I surmise, the damage was done to the crown sheet in the months/weeks prior to the explosion. The day it exploded was because the previous issues weren't taken as seriously from an inspection POV as they ought. I bet one crew lied about how low the water got for fear of being terminated. When it exploded everyone in the maintenance department went into damage control and no one wanted to know. Similar to this: I'm a big rig driver. In a very tight driveway on a Friday afternoon I delivered a load of steel that no one wanted until Monday. They were furious I arrived 30 mins before knock off. It was nothing to do with me, I'm a contractor and the steel company own me when I'm at work and I must do deliveries as directed - it's my job. If the company load my truck then I deliver the load it's not my decision to make whether I want to take it (safety concerns aside). So back to the customer, they didn't want to move all these cars to make it easier for me to back in and insisted they would direct me. I questioned what would happen if they directed me incorrectly and I reversed me into one of those cars. They told me to get on with it as I was wasting time arguing. Well they directed me to reverse straight into car. I couldn't see what they were doing as they were using hand signals to direct me. When it happened they all vanished into thin air leaving me there on my own. Manager came out and asked me why I backed into that car, why I was there on Friday, so on so forth? I imagine this boiler explosion was a bit like that. When it happened everyone just disappeared - "I know nothing," like Shultz from Hogan's Heroes. Human nature is well known LOL.
We may have gotten an answer from a newer response.. The guy said it was simple human error.. As in the fireman simply lost sight of the situation and apparently was shielded thereafter from the investigation release.
I hear ya brother. Truckers get screwed when it's time for the receiver to go home. I've been a big truck driver over 35 years. We work hard to get there on time. The receivers will leave you hanging all the time!
I kind of thought the same thing as you! Damage was done prior to the explosion when they had all the trouble with the pumps not working... this kind of stuff is more common than you would think as prior mechanical issues has caused many accidents with other companies and machinery like as in jet airliner incidents where mechanical issues were repaired and corrected and inspected but damage was done that was not found during repairs?? It's anybodys guess that ultimately caused the boiler to explode, but typically, it's a series of anomalies and coincidences in a unique pattern that downs the jet, sinks the ship or in this case detonates the boiler.... RIP 🙏 victims
To anyone who has never worked on heavy equipment of any type- the amount of force described here in the resulting damages is absolutely incredible. Broken frames, the distances pieces were lobbed... NEVER underestimate the sheer power of compressed gasses, let alone superheated compressed fluids. Flash-boiling is absolutely no joke.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Hello I have a suggestion for a video with the end of steam locomotives look into the last two locomotives from all classes for example the "Mallet" 2-6-6-2 number 1308 and 1309,1308 which is a static display, and 1309 which Western Maryland Scenic Railway operates those are the last two built by Baldwin Locomotive works before they closed for good.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower A long time ago, I figured out, that when working with any type of machinery, I prefer to work for and by myself. That way, I'm not left to guess what kind of mess the last idiot left me with. I can have confidence that, whatever it is, it will perform as expected.
Steam locomotives, by their very nature, are rolling bombs. That said, overheated crown sheets seem to be the cause of most of these disasters. The very ironic piece of info is the fact that the boiler flipped 180% from the frames and that the front engine rolled so far from the rear, braking the drawbar. The force of the explosion must have been enormous. The force of the explosion, by what you described, must have gone downward near the firebox. I do wish we could have been able to see the photos of this accident. I know the D&RG hated the Challengers, and tried to sell them to the UP, which was unsuccessful. I believe they all wound up on the Clinchfield, which also had some similar to the model D&RG had. By the way, these models were NOT the same as the UP Challengers.
The RG hated the 3800 series challenger which were I believe 6 locomotives diverted by the war production board from the UP. They were disliked because they were lighter than the RG 3700 series challengers.
Why do I get the sneaking impression that some of these problems were just rammed through and the operators were made to deal with them? Sounds a lot Like what is going on I’m an unnamed company that builds enormous equipment that rides air instead of rails these days.
Fascinating. The descriptions of the damage done is staggering. One must wonder about cover up given that the pictures that MUST have been taken at the crash scene are not available. I am assuming this because you would surely have included them in your excellent presentation.
Due to previous problems getting water into the boiler my guess would be crown sheet had overheated too many times or the injector or feed water pump quit, again resulting in an explosion. We'll never really know.
Wow, I only knew of a C&O Allegheny exploding and killing the crew. I didn't know that another articulated locomotive was also involved in such a tragedy.
The D&H also ran Challangers in drag coal trips out of Carbondale PA in WW2. They were rebranded for mountain service. One blew up when the water level was allowed to go lower than a safe level!!!!
A little more common than one thinks these days because they aren't ran in mass anymore.. But back them when you had full fleets of them.. Yeah.. pretty common.. But each story is it's own.. Some with intrigue and mystery.. Some with obvious causes.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Here in Australia it was unheard of for loco boilers to explode. It happened in the UK in the early days from boiler corrosion and small engines being put on long trains and drivers screwing down the old salter type safety valve. But neither our engines or the UK's engines had low water alarms but they did have two fusible plugs in the crown sheet. One near to the firebox tube plate and the other near to the cab. In WW2 in the UK an engine's injectors refused to work and the loco foreman told the driver via telephone "I don't care what you do just don't drop them plugs. So the loco crew standing in a station used soil from the station gardens to smother the fire. The next day on a different loco on the same line they saw the wrecked station gardens with plants strewn all over the place but didn't tell the station master what had happened. On the preserved railways today before lighting the engine up they use a torch to check the fusible plugs in the crown sheet and if there's even a slight weeping of moisture round the plug the loco is immediately failed and taken out of traffic. It's easy to spot as a dark patch round the plug.
there were over 200,000 steam locomotives built in the USA and there were less than a dozen known catastrophic (caused deaths) boiler explosions like this one. I could hardly call that common.
Every year in the US, there are a handful of boiler explosions. I would say not more than ten. Most are small package boilers providing building heat, but occasionally, they are not. A boiler exploded on a tourist steamer a couple decades ago. All fired boilers fall under the boiler code of the state; every state I know endorses the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. If you operate (fire, maintain, service, or provide parts for) a fired boiler, you MUST follow the code. From the descriptions here, I suspect there may have been areas where the code was not followed. The incomplete maintenance record suggests one area. Other accident descriptions is another. Today, the FRA and NTSB would investigate the accident. The State of Colorado would have investigate this one, in addition to the railroad and boiler inspectors. There is likely much more information available on this event. I vaguely recall reading it 40 years ago, in the 1980s. Even then, this accident was 30 years old. PS: Around 1900 there were well over 1000 boiler explosions per year. A garment factory one in New York City in 1910 killed around 100 young women garment workers. That is why we have a boiler code.
@@AussiePomThat's the thing, I was astounded head it didn't even have fusible plugs - they're such a basic safety measure, and as far as I recall, they're a legal requirement here and have been since long before the challenger was even thought of.
Just came across this. The description of the damage is that of a MAJOR CATASTROPHIC failure! From the number of times that the water feed was reported to be a problem and the number of times it was "repaired" causes me to believe like many others who have commented that the shop work was either not performed or performed in a half-a**ed manner. In fact, when you have an engine crew who has worked these locomotives saying the day before an accident that the engine was not steaming well, this is a clear sign that the damn thing should be pulled and a THOROUGH inspection be had. Thanks very much.
Hi! New subscriber, YT put you in my mix today. Great railfanning historical video. Great presentation of archaic info. You really dived into this. I have worked on shipboard propulsion plant design and listening to you, it sounded to what you concluded about the feed water conditions. There was no mention in those maintenance reports about cleaning out a strainer. Sounds like it was clogged thus not allowing correct feed water flow.
