1896 Auburn railway lubrication prank. Read More for the video...
On November 7, 1896, the home team Auburn (Tigers) defeated Georgia Tech (Yellow Jackets) by a score of 45-0 in an American football game. Of course, it is not the outcome of the game that is interesting here. What is interesting is the story of how the opposing team arrived in the city by train, which may have been a contributing factor to their defeat.
Development of the incident:
Early on the morning of the game, the visiting team, who had arrived in the city by train, encountered what could be called a joke, an interesting and unpleasant surprise for them. This was because, before the train's early arrival that day, a large number of Auburn students had coated both rails on the track with lubricants such as lard and soap, starting from the station where the train would stop at midnight. As a result, the train carrying the opposing team's players was unable to stop at the station where the players were supposed to get off. It managed to stop about 8 km further on and allowed the players to disembark. The players then had to walk back that distance with their equipment. Ultimately, they lost the game they played against the Auburn team by a significant margin (45-0).
This incident is known as the 1896 Auburn, Wreck Tech rail lubrication incident.
Note: While lubrication has benefits for railways, improper lubrication can also cause derailments!
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