Boiler explosion.

Chanced across this on Youtube of 01.1516 in Bitterfeld 1977. German language.

 

An absolutely horrific accident. Just watched it with my German Girlfriend, who translated. Interesting to see more photographs of the aftermath. I hope we never again see a steam locomotive in such circumstances.

Richard.

 

Not seen some of those photos before, as @Richard Roper says, very interesting. I found this the other day, from Cuba a few years ago.

http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/cuba0007.htm

 

What I find so bizarre about it though is how it happened, the crew had already had to change engines as a result of allowing a loco to 'boil dry' earlier in the day, and the went on to miss a booked water stop.............

 

Again, not nice viewing. This one was pretty horrific too - Buxton, 1921...
https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Buxton1921.pdf

Richard.

 

Yes, that was what I found rather odd too... Unfortunately they didn't survive to learn from their errors of judgement.

Richard.

 

I may be wrong about this but the East Germany and Cuba seem to me to have very different causes. The first was due to boiler mismanagement whereby a serious shortage of water caused the firebox crown to collapse. This in turn caused the firebox to lift up in the air, taking the rest of the boiler with it and land some way in front of the loco. The Cuban event seems to have been caused by a structural failure of the boiler itself, somewhere in the vicinity of of the smokebox tubeplate and not the result of crew mismanagement. If I am wrong I'm happy to be corrected.

Peter James

 

The Cuban explosion was a result of severe corrosion at the bottom of the barrel, I believe. I've never seen a formal report, though.

 

I've read several US Boiler Explosion reports - the Norway, a few loco's, the Iwo Jime & a power station boiler.

It doesnt say much about their abilities to manage these things

 

ss Norway's boiler explosion report is scary

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations...FjAAegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw0zGjb38dSobOpKYZD_noHW

 

Link not working.

 

try it like this.
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAB0703.pdf

 

I only have a limited experience of Scotch marine boilers & nothing of water tube but what was being done to the boilers on the Norway made my hair stand on end

 

My boiler inspector, a former Cunard and IoMSP Chief, gave me a copy of that report and I couldn't believe the way that her boilers had been mistreated. Unfortunately most boiler 'incidents' such as the traction engine explosion in Ohio result from a combination of poor maintenance and sheer stupidity.
Ray.

 

Worrying reading, to be sure ............ penny pinching vs safety raises its ugly head again!!!!
All the same, a very interesting explanation of boiler management and a better understanding from the operational point of view of our beloved locos.

 

Thank you

 

Was your Boiler Inspector on Manxman in her last season? Or Ben By Chree? If so I might have met him

I dont know how you 'shut down' marine boilers other than to close the stops & turn the burners off.

 

His name was Bob Jones but, unfortunately, I can't ask him which ones he was on latterly as he died several years ago. A great shame as he was a fine engineer and boiler inspector for our club. The superintendent engineer Mike Casey (Bob's boss) is still with us however. IIRC the report stated that the boilers on the Norway were being repeatedly shut down, cooled by circulating sea-water through them and then 'flashed up' again a couple of days later. The final straw seemed to be a long crack in one of the drums into which, for some reason, a length of copper wire appeared to have been hammered!
Were you on the Manx boats? If so you might have also known Alisdair Lamberton - I think he was a second on the Ben and/or the Maid for a while.
Ray.

 

'Fraid I was only the teenager who was allowed into the inner sanctum & ocassionaly let loose on the controls

I might be remembered for that.............

 

On the subject of boiler explosions, you might enjoy this fascinating story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_(steamboat)

Until I came across the story by accident, I had never heard of it, despite of its high loss of life.