Welcome aboard! Well, another poster with knowledge stated the Fireman was at fault for the accident.. And maybe so.. But there still has to be a cause and as you mentioned.. Certain parts of the injector were not looked into.
What we have here is a failure caused by negligence & incompetence. The DRGW shop crews failed to inspect the feedwater system up & downstream of reported faults, including the strainers, and check valves in the feed water system. Based on the evidence, it looks as if the hot water pump on the elesco was failing to prime and deliver water at sufficient capacity to avoid water sloshing over the crown sheet as is bound to happen with a challenger under load. I suspect the check valve was hammered into a seized condition by repeated backflow caused by drops in feed pressure from the pump.
My smoking gun is that the L105 along with other baldwins of the era, was fitted with thermic siphons. The blown out brick arch points to a seam failure where the siphon meets the crown sheet. That can only happen if water gets to about 3/4 glass while the engine is under load, creating momentary dry spots before the "cold" water gets drawn up by the siphon.
One would expect the water to be treated. One would also expect a low water alarm to be installed and functioning properly. Shoddy shop work, inexperienced inspectors, or just plain old nobody gives a damn. It's too bad, it's a very nice looking locomotive.
I found it unusual on the low water alarm..And that the ICC report wasnt more clear about what caused the explosion besides the obvious. In my work on the other video's a lot more clues were available to determine the secondary causes. here...not so much.. A bit baffling this one was.
Since I run the Rio grande page I know alot more on this Basicly it was crew error and the budy system protected the fireman from the truth that he just let the water run low .. It's really that simple ..
And that's as good of an answer as any.. Because the ICC report showed that the maintenance issues were looked into and dealt with unlike the other incidents I have covered. My own personal guess was a sudden intake of foul water from the tender.
It might also surprise you that crown failures occur when the sheet temperature range in the roughly 500-700 degree range. Not red hot! Testing at the Burnham Test lab proved that out as well as the ‘blue’ discoloration of the sheet in question. Pictures and test reports proved this out. Sorry I don’t mean to give you bad time, it took me many years to learn what is and what isn’t on steam locomotives and there isn’t a day where something new comes to light. I (along with other 1st generation post steam repair people in this field) had experienced help with years of service to ask questions of and listen actual events. Not second, third or fourth hand opinions shared by those with good intentions and with some ego involved. The many years in the first few years of the ICC Bureau of Locomotive Inspection indicated how necessary it was to establish good inspection and repair practices. Enough said.
@@rrsteamer I believe I pointed out the blue discoloration trait in my Allegheny 1642 video. In other words.. If I understand your point correctly, that particular info I already knew. However, it does not mean that many others here do not.. So it's valid in all regards nonetheless.
Reminiscent of the explosion of the boiler of Rhymey Railway (South Wales - UK) loco 97 in 1907-ish. In that case, the safety valve had been assembled incorrectly so that it was locked up solid. After leaving the shed the needle of the pressure gauge was hard up against the stop but the driver was unable to get the injector working. They went back on shed and after the driver had gone to report to the office, the boiler exploded. The injectors are designed to function over the normal working pressure range; as the coroner's report stated, what the ACTUAL pressure was at the time of the explosion may only be imagined. (and PS - IMHO if the gauge was up against the stop and the safety valve wasn't blowing off they ought to have realised something was wrong.)
Native Colorado here. Some struggles with pronunciation of place names. The accident happened at Louviers, which is now a few miles south of the urban foot-print centered on Denver. Would have been a bit more out in the boonies in '52. "Loo-ve-urs" more or less. Could the crown-sheet have been exposed and weakened on a previous trip? Did the locomotive operate west through tunnels? My father fired steam for the B&O west of Baltimore through a series of tunnels, a less steep (from 12 to 500 feet above sea level) version of the Rio Grande west of Denver. He said it was common practice when pulling drag tonnage up-grade to enter a tunnel with boiler full and fire fully stoked then shutting-off feed water and coal. Adding either cools the fire and causes more toxic exhaust. Engine crew was motivated to let boiler water get as low as they dared to let it.
With at least one repair ticket fixed at Minturn, the loco would have made the trip from Pueblo to Minturn over Tennessee Pass and through several tunnels besides the one at Tennessee Pass. Minturn is between Dotsero and Pueblo. Dosero is where the line from Denver connects to the old main line over Tennessee Pass. Dotsero is between Minturn and Grand Junction and between Denver and Grand Junction. Most traffic would either be on the Denver to Grand Junction line or the Pueblo to Minturn to Grand Junction line. I believe at that time most freight trains went from Denver to Pueblo to Grand Junction instead of over and through the Moffat Tunnel to Dotsero. The UP has basically rail-banked the Dotsero to Pueblo line in favor of the line through the Moffat Tunnel because it is the much shorter route. Adding coal to the firebox will cool the fire while adding water to the boiler cools the water in the boiler reducing steam production. There should not be much difference in firing or steam production with the use of a good stoker and feed water heater with a pump. There are no tunnels on the Denver to Pueblo route. This is on the front range of the Rockies and basically the Western edge of the prairie. There are 3 main stations Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.
I only know how to pronounce French one way.. What American English makes of it is lost on me every time. Including my Maternal lineage. Always pronounced wrong.,
I'm afraid my French accent comes via Cannock Chase and the English Black Country - real Frenchman conner understand their own language when I speak it to them. Some years ago my wife and I were in Denver, and asked a bus driver if he went to Boulder (English pronunciation - Bowl-der) "Nah", he replied Ah does go t' Boolder, though....." @@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower
@@JohnDavies-cn3ro Love the story! I was in France for a spell.. That is longer than a tourist would.. Anyhow.. I pronounced Louviers the way I believe they would have otherwise.. Which was Lou-vi-eh on my part in the video.
I wouldn't put anything past that happening.. I mean really. Most of the railroads didn't exactly own up to things in those days..Probably still today too.
The risk from the locomotive boiler is low, as long as the water level is not. In cases of a firebox collapse like this, the ultimate cause is almost always human error, as a fireman knows that if the water glass drops below the safe level and he is unable to immediately correct, the throttle must be shut and the draft doors closed or drop the fire. In a case like this, where the engine is worked to full capacity and firing rate is high, it may take only 90 seconds to go from mid-level on the glass to disaster if feedwater delivery fails, so constant attention is imperative.
Injectors? I’d be surprised if this locomotive didn’t use a feed water pump, with the injectors only for backup. A feed water pump with water level sensor can lull the fireman into complacency, especially since the sensor system and even the feeds to the sight glasses can get clogged. This is a real problem with carbonate deposits from hard water. Just a monthly boiler wash isn’t enough. The boiler explosion on the Gettysburg railroad tourist operation was due to exactly this - reliance on a feedwater pump system and clogged up sight glasses. You can find the FRA report online. The locomotive was a relatively young Canadian National design with a specially designed crown sheet that would rupture UP in the event of a dry crown sheet failure. Both the engine man and fireman survived and the engine still exists although never repaired and returned to service. Back before WW2 the Reading lost an engine standing still in the yard. The water glass feeds were blocked off for a routine maximum pressure test with cold water and the boiler filled to the top. Having passed the test. Excess water was drained, the pops reinstalled and the engine steamed up. No one removed the blocking plates in the sight glass feeds and the boiler blew. I have fired and run steam locomotives on two tourist railroads. They demand constant and full attention from the crew, a rare commodity in the current age of cell phones and ADHD.
