Boiler Explosion

[Saxman]

Bottom Line. One has to pay attention when operating steam. Be it a traction engine or locomotive. I spent 14 years firing and operating steam locomotives and vertical boilers at Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad in Michigan. The weekend I disliked the most was the live steam weekend. Most of the operators were top notch people who knew their business. But like everything else, there were those who thought they knew. Steam traction engines must receive the same care and respect as a locomotive. In essence thats what they are.

Thankfully I never had the experience you did with fuseable plugs. However shortly after I stopped working at the Huckleberry, they did lose a fuseable. Strictly operator error for this incident.

[cprted]

The injector would have to have been off for some time to allow the crown sheet to heat up in such a dramatic way. Steam tractors, like the one the blew up, do not need to leave the injector on for long periods of time. Usually injectors have the capability to fill the boiler rapidly and do not need to be used untill the water needs to be topped up. As for scale in the glass, its possible, but the build up would have to be of unimaginable proportions. If their was a water glass mis reading it was more likely due to it being inadvertently shut off by the operator. Someone did that to a friend of mine not to long ago. He shut off the glass for some unknown reason and left the engine on a siding. The next person to run it was an inexperienced engineer and didn't think much of the fact that the water level didn't change after over a mile of running. Suddenly pressure started dropping fast and then we were all surrounded by a cloud of steam. Thank God for fuseable plugs or I may not be here to tell the tale.

[Saxman]

A check valve that has scale build up that would allow an injector to work but not keep up with demand. Or water glass spindles that are scaled that would not proprely reflect the water level in the boiler. Would these not be considered mechanical problems?

[cprted]

A mechanicle failure can not cause a boiler explosion of this type. What most likley happened was that the water level was allowed to drop out of the glass, the operator noticed and said "oh ****!" and opened up the injector pouring cold water onto a crown sheet that is red hot turning the water into flash steam. The sudden increase in pressure (probably from 100psi to 950psi in half a second) would cause the boiler to rupture in a very bad way. Take everything you see on the news with a grain of salt. Beleive me, I work in the media, if we can put a twist a story that will a huge debate or create publis outrage we usually do. I watched several of the news clips on the internet and I did not see one interveiw with someone who as any understanding of steam engines.

Something else that surfaced on the live steam forum was that many steam tractors on farms in rural areas are not properly inspected and the operators have no training. Most have been in the family since it was new (1909 in this case, I think) and the engine as been passed down.

Another major problem is the lack of knowledge on the part of the inspectors. In many areas the same guy that is responsible for certifiying boilers is the same guy that certifies roller coasters, race car tracks, and god knows what else. I heard of a case where a full size loco (SPS 700?)was having it's boiler check and the inspector banged on the rivets to make sure they tight and checked the thickness of the boiler shell. When asked if he would like to have a hydrostatic test done he responded by saying "what's a hydrostatic test?" For those you who don't know, a hydrostatic test is what we do to determine of the boiler leaks. The boiler is pumped full of water up to 150% of operateing pressure and then we look to find out if water comes out from anywhere it shouldn't.

When trying to get a logging Mikado's boiler certified up here in Canada we had troble because the inspector thought we were trying to put one by on him by saying that the flexi stays are supposed to leak untill the engines warms up. After about an hour of arguing he certified it.

[Anonymous]

Hi Ron and Terry, as I said the exact cause isn't known (operator is deciced) but they are prety sure that the low water had a lot to do with it....Jamie

[Saxman]

The Toledo Blade (Toledo, OH) reported on Saturday that the cause was low water. The article stated that one of the injectors was found in position to be injecting water. They also stated that inspectors do not know if it was operator or mechanical error as the operators are decesed. The article further stated that the crown sheet showed evidince of a low water condition.

A very unfortunate accident for the traction engine people.

[Anonymous]

According to a FOX News report in the last day or two, they said the cause was low water level in the boiler. The report also stated they were still trying to determine if the cause was mechanical or operator error. Ron.

[Anonymous]

Hey there guys. I live in the Cleveland OH area, and though the exact cause may never be known, the local news stations are saying that after metalology tests they found the metal in the boiler to be supper heated and are pretty sure that the water level in the bioler was just to low. Unfortunately now 5 have died and many will live with the physical scares from the insident. Many of them being burned youngsters........Jamie

[Anonymous]

While it is true that non rail boilers are not under the jurisdiction of the FRA, you can bet they will recheck their boiler codes.
I am more concerned with shortline and museum operations that also require state blessings to continue running steam engines.
The other main concern is the question of insurance costs.

[Anonymous]

Try the Ohio catagory at the forum at www.railroad.net/

[thirdrail1]

No, it will not. The Gettysburg Railroad has a "near boiler explosion" several years ago that has tightened up practices on railroads. Since the steam traction engines do not run on rails, the FRA could care less about what happened in Ohio. Most of the news websites have already been pulled down.

[Anonymous]

Do you think the explosion of the Traction
Engine in Ohio will afect steams use by Railways?
Where can I get more information on the Ohio
accident?