Engine No. 34 Number Plate

Back in the early days of the Minnesota State fair, there would be many CRAZY events at the Grandstand. These would range from staged battles between actors portraying Union and Confederate Soldiers, two professional stunt men dressing up in an elephant costume and walking across a tightrope, cars and airplanes racing each other, people getting shot out of cannons, horse races, cars jumping over live elephants, cars jumping off a ramp and crashing into a brick wall, and staged train wrecks. Only 4 staged train wrecks occurred at the fair. The staged train crashes would take place on what was known (Back then) as Thrill days. How the crash would work is that two real life steam engines would charge at each other and crash. However, the performance was a huge letdown for the audience as both engines raced toward each other at 15 mph, dashing the audience's hopes for a thunderous collision. One of the steam engines that took part in the 1933 train wreck was Engine No. 34. The 1933 train wreck was a bit different than the previous collisions. The tracks were slightly inclined to make the trains go faster, and explosive charges were placed on the tracks to make the collision louder. But the explosives malfunctioned, and detonated before the two engines collided. All that remains of Engine No. 34 is one of it's number plates which is on display at the MN State Fair History Center