Melodramatic Memes?

Factual Questions
1

Relishing Snidely Whiplash’s villainy in an old Rocky & Bullwinkle episode the other night, it struck me how deeply a couple of memes dating back to the days of 19th century melodrama have burrowed into the Collective Mind. But are they based in reality? Well…theatrical reality, that is?

So, is there anyone out there familiar enough with the theatrical era in question to tell me if there was ever an actual drama/melodrama (meant seriously by its author, not as a parody, etc.) featuring a girl being tied either to railroad tracks or to a big plank being fed into an enormous circular saw?

2

The TV Tropes Page for Chained to a Railway has a decent overview of the history. In short, yes, it had been used seriously at least a few times.

ETA: And that page links to a column by… Gfactor. Eh, not Unca Cecil, but he’ll do.

3

Thanks, and…yipe!! SIX people were actually killed that way?! Please tell me at least nobody was ever murdered by being fed into an enormous rotary saw…??

4

Well, there was that guy, Bill Grogan, who tied his goat to the railroad tracks.