Up a long back road out of Titusville Pa. you will come across a rather strange sign .
Nitroglycerin Show
Yes the stuff that goes bang
Well seeing the sign I of course had to go up road to see what was left but the old bridge is closed
So I did some googling and yes this was a one time tourist attraction where real Nitroglycerin was used to educate the public.
Nitroglycerin was a big player in the development and continuing of production of petroleum Oil
back in the early 1800s and well into 1900s
Placed in a metal tube which looked like a torpedo it was dropped down into a oil well to help get oil flowing and then keep oil flowing if the flow slowed down or stopped. today they call it Fracking but its been going on for over a 100 years .
http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/pa-heritage/shooting-stars-drake-well.html
Well Rick F. Tallini who purchased the Otto Cupler Torpedo Company which purchased the Roberts Torpedo company who patented the process .
In 1992 He got the idea to put on an educational yet fun show to teach about the dangers as well as usefulness of nitroglycerin. which also included skits and a shootout between Moon Lighters and Pinkerton's Moonlighters where men who illegally shot wells and did not pay Roberts for use of his patent and where term Moonlighting originated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWRqolnp894
Originally you could ride the tourist train and they used real nitro in the show but then in 1995
The show was moved to drake Well Museum and much safer pyrotechnics where used and a much smaller compact staging are is used.
I was not able to find video of original show I will keep looking but here is the show in Drake well park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7qEEAU__dQ
https://www.aparat.com/v/93HYn/Drake_Well_Nitro_Show