Oh my... Im sorry... I laughed at your last line.. Hey man... it's true though. The ICC report did not give us a clear clue as to the physical cause of the accident in this case. As I understand it post video, the Fireman was as fault behind closed doors. However, as the physical cause..my guess would be the injectors since they are named on the report several times despite being looked at by maintenance. Foul water? Mechanical breakdown again? Both distinct possibilities.
I live in philadelphia, and I know who had a grandfather working in that yard, was injured, but minorly. I have the full ICC report and it says exactly everything you have written down.
The boiler explosion happened at the Erie Avenue engine house in philadelphia in the late 30s they performed a boiler hydrostatic test. Caped off all the opening ports. When they removed the metal caps which had gaskets upon removal part of the gaskets ripped off and stayed in the ports that go to the sights glasses, partially blocking the path to the water glasses. When the engine was fired up and kept warm by the night fireman he told the shop Forman in the morning he had trouble telling how much water was in the boiler. The Forman and machinest determined everything is OK, but when they got the engine hot and ready for service. The seals that that were in the piping finally completely blocked the water and they didn't know that they had low water in the boiler. The engine was assigned pusher service, but before it left it exploded killing the enginer Forman and machinest. The fireman survived without a scratch because he was standing outside behind the tender in a spot that protected him perfectly from the blast. The engine came off the tracks and sat at a 30 degree lean. A piece of shrapnel blew thru the wall of one of the shops killing a worker in side. If the walls were brick instead of sheet metal construction the worker would have survived.
Rolling bombs indeed. And this fact and accident were justification enough for Alfred Perlman to scrap as many standard gauge (virtually all) Rio Grande steam engines and go with by then the widely accepted diesel's superiority. (Why he didn't kill off the narrow gauge units I can't say but IFO am glad he did not.)
Can you please do a story about the tunnel number 10 fire. During WWtwo. One of the tunnels between Denver and Rollinsville. There were a few deaths, they brought fire trucks from Denver on flatbed cars. Apparently it was the time of the year for sheep to go to market and they ended up trucking many thousands of sheep from Rollinsville to Denver. I believe there was an article in classic trains many years ago. Mountain train accidents was the article. I have read or heard nothing more about this accident. Thanks.
My experience is with watertube utility boilers of all sizes and types, but most commonly coal fired in the 100 to 600 Mwe range. There, the steam drum water level is the equivalent of the firebox crown sheets, but the fundamental issue is the same -- maintaining water level in the steam drum so as never to let the drum risers go dry. Then adding feedwater would cause similar stresses that would fail the drum. There are a variety of sensing means to monitor the steam drum level, with low level alarms. the gage glasses are monitored in the control room by remote camera, and there are restrictions from the boiler code on operations with equipment not fully is service. Configurations of this type have "gage cocks" installed that allow manual opening and closure to verify the level in the boiler (or drum). There will be a number, typically 5-9 at successive levels that give an absolute indication of the water level; steam flows different than water, and makes a different sound. The fireman, typically, under engineer's supervision will test the gauge cocks to verify the instrumented water level. I assume this boiler had a similar configuration. Assuming it did, a first check signing on for the watch would be to manually check the boiler water level, prior to steaming the boiler hard and using the full range of feedpump, injector(s), and inductor(s) to steam the boiler. The maintenance history suggested there were issues with the boiler, some of which were not clearly resolved. On the other hand, its history is typical. This accident is tragic on the basis of loss of life. There are other accounts in print from survivors and others who witnessed the event. Those killed did not all die immediately. Some survived for hours with serious scald burns and other physical injuries. This is the first account I've read whereby it reports a bystander, a railfan, killed beside the tracks. As another viewer pointed out, a steam boiler explosion of this size has the explosive power on line of that of a 10,000 lb bomb. Those were the largest conventional warhead the US ever used, roughly. "Large" bombs were on the order of 1000 lbs. Other reports I recall reading (well over 20 years ago, while I was active in my work), suggested the boiler was fouled, along with the gauge cocks (and/or their lines). There is absolutely no evidence the engineer or fireman were remiss in their duties. These big engines used lots of water in the mountains, and water treatments, along with periodic boiler flushing, were (are) critical to the health of these huge boilers. My experience is with closed cycle boilers which largely used very clean, highly treated water. These used common makeup water, untreated, from tanks fed by tanks located every 20-40 miles apart along the right-of-way. No doubt treatments were added with makeup to the tenders, but nonetheless, the water had lots of dissolved solids. Given the history of the boiler, it would have been wise to check the gauge cocks periodically to assure water actually flowed, to confirm absolute level covering the crown sheets. Failure of water to flow would be reason to shutdown the boiler. I have no idea what the fireman and engineer actually did, but they did not intend to kill themselves. Any sudden load change in a badly fouled boiler could have stirred up the sediments so as to prevent gauge cock performance, but tha tshould have been evident had the checks been done. I'm interested in what any old timers have to share about this event, or others familiar with it. One last note. Injectors and inductors are finicky; they easily foul and erode so that feed flow to the boiler is impaired. Further, they take boiler steam to run. Low steam can mean poor feed. Utility firebox/watertube boilers used feedpumps, electric and steam driven. They have (had) aux steam sources, from other units or aux boilers. I assume the feedpumps here were steam driven, only. Had they been low on steam for whatever reason, they may have lost feed. Losing feed, and then regaining it could have created a scenario where feed would have been introduced onto a hot crownsheet. A survivor could have shared important details. I agree with the conclusion that the root cause remains unknown. In my lifetime of boiler plant engineering uncovering problems such as this has caused me such great consternation to solve, I could sleep until that was done. Operators environments and fatigue are different. Under such conditions, I've seen them miss important cues to serious equipment problems that ideally are never missed. It can also be career limiting to take heavy equipment out of service, and reduce production. I have never hesitated to "do the right thing", however, as I said, that is career limiting. I've seen others waltz through and ignore issues when production demanded. Today, we call this 'human factors engineering."
Phew - not something I'd have liked to witness. You've just confirmed something which has been bugging me for years, ever since I first read Robert C Reed's book 'Train Wrecks'. American engines didn't have fusible plugs, a basic, fail safe safety feature. Why not?
There are various ways to assure safety. Fusible plugs are one. To find out the full range of options, read Section 4 of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which convers firetube boilers. Virtually all railroad engine boilers were fire tube boilers, meaning that the combustion products from whatever was burned (wood, oil, coal) produced combustion products that were drawn through the boiler via tubes in the firebox. Note that this excludes the superheaters. if applied, where the steam was drawn through the tubes at the top of the boiler from the steam drum to a plenum then the cylinders, that (the top of the boiler) being the hottest part of the flue gas path.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Yes. A lot of your laws were, and are, very different to ours generally. From very early days our railways were subject to a lot more government control, by the Board of Trade than was common in the America of the same time - similarly in Australia, riverboats were. The authorities there looked at the Mississippi's safety record, and acted accordingly......
My math tutor lived not far from where this happened before she moved out of state. My dad also has documentation on what happened in the explosion. The boiler basically flew off, with the front set of six driver axles still moving after detaching from the locomotive.
There is a new response from someone of klnowlege here.. And he says it was simply human error.. Of which I can buy that.. Because there was no obvious reason this time as to why this happened.
If the feedpump was having issues not pumping effectively, the pump could have stalled lost prime then when the boiler was in a low or no water condition the pump started pumping again causing a thermal expolsion with the induction of water. Especially with no low water alarm or cutout.
Well done, informative video! Thank you. Were there any signs prior to thexplosion? I heard thathe wateran off the crown sheet and when the locomotive reached a more level section of track, the water ran back onto the overheated crown sheet and flashed. Failure of the fireman to keep the water levehigh enough? Did the presence of the "trespasser" (photographer) distracthe crew enough thathe fireman missed something?
