Re: [cpsig] Re: Fuel Oil Heating CPR Selkirks
- From: "Roger T." <rogertra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 15:21:14 -0700
There was
only once when I seriously thought the engine (3716 that day, IIRC) was at
the danger point and that was a very frightening three or four minutes
because we were at the station with a crowd of people around. Had the
water
not reappeared in the glass within another few seconds, I would have been
screaming at people to get away from the engine. Not a good performance
that day and I still think there were two very lucky enginemen, both of
whom
had not been qualified steam men for all that long.
And I still wonder why North American steam locos, in general, were not
provided with fusible plugs in the firebox.
IIRC, a N&W loco had a boiler explosion sometime in the 1950s that sent the
boiler flying ahead of the engine by several hundred feet. The last time
there was an explosive boiler failure on a UK loco was in W.W.II when a loco
exploded in a tunnel. The locos? Three, all American built 2-8-0.
That's not to say that there were not boiler failures. Hewison (1983) gives
a comprehensive account of British boiler explosions, listing no less than
137 between 1815 and 1962. It is noteworthy that 122 of these were in the
19th century and only 15 in the 20th century.
a.. 11 November 1921 - last boiler barrel explosion in UK, at Buxton, due to
safety valves being too tight; boiler estimated to have reached 600 psi
before exploding, design pressure 200 psi.
a.. 1943/1944 - three American-built locomotives explode in service in the
United Kingdom due to operator unfamiliarity with the water gauge.
a.. 24 January 1962 - last boiler explosion on British Railways, at
Bletchley; firebox collapse due to water shortage, driver and fireman
scalded but survived.
Cheers
Roger T.
Home of the Great Eastern Railway
http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra/
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