Boiler explosions (infrequent) were the least of their worries; firebox blow-backs were far more frequent and often very nasty. In the U.K. I believe the last fatal blowback was in 1965 at Winsford, but non-fatal accidents continued with the latest being in 2012.
Even small boilers (including domestic appliances) have considerable explosive potential, which is why model engineers need certification (and usually insurance?) for their small pressure vessels. And then there are aerosol cans…
Regards,
M
P.S. I was surprised the latest European locomotive boiler explosion was on the 7th November 1977 at Bitterfeld in (East) Germany:
Before:
After:
Randy, thanks again. Those are incredible - and chilling - images.
@barkingdigger, thanks for the description of the effects of low water. For those not acquainted with steam locos, low water was so dangerous that somebody invented a low water alarm. When operating a loco on a steep grade, the crown sheet could be uncovered and experience failure. I’ve even read that water levels had to be monitored closely because sloshing could cause a k-boom. What I do not understand is overfilling a boiler, some thing I’ve heard of. I’ve heard of that “priming” the boiler; is that allowing water into the drypipe, where it flashes to steam and directly into the cylinders? (I started looking for info on overfilling and came across this unrelated subject: Railway Preservation News • View topic - The Infamous 1994 "Blue Peter" Wheel Slip Incident On Film )
I will tell on myself - the first day I fired a steam loco, while at the station, I was running the injector to fillt the boiler. I knew not to let water get low so I watched it like a hawk, and we would soon be working up-grade, so I wanted some extra water in the boiler. But then I had a squirrel moment and vegged, and started overfilling the boiler. I caught it in time and we had to blow down the boiler while standing at the station. What a greenhorn!
I was wondering how “my” photo was already displayed. Senior moments becoming senior minutes for me.