Another commentor with knowledge said the Fireman was faulted behind closed doors so to speak.. And that may be. The ICC report indicated that the reported maintenance issues were looked into.. However there seemed to be repeated issues with the injector system.. So I am looking at this as a physical cause possibility.. Or foul water from the tender causing a blockage of some sort. Im most curious on this incident. Because the ICC usually gives a clear hint at the cause.. Not this time.
What an amazing video! If you have a way I can send them to you, I have several photographs from the accident. They are digital copies received from the Oklahoma History Museum. I was going to post them here but I guess pictures cannot be added to comments…
Too many reports of problems with water feed should have alerted someone to the fact that there was a serious problem with this locomotive. That no in-depth investigation appears to have been undertaken as to the cause of these continuous reports and instead relied on the assumption that running repairs each time fixed the issues when it so obviously had not. Having worked steamers your insight into what is actually going on inside the boiler is limited to the devices fitted to give you second-hand information but water injection is always based on the time between opening the injector and noting the obvious rise in water level in the boiler. If that period is notably lengthy over what you would normally expect, then there is a problem that would certainly require the train crew to take remedial action. There is of course the matter of train crews running a low water head on purpose to facilitate a higher steam generation condition when a locomotive was working hard and one often used to basically force a poorly steaming locomotive to work harder. A condition not recommended but one that was quite commonly used by experienced crews. This of course means that any margin of safety is significantly reduced but a balance can be struck if all the required equipment is working correctly when under full load. The voracious appetite for water that these locomotives have meant that any reduction in the normal. (Correct) operating level of water above the crown sheet will seriously erode the time between a safe and unsafe situation developing down to as little as one or two minutes so for a locomotive that has a suspect water feed system particularly under full load as this one seems to have suffered with that reduction in feed water supply would mean the reaction time to an unsafe condition developing would have exceeded the ability of the crew to deal with it and even closing the regulator would not help the situation nor would they have had time to dump the grates or even close the draft. They would have set the conditions for the explosion themselves based on the tardy behaviour of the water feed system and any attempt to run the locomotive in that condition would then have meant an explosion was inevitable or at best be based on pure luck not to occur. T
quite surprised it had no Fuseable plugs fitted, was the loco boiler delivered with that omission or was there a supply problem & had they been blanked off, the low water alarm is a secondary item, to be used in conjunction with gauge glass columns, again was this a standard fitting when the loco was delivered, the fuseable plug is there to reduce the fire intensity to prevent overheating of the crown sheet, I cannot believe anyone would be that stupid or incompetent to adopt that practise but it would appear due to the report that was the case.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower I know the low level water alarm is a US item, I have never seen it here in Australia on steam loco's or ever seen it mentioned in Britain or Europe, they do exist on modern stationary steam plants as they are automated & do not have an attendant on or around the installation full time.
@@afs5609 Yeah, I could have sworn that I saw a requirement for U.S. Loco's to have them... Which is not the case with fusible plugs. To me..it's nuts not to have them on our huge loco's regardless if it's law or not.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower I just realised that due to the boiler pressure fusible plugs are out of the question due to the high thermal temperature of water in the boiler at 280 psi the water temp is 481 F, the melting point of a fusible plug is around 450 F
Just remember, fusible plugs function only when there is no water to reduce the temperature below the melting point. I seem to recall, on the SP a boiler explosion on either an AC or MT class when all 5 plugs functioned and the boiler still exploded. Apparently, all 5 were not enough to extinguish the oil burner or get the attention of the engine crew. SP used and Nathan provided used button type fusible plugs that provided a larger opening.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Cheers.., incredible/ lol highly credible story.., and great that & how you tell it… Our old dad drove steam n diesel here in New Zealand…, he did so with apparently great ease…, but I know he took it dead seriously…, lol his favourite Dayi g re life.., which I know came his driving locos… “you can be right, and can be dead right” He still installs great courage in us boys…, he knew how easily & often lay deadly railroading could be, but he did it and love every minute anyway… “rain/ hail/ shine” Rip🌹🌹🌹🙏🙏. Bugger!😥
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Cheers.., yeah was very lucky.., was first on foot plate at “5 weeks”😂 1966… grew up on the old Da class (1955 EMD 1400 hp CoCo), then later DX class GE U26C ..👍, spent all school holidays in cab rides…, drove first freight 1800 tons DX lead…, at 13 years.. Rest family/ children not really into it..
@5:50 The trespasser was killed, but @0:45 the article states he had a special permit, so how can he be a trespasser? @5:58 the trespasser was later found to be a rail enthusiast taking pictures. Seems they jumped the gun calling him a trespasser.
Hey Bub, if you make anymore videos, please leave out the boom, boom, boom going on in the background. it's very annoying having to listen to that while the narrator is talking.
I surmise, the damage was done to the crown sheet in the months/weeks prior to the explosion. The day it exploded was because the previous issues weren't taken as seriously from an inspection POV as they ought.
I bet one crew lied about how low the water got for fear of being terminated. When it exploded everyone in the maintenance department went into damage control and no one wanted to know.
Similar to this: I'm a big rig driver. In a very tight driveway on a Friday afternoon I delivered a load of steel that no one wanted until Monday. They were furious I arrived 30 mins before knock off. It was nothing to do with me, I'm a contractor and the steel company own me when I'm at work and I must do deliveries as directed - it's my job. If the company load my truck then I deliver the load it's not my decision to make whether I want to take it (safety concerns aside).
So back to the customer, they didn't want to move all these cars to make it easier for me to back in and insisted they would direct me. I questioned what would happen if they directed me incorrectly and I reversed me into one of those cars. They told me to get on with it as I was wasting time arguing. Well they directed me to reverse straight into car. I couldn't see what they were doing as they were using hand signals to direct me.
When it happened they all vanished into thin air leaving me there on my own. Manager came out and asked me why I backed into that car, why I was there on Friday, so on so forth?
I imagine this boiler explosion was a bit like that. When it happened everyone just disappeared - "I know nothing," like Shultz from Hogan's Heroes.
Human nature is well known LOL.
We may have gotten an answer from a newer response.. The guy said it was simple human error.. As in the fireman simply lost sight of the situation and apparently was shielded thereafter from the investigation release.
I hear ya brother. Truckers get screwed when it's time for the receiver to go home.
I've been a big truck driver over 35 years.
We work hard to get there on time. The receivers will leave you hanging all the time!
I kind of thought the same thing as you! Damage was done prior to the explosion when they had all the trouble with the pumps not working... this kind of stuff is more common than you would think as prior mechanical issues has caused many accidents with other companies and machinery like as in jet airliner incidents where mechanical issues were repaired and corrected and inspected but damage was done that was not found during repairs?? It's anybodys guess that ultimately caused the boiler to explode, but typically, it's a series of anomalies and coincidences in a unique pattern that downs the jet, sinks the ship or in this case detonates the boiler.... RIP 🙏 victims
To anyone who has never worked on heavy equipment of any type- the amount of force described here in the resulting damages is absolutely incredible. Broken frames, the distances pieces were lobbed...
NEVER underestimate the sheer power of compressed gasses, let alone superheated compressed fluids. Flash-boiling is absolutely no joke.
To a point that I am surprised the wrong people havent used this sort of thing to wreck havoc..
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Hello I have a suggestion for a video with the end of steam locomotives look into the last two locomotives from all classes for example the "Mallet" 2-6-6-2 number 1308 and 1309,1308 which is a static display, and 1309 which Western Maryland Scenic Railway operates those are the last two built by Baldwin Locomotive works before they closed for good.
