places it was a whole family affair. Bring out the kids and have a picnic and watch someone swing in the breeze at the end of a rope. Sounds like a bully time. We were a very morbid people. And this extended to a fad that lasted for several decades...train crashes. The rail road had transformed America and the industrialized world in the 19th century. And for some reason nothing sold papers and piqued peoples' interest like when those things crashed. Trains went off the rails, collided, and