@@kennethmaynard5046 I get your meaning... The Western Maryland I have a video for here: czcams.com/video/E0-dRV0LaRQ/video.htmlsi=sE571cMZjvIwlSU9
The fire service has an acronym, BLEVE, for Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion, as I recall, and there has been some doozies.
I can only imagine how horrifying those last moments were- hearing the intense hissing and then BAM- nothingness
Id Rather not hear any of that kind of thing.. As in.. It's not a job I would do.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower A long time ago, I figured out, that when working with any type of machinery, I prefer to work for and by myself. That way, I'm not left to guess what kind of mess the last idiot left me with. I can have confidence that, whatever it is, it will perform as expected.
Nice research. Probably best report on a boiler explosion I've read.
If you haven't seen the Allegheny video.. That one was my personal favorite thus far. Thank you. Im glad you liked the story.
May those lost Rest In Peace.
Indeed!
So many of these train disasters are very little known. I am happy you are bringing attention to them.
The Age of Steam was not a safe era to work for the Railroad in any sense of the imagination.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower the danger of working with a giant super heated pressure vessel is part of the allure.
This is very much not known to me. Thanks for the new information.
You're welcome
Steam locomotives, by their very nature, are rolling bombs. That said, overheated crown sheets seem to be the cause of most of these disasters. The very ironic piece of info is the fact that the boiler flipped 180% from the frames and that the front engine rolled so far from the rear, braking the drawbar. The force of the explosion must have been enormous. The force of the explosion, by what you described, must have gone downward near the firebox. I do wish we could have been able to see the photos of this accident. I know the D&RG hated the Challengers, and tried to sell them to the UP, which was unsuccessful. I believe they all wound up on the Clinchfield, which also had some similar to the model D&RG had. By the way, these models were NOT the same as the UP Challengers.
The RG hated the 3800 series challenger which were I believe 6 locomotives diverted by the war production board from the UP. They were disliked because they were lighter than the RG 3700 series challengers.
There weren't any available photos otherwise I would have posted them as I always do.
Why do I get the sneaking impression that some of these problems were just rammed through and the operators were made to deal with them?
Sounds a lot
Like what is going on I’m an unnamed company that builds enormous equipment that rides air instead of rails these days.
Could the crown sheet have been damaged by all the previous problems with the feed water, and just couldn't take it anymore?
@@ramblerdave1339 That's always a distinct possibility
Fascinating. The descriptions of the damage done is staggering.
One must wonder about cover up given that the pictures that MUST have been taken at the crash scene are not available. I am assuming this because you would surely have included them in your excellent presentation.
First one I did not have access to, or locate for sure. I always use actual scene photo's.
Excellent video! (as usual!) Good work! (again, 'as usual'!)👍👍👍
Thank you!
Due to previous problems getting water into the boiler my guess would be crown sheet had overheated too many times or the injector or feed water pump quit, again resulting in an explosion. We'll never really know.
Both seem like a possibility...
Wow, I only knew of a C&O Allegheny exploding and killing the crew. I didn't know that another articulated locomotive was also involved in such a tragedy.
Plenty of articulateds blew up.
I think more than one N&W Y blew up, and at least one A.
Actually there is a third one that I am having great trouble finding info on. Im working on it.
There was a Delaware & Hudson challenger that blew up as well
And a Clinchfield one, maybe one bought from D&RG?
The D&H also ran Challangers in drag coal trips out of Carbondale PA in WW2. They were rebranded for mountain service. One blew up when the water level was allowed to go lower than a safe level!!!!
Collierville NY
Sounds like steamers were blowing up all over the place. I do enjoy all your videos and not just the tragic ones.
A little more common than one thinks these days because they aren't ran in mass anymore.. But back them when you had full fleets of them.. Yeah.. pretty common.. But each story is it's own.. Some with intrigue and mystery.. Some with obvious causes.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Here in Australia it was unheard of for loco boilers to explode. It happened in the UK in the early days from boiler corrosion and small engines being put on long trains and drivers screwing down the old salter type safety valve. But neither our engines or the UK's engines had low water alarms but they did have two fusible plugs in the crown sheet. One near to the firebox tube plate and the other near to the cab.
In WW2 in the UK an engine's injectors refused to work and the loco foreman told the driver via telephone "I don't care what you do just don't drop them plugs. So the loco crew standing in a station used soil from the station gardens to smother the fire. The next day on a different loco on the same line they saw the wrecked station gardens with plants strewn all over the place but didn't tell the station master what had happened. On the preserved railways today before lighting the engine up they use a torch to check the fusible plugs in the crown sheet and if there's even a slight weeping of moisture round the plug the loco is immediately failed and taken out of traffic. It's easy to spot as a dark patch round the plug.
there were over 200,000 steam locomotives built in the USA and there were less than a dozen known catastrophic (caused deaths) boiler explosions like this one. I could hardly call that common.
Every year in the US, there are a handful of boiler explosions. I would say not more than ten. Most are small package boilers providing building heat, but occasionally, they are not. A boiler exploded on a tourist steamer a couple decades ago. All fired boilers fall under the boiler code of the state; every state I know endorses the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. If you operate (fire, maintain, service, or provide parts for) a fired boiler, you MUST follow the code. From the descriptions here, I suspect there may have been areas where the code was not followed. The incomplete maintenance record suggests one area. Other accident descriptions is another. Today, the FRA and NTSB would investigate the accident. The State of Colorado would have investigate this one, in addition to the railroad and boiler inspectors. There is likely much more information available on this event. I vaguely recall reading it 40 years ago, in the 1980s. Even then, this accident was 30 years old.
PS: Around 1900 there were well over 1000 boiler explosions per year. A garment factory one in New York City in 1910 killed around 100 young women garment workers. That is why we have a boiler code.
@@AussiePomThat's the thing, I was astounded head it didn't even have fusible plugs - they're such a basic safety measure, and as far as I recall, they're a legal requirement here and have been since long before the challenger was even thought of.
Just came across this. The description of the damage is that of a MAJOR CATASTROPHIC failure! From the number of times that the water feed was reported to be a problem and the number of times it was "repaired" causes me to believe like many others who have commented that the shop work was either not performed or performed in a half-a**ed manner. In fact, when you have an engine crew who has worked these locomotives saying the day before an accident that the engine was not steaming well, this is a clear sign that the damn thing should be pulled and a THOROUGH inspection be had. Thanks very much.
Hi! New subscriber, YT put you in my mix today. Great railfanning historical video. Great presentation of archaic info. You really dived into this. I have worked on shipboard propulsion plant design and listening to you, it sounded to what you concluded about the feed water conditions. There was no mention in those maintenance reports about cleaning out a strainer. Sounds like it was clogged thus not allowing correct feed water flow.
Welcome aboard! Well, another poster with knowledge stated the Fireman was at fault for the accident.. And maybe so.. But there still has to be a cause and as you mentioned.. Certain parts of the injector were not looked into.
What we have here is a failure caused by negligence & incompetence. The DRGW shop crews failed to inspect the feedwater system up & downstream of reported faults, including the strainers, and check valves in the feed water system. Based on the evidence, it looks as if the hot water pump on the elesco was failing to prime and deliver water at sufficient capacity to avoid water sloshing over the crown sheet as is bound to happen with a challenger under load. I suspect the check valve was hammered into a seized condition by repeated backflow caused by drops in feed pressure from the pump.
Interesting thoughts..because something funky happened here for sure. Not the garden variety locomotive boiler explosion if there was such a thing.
My smoking gun is that the L105 along with other baldwins of the era, was fitted with thermic siphons. The blown out brick arch points to a seam failure where the siphon meets the crown sheet. That can only happen if water gets to about 3/4 glass while the engine is under load, creating momentary dry spots before the "cold" water gets drawn up by the siphon.
@@steffen19k Very, very interesting! I like it!
One would expect the water to be treated. One would also expect a low water alarm to be installed and functioning properly. Shoddy shop work, inexperienced inspectors, or just plain old nobody gives a damn.
It's too bad, it's a very nice looking locomotive.
I found it unusual on the low water alarm..And that the ICC report wasnt more clear about what caused the explosion besides the obvious. In my work on the other video's a lot more clues were available to determine the secondary causes. here...not so much.. A bit baffling this one was.
Since I run the Rio grande page I know alot more on this
Basicly it was crew error and the budy system protected the fireman from the truth that he just let the water run low ..
It's really that simple ..
And that's as good of an answer as any.. Because the ICC report showed that the maintenance issues were looked into and dealt with unlike the other incidents I have covered. My own personal guess was a sudden intake of foul water from the tender.
It might also surprise you that crown failures occur when the sheet temperature range in the roughly 500-700 degree range. Not red hot! Testing at the Burnham Test lab proved that out as well as the ‘blue’ discoloration of the sheet in question. Pictures and test reports proved this out. Sorry I don’t mean to give you bad time, it took me many years to learn what is and what isn’t on steam locomotives and there isn’t a day where something new comes to light. I (along with other 1st generation post steam repair people in this field) had experienced help with years of service to ask questions of and listen actual events. Not second, third or fourth hand opinions shared by those with good intentions and with some ego involved. The many years in the first few years of the ICC Bureau of Locomotive Inspection indicated how necessary it was to establish good inspection and repair practices. Enough said.
@@rrsteamer I believe I pointed out the blue discoloration trait in my Allegheny 1642 video. In other words.. If I understand your point correctly, that particular info I already knew. However, it does not mean that many others here do not.. So it's valid in all regards nonetheless.
Reminiscent of the explosion of the boiler of Rhymey Railway (South Wales - UK) loco 97 in 1907-ish. In that case, the safety valve had been assembled incorrectly so that it was locked up solid. After leaving the shed the needle of the pressure gauge was hard up against the stop but the driver was unable to get the injector working. They went back on shed and after the driver had gone to report to the office, the boiler exploded. The injectors are designed to function over the normal working pressure range; as the coroner's report stated, what the ACTUAL pressure was at the time of the explosion may only be imagined. (and PS - IMHO if the gauge was up against the stop and the safety valve wasn't blowing off they ought to have realised something was wrong.)
Wow!!!!
What always intrigued me about this accident is that Louviers was founded to support the DuPont explosives plant nearby
That's kinda ironic!
Native Colorado here. Some struggles with pronunciation of place names.
The accident happened at Louviers, which is now a few miles south of the urban foot-print centered on Denver. Would have been a bit more out in the boonies in '52. "Loo-ve-urs" more or less.
Could the crown-sheet have been exposed and weakened on a previous trip? Did the locomotive operate west through tunnels?
My father fired steam for the B&O west of Baltimore through a series of tunnels, a less steep (from 12 to 500 feet above sea level) version of the Rio Grande west of Denver. He said it was common practice when pulling drag tonnage up-grade to enter a tunnel with boiler full and fire fully stoked then shutting-off feed water and coal. Adding either cools the fire and causes more toxic exhaust. Engine crew was motivated to let boiler water get as low as they dared to let it.
With at least one repair ticket fixed at Minturn, the loco would have made the trip from Pueblo to Minturn over Tennessee Pass and through several tunnels besides the one at Tennessee Pass. Minturn is between Dotsero and Pueblo. Dosero is where the line from Denver connects to the old main line over Tennessee Pass. Dotsero is between Minturn and Grand Junction and between Denver and Grand Junction. Most traffic would either be on the Denver to Grand Junction line or the Pueblo to Minturn to Grand Junction line. I believe at that time most freight trains went from Denver to Pueblo to Grand Junction instead of over and through the Moffat Tunnel to Dotsero. The UP has basically rail-banked the Dotsero to Pueblo line in favor of the line through the Moffat Tunnel because it is the much shorter route.
Adding coal to the firebox will cool the fire while adding water to the boiler cools the water in the boiler reducing steam production. There should not be much difference in firing or steam production with the use of a good stoker and feed water heater with a pump.
There are no tunnels on the Denver to Pueblo route. This is on the front range of the Rockies and basically the Western edge of the prairie. There are 3 main stations Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.
Railroad superstition says 3+7+0+3 = 13
I only know how to pronounce French one way.. What American English makes of it is lost on me every time. Including my Maternal lineage. Always pronounced wrong.,
I'm afraid my French accent comes via Cannock Chase and the English Black Country - real Frenchman conner understand their own language when I speak it to them. Some years ago my wife and I were in Denver, and asked a bus driver if he went to Boulder (English pronunciation - Bowl-der) "Nah", he replied Ah does go t' Boolder, though....." @@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower
@@JohnDavies-cn3ro Love the story! I was in France for a spell.. That is longer than a tourist would.. Anyhow.. I pronounced Louviers the way I believe they would have otherwise.. Which was Lou-vi-eh on my part in the video.
Sounds to me, the mechanic and the foreman. Just pencil whipped the paperwork.
I wouldn't put anything past that happening.. I mean really. Most of the railroads didn't exactly own up to things in those days..Probably still today too.
Charles F. Steffes said he felt like he was sitting on a case of dynamite when running steam engines. "Life and Times of a Locomotive Engineer."
The risk from the locomotive boiler is low, as long as the water level is not. In cases of a firebox collapse like this, the ultimate cause is almost always human error, as a fireman knows that if the water glass drops below the safe level and he is unable to immediately correct, the throttle must be shut and the draft doors closed or drop the fire. In a case like this, where the engine is worked to full capacity and firing rate is high, it may take only 90 seconds to go from mid-level on the glass to disaster if feedwater delivery fails, so constant attention is imperative.
Another poster with knowledge said the Fireman was at fault, but shielded from outside knowledge
Injectors? I’d be surprised if this locomotive didn’t use a feed water pump, with the injectors only for backup. A feed water pump with water level sensor can lull the fireman into complacency, especially since the sensor system and even the feeds to the sight glasses can get clogged. This is a real problem with carbonate deposits from hard water. Just a monthly boiler wash isn’t enough.
The boiler explosion on the Gettysburg railroad tourist operation was due to exactly this - reliance on a feedwater pump system and clogged up sight glasses. You can find the FRA report online. The locomotive was a relatively young Canadian National design with a specially designed crown sheet that would rupture UP in the event of a dry crown sheet failure. Both the engine man and fireman survived and the engine still exists although never repaired and returned to service.
Back before WW2 the Reading lost an engine standing still in the yard. The water glass feeds were blocked off for a routine maximum pressure test with cold water and the boiler filled to the top. Having passed the test. Excess water was drained, the pops reinstalled and the engine steamed up. No one removed the blocking plates in the sight glass feeds and the boiler blew.
I have fired and run steam locomotives on two tourist railroads. They demand constant and full attention from the crew, a rare commodity in the current age of cell phones and ADHD.
Oh my... Im sorry... I laughed at your last line.. Hey man... it's true though. The ICC report did not give us a clear clue as to the physical cause of the accident in this case. As I understand it post video, the Fireman was as fault behind closed doors. However, as the physical cause..my guess would be the injectors since they are named on the report several times despite being looked at by maintenance. Foul water? Mechanical breakdown again? Both distinct possibilities.
I live in philadelphia, and I know who had a grandfather working in that yard, was injured, but minorly. I have the full ICC report and it says exactly everything you have written down.
The boiler explosion happened at the Erie Avenue engine house in philadelphia in the late 30s they performed a boiler hydrostatic test. Caped off all the opening ports. When they removed the metal caps which had gaskets upon removal part of the gaskets ripped off and stayed in the ports that go to the sights glasses, partially blocking the path to the water glasses. When the engine was fired up and kept warm by the night fireman he told the shop Forman in the morning he had trouble telling how much water was in the boiler. The Forman and machinest determined everything is OK, but when they got the engine hot and ready for service. The seals that that were in the piping finally completely blocked the water and they didn't know that they had low water in the boiler. The engine was assigned pusher service, but before it left it exploded killing the enginer Forman and machinest. The fireman survived without a scratch because he was standing outside behind the tender in a spot that protected him perfectly from the blast. The engine came off the tracks and sat at a 30 degree lean. A piece of shrapnel blew thru the wall of one of the shops killing a worker in side. If the walls were brick instead of sheet metal construction the worker would have survived.
Rolling bombs indeed. And this fact and accident were justification enough for Alfred Perlman to scrap as many standard gauge (virtually all) Rio Grande steam engines and go with by then the widely accepted diesel's superiority. (Why he didn't kill off the narrow gauge units I can't say but IFO am glad he did not.)
No kidding with the Narrow Gauge.. What a legacy!
Can you please do a story about the tunnel number 10 fire. During WWtwo. One of the tunnels between Denver and Rollinsville. There were a few deaths, they brought fire trucks from Denver on flatbed cars. Apparently it was the time of the year for sheep to go to market and they ended up trucking many thousands of sheep from Rollinsville to Denver. I believe there was an article in classic trains many years ago. Mountain train accidents was the article. I have read or heard nothing more about this accident. Thanks.
I will look into it
#3703's crownsheet failed due to low water, and the boiler exploded.
Yes. That much we know.. But why is the question
My experience is with watertube utility boilers of all sizes and types, but most commonly coal fired in the 100 to 600 Mwe range. There, the steam drum water level is the equivalent of the firebox crown sheets, but the fundamental issue is the same -- maintaining water level in the steam drum so as never to let the drum risers go dry. Then adding feedwater would cause similar stresses that would fail the drum.
There are a variety of sensing means to monitor the steam drum level, with low level alarms. the gage glasses are monitored in the control room by remote camera, and there are restrictions from the boiler code on operations with equipment not fully is service. Configurations of this type have "gage cocks" installed that allow manual opening and closure to verify the level in the boiler (or drum). There will be a number, typically 5-9 at successive levels that give an absolute indication of the water level; steam flows different than water, and makes a different sound. The fireman, typically, under engineer's supervision will test the gauge cocks to verify the instrumented water level. I assume this boiler had a similar configuration. Assuming it did, a first check signing on for the watch would be to manually check the boiler water level, prior to steaming the boiler hard and using the full range of feedpump, injector(s), and inductor(s) to steam the boiler.
The maintenance history suggested there were issues with the boiler, some of which were not clearly resolved. On the other hand, its history is typical. This accident is tragic on the basis of loss of life. There are other accounts in print from survivors and others who witnessed the event. Those killed did not all die immediately. Some survived for hours with serious scald burns and other physical injuries. This is the first account I've read whereby it reports a bystander, a railfan, killed beside the tracks. As another viewer pointed out, a steam boiler explosion of this size has the explosive power on line of that of a 10,000 lb bomb. Those were the largest conventional warhead the US ever used, roughly. "Large" bombs were on the order of 1000 lbs.
Other reports I recall reading (well over 20 years ago, while I was active in my work), suggested the boiler was fouled, along with the gauge cocks (and/or their lines). There is absolutely no evidence the engineer or fireman were remiss in their duties. These big engines used lots of water in the mountains, and water treatments, along with periodic boiler flushing, were (are) critical to the health of these huge boilers. My experience is with closed cycle boilers which largely used very clean, highly treated water. These used common makeup water, untreated, from tanks fed by tanks located every 20-40 miles apart along the right-of-way. No doubt treatments were added with makeup to the tenders, but nonetheless, the water had lots of dissolved solids.
Given the history of the boiler, it would have been wise to check the gauge cocks periodically to assure water actually flowed, to confirm absolute level covering the crown sheets. Failure of water to flow would be reason to shutdown the boiler. I have no idea what the fireman and engineer actually did, but they did not intend to kill themselves. Any sudden load change in a badly fouled boiler could have stirred up the sediments so as to prevent gauge cock performance, but tha tshould have been evident had the checks been done. I'm interested in what any old timers have to share about this event, or others familiar with it.
One last note. Injectors and inductors are finicky; they easily foul and erode so that feed flow to the boiler is impaired. Further, they take boiler steam to run. Low steam can mean poor feed. Utility firebox/watertube boilers used feedpumps, electric and steam driven. They have (had) aux steam sources, from other units or aux boilers. I assume the feedpumps here were steam driven, only. Had they been low on steam for whatever reason, they may have lost feed. Losing feed, and then regaining it could have created a scenario where feed would have been introduced onto a hot crownsheet. A survivor could have shared important details. I agree with the conclusion that the root cause remains unknown. In my lifetime of boiler plant engineering uncovering problems such as this has caused me such great consternation to solve, I could sleep until that was done. Operators environments and fatigue are different. Under such conditions, I've seen them miss important cues to serious equipment problems that ideally are never missed. It can also be career limiting to take heavy equipment out of service, and reduce production. I have never hesitated to "do the right thing", however, as I said, that is career limiting. I've seen others waltz through and ignore issues when production demanded. Today, we call this 'human factors engineering."
I see a mix of a Challenger, a blue comet, and a Southern Pacific AC-9 in this locomotive (what I see)
Been looking at the clouds again? Just kidd'n ya! Thank you for the comment
Interesting history. Steam locos are some of the greatest machines made. But a bit scary too. CASS WV is near my home so I see lots of steam loco. thx
You're welcome!
Phew - not something I'd have liked to witness. You've just confirmed something which has been bugging me for years, ever since I first read Robert C Reed's book 'Train Wrecks'. American engines didn't have fusible plugs, a basic, fail safe safety feature. Why not?
SImply not required by law.. And given that they themselves were often maintenance issues.. Many railroads and engineers alike, chose not to use them
There are various ways to assure safety. Fusible plugs are one. To find out the full range of options, read Section 4 of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which convers firetube boilers. Virtually all railroad engine boilers were fire tube boilers, meaning that the combustion products from whatever was burned (wood, oil, coal) produced combustion products that were drawn through the boiler via tubes in the firebox. Note that this excludes the superheaters. if applied, where the steam was drawn through the tubes at the top of the boiler from the steam drum to a plenum then the cylinders, that (the top of the boiler) being the hottest part of the flue gas path.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower Yes. A lot of your laws were, and are, very different to ours generally. From very early days our railways were subject to a lot more government control, by the Board of Trade than was common in the America of the same time - similarly in Australia, riverboats were. The authorities there looked at the Mississippi's safety record, and acted accordingly......
I remember reading about this in the Denver Post back in the day. I think there might have been a picture of it.
My math tutor lived not far from where this happened before she moved out of state. My dad also has documentation on what happened in the explosion. The boiler basically flew off, with the front set of six driver axles still moving after detaching from the locomotive.
This was a great video! OIs that steel block on the pilot a ballast weight or somthing?
It's a modified x-large sand dome.
Maybe the crown sheet was wasted thin and decided to fail
There is a new response from someone of klnowlege here.. And he says it was simply human error.. Of which I can buy that.. Because there was no obvious reason this time as to why this happened.
Another articulated explosion would be SP 4199, a cab forward Yellowstone type.
If the feedpump was having issues not pumping effectively, the pump could have stalled lost prime then when the boiler was in a low or no water condition the pump started pumping again causing a thermal expolsion with the induction of water. Especially with no low water alarm or cutout.
Well done, informative video! Thank you. Were there any signs prior to thexplosion? I heard thathe wateran off the crown sheet and when the locomotive reached a more level section of track, the water ran back onto the overheated crown sheet and flashed. Failure of the fireman to keep the water levehigh enough? Did the presence of the "trespasser" (photographer) distracthe crew enough thathe fireman missed something?
Another commentor with knowledge said the Fireman was faulted behind closed doors so to speak.. And that may be. The ICC report indicated that the reported maintenance issues were looked into.. However there seemed to be repeated issues with the injector system.. So I am looking at this as a physical cause possibility.. Or foul water from the tender causing a blockage of some sort. Im most curious on this incident. Because the ICC usually gives a clear hint at the cause.. Not this time.
What an amazing video! If you have a way I can send them to you, I have several photographs from the accident. They are digital copies received from the Oklahoma History Museum. I was going to post them here but I guess pictures cannot be added to comments…
Very odd that there were evidently no pictures available of the aftermath of such a horrific accident.
We were visiting family south of Castlerock when this occurred. Big boom and a shudder in the air.
Would love to see you make a video of the cab forward that exploded on the siskiyou pass
One day
Too many reports of problems with water feed should have alerted someone to the fact that there was a serious problem with this locomotive. That no in-depth investigation appears to have been undertaken as to the cause of these continuous reports and instead relied on the assumption that running repairs each time fixed the issues when it so obviously had not.
Having worked steamers your insight into what is actually going on inside the boiler is limited to the devices fitted to give you second-hand information but water injection is always based on the time between opening the injector and noting the obvious rise in water level in the boiler. If that period is notably lengthy over what you would normally expect, then there is a problem that would certainly require the train crew to take remedial action.
There is of course the matter of train crews running a low water head on purpose to facilitate a higher steam generation condition when a locomotive was working hard and one often used to basically force a poorly steaming locomotive to work harder. A condition not recommended but one that was quite commonly used by experienced crews.
This of course means that any margin of safety is significantly reduced but a balance can be struck if all the required equipment is working correctly when under full load.
The voracious appetite for water that these locomotives have meant that any reduction in the normal. (Correct) operating level of water above the crown sheet will seriously erode the time between a safe and unsafe situation developing down to as little as one or two minutes so for a locomotive that has a suspect water feed system particularly under full load as this one seems to have suffered with that reduction in feed water supply would mean the reaction time to an unsafe condition developing would have exceeded the ability of the crew to deal with it and even closing the regulator would not help the situation nor would they have had time to dump the grates or even close the draft. They would have set the conditions for the explosion themselves based on the tardy behaviour of the water feed system and any attempt to run the locomotive in that condition would then have meant an explosion was inevitable or at best be based on pure luck not to occur.
T
And that right there is the difference between being book educated (me) versus practical experience.
Then came in Alfred E Parlman.
Loved to have seen photos of the locomotive explosion aftermath
They have to be available for you to see them.. All I can say
I Enjoyed The Photos 📸 😊
This was the only one I didnt have access to actual scene photo's of the event. I didnt forget.. they just weren't there to use.
Did this unit "take up water", 'on the fly', prior to this event?
If it did, animal remains, instead of 'scaling' was the culprit.
Nothing indicates that..
reminiscend of Kesselzerknall, Bitterfeld , Germany 27. November 1977
Were there no pictures after the accident?
The only one so far I didnt have access to photo's of the actual event.
quite surprised it had no Fuseable plugs fitted, was the loco boiler delivered with that omission or was there a supply problem & had they been blanked off, the low water alarm is a secondary item, to be used in conjunction with gauge glass columns, again was this a standard fitting when the loco was delivered, the fuseable plug is there to reduce the fire intensity to prevent overheating of the crown sheet, I cannot believe anyone would be that stupid or incompetent to adopt that practise but it would appear due to the report that was the case.
I was rather surprised about the Low water alarm myself. The report clearly stated the loco didnt have one.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower I know the low level water alarm is a US item, I have never seen it here in Australia on steam loco's or ever seen it mentioned in Britain or Europe, they do exist on modern stationary steam plants as they are automated & do not have an attendant on or around the installation full time.
@@afs5609 Yeah, I could have sworn that I saw a requirement for U.S. Loco's to have them... Which is not the case with fusible plugs. To me..it's nuts not to have them on our huge loco's regardless if it's law or not.
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower I just realised that due to the boiler pressure fusible plugs are out of the question due to the high thermal temperature of water in the boiler at 280 psi the water temp is 481 F, the melting point of a fusible plug is around 450 F
Just remember, fusible plugs function only when there is no water to reduce the temperature below the melting point. I seem to recall, on the SP a boiler explosion on either an AC or MT class when all 5 plugs functioned and the boiler still exploded. Apparently, all 5 were not enough to extinguish the oil burner or get the attention of the engine crew. SP used and Nathan provided used button type fusible plugs that provided a larger opening.
So lesson learned: don't name things Challenger.
Word...
Why the throbbing noise in the background?
Because a certain someone raised the garage door.
It's obvious this engine needed a overhaul
I am not trying to be snarky, but how do you come to that conclusion?
Actually it seems the D&RG was on top of the maintenance from what I saw on the ICC report. Which is a first for me to see in doing these stories.
Operating Steam Locomotives ; a dangerous and demanding job.
Uh... Yeah.. it's a profession I think I could have done without.
That explosion had to have sounded like a bomb exploding and technically was.
🙏🙏🙏
Thank you!
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower
Cheers.., incredible/ lol highly credible story.., and great that & how you tell it…
Our old dad drove steam n diesel here in New Zealand…, he did so with apparently great ease…, but I know he took it dead seriously…, lol his favourite Dayi g re life.., which I know came his driving locos… “you can be right, and can be dead right”
He still installs great courage in us boys…, he knew how easily & often lay deadly railroading could be, but he did it and love every minute anyway… “rain/ hail/ shine” Rip🌹🌹🌹🙏🙏. Bugger!😥
@@tigertiger1699 Great memories...and you have the legacy to take forward with you. pass it on!
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower
Cheers.., yeah was very lucky.., was first on foot plate at “5 weeks”😂 1966… grew up on the old Da class (1955 EMD 1400 hp CoCo), then later DX class GE U26C ..👍, spent all school holidays in cab rides…, drove first freight 1800 tons DX lead…, at 13 years..
Rest family/ children not really into it..
@@TheRailroadCrossing-SteamPower
But beautiful legacy as you say….., a childhood around real men…🙏🌹
@5:50 The trespasser was killed, but @0:45 the article states he had a special permit, so how can he be a trespasser? @5:58 the trespasser was later found to be a rail enthusiast taking pictures. Seems they jumped the gun calling him a trespasser.
That's simply what the report stated... I think it's safe to say on my part that the guy hopped the train. That's my thinking anyhow.
I would like to have seen a photo or two of poor 3703 after the explosion, if this does not sound to morbid.
If they were available, I would have.
Hey Bub, if you make anymore videos, please leave out the boom, boom, boom going on in the background. it's very annoying having to listen to that while the narrator is talking.
That's already been dealt with