The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-02
FREAKS OF BURSTING BOILERS
THE MISHAP WHICH RAILROAD
ENGINEERS FEAR MOST.

"hCu - hbSttCt
Hike flight OF q BOlIef-LOw water tho
Most Common Cauae-Capned Power.
"The blowing up OF a railroad locomotive
boiler is the mishap most feared by engineers
and firemen.' said an engineer. 1T 10
seldom that any one riding on an engine
whose boiler explodes gets away alive.
THE average person looking at o big
engine running along under full pressure
can have no idea Of the tremendous poweF
that Is bottled up in the big iron can. Sust
consider the length and width Of one OF
these boilers. and then remember that
every single square inch Of all the surface
is withstanding a pressure of 200 and some
times 24o pounds. There is no indication
Of the force fastened up in one Of these
travelling volcanoes until trouble develops
and then the stunts that boiler VIII do are
almost unbelievable.
Just the other day there wan a bad ex-
plosion on one Of the mountain divisions
Of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad down
in West Virginia. A big freight engine.
whose boiler was 80 wide and high that IL
would barely clear the top and sides Of the
tunnels. suddenly let go as the engineer
was pulling into a sidetrack.
With a crash the boiler tore away from
the engine frame, scattering the running
gear and the tender Jumping over a
freight car standing near by, it shot a hun
dred feet away from the track. As soon
as 1t struck the ground it ave another
leap that took it q hundred and fifty
feet further toward a farmhouse, and once
more coming back to the earth, right in
front OF the house. made still a third bound,
went clear over the house and finally landed
in the orchard, a short distance from the
farmhouse and fully 500 feet from the engine.
having acted for all the world jkst like. a
skyrocket that has accidentally been
touched of before being properly pointed.
Both the engineer and fireman were in
stantly killed.
Another remarkable boiler explosion
took place some time ago on the New Haven
road. One OF the largest Of the freight
engines was running along under full head
way when the boiler, without a moment's
warning, ,wrenched itself from the frame
work. jumped straight up in the air and
then sailed over into a nearby field. This
curious part Of this accident was that the
engineer and fireman were not killed, not
even hurt.
AS a rule the cause Of a boiler explosion
is shortage Of water. Either the engineer
does not know the water is low or the In
jectors won't work. 1t isn't as simple a
matter to keep a full supply of water in a
boiler as one might think.
1T is when a lot Of cold water is sent into
a very hot boiler in which the water Ia
allowed to run low that the trouble
The sudden and terrific pressure is more
than steel plates will stand.
Not long ago / saw a green engineer
playing with certain death simply because
| he ltd nat Lnou hnU 20 handIa fha xuaxor
He had run the engine onto a sidetrack
and was trying to get the injectors to work.
Madden han a hornet, the new engineer
used every cuss word he was acquainted
with because the injectors wouldn't send
a drop Of water into the boilerI
had become very low, and the metal kept
getting hotter and hotter until the lower
part OF the firebox was cherry red, And
that fellow was trying with all his might TO
! get water into that boiler.
Getting down from my engine. ] ran
over and told him TO quit fooling with the
injectors n to drop his fire just as quick
as he could, which was the only thing to
prevent a bad explosion. This he did,
and the danger was soon past, but he GER
tainly burned her good.
Now that engineer didn't now IL. but
he was in the same position as a man trying
pounds Of dynamite with a sledgehammer
and wondering why it won't go of. The
conditions were such that the moment he
got a stream Of cold water started the boiler
loon. That engineer really didn't know how
much he had to be thankful for because
the injectors refused to work.
1T used to happen once in a while in the
old days that a boiler blew up on account
Of being worn out or defective, but this
does not happen often in these times. The
boilers nowadays are so thoroughly tested
and so well and strongly made that nine
times out OF ten the cause of explosion will
be found to be low water.
There was a boiler explosion some years
ago that was right up TO the company.
The boiler Of an engine on a road running
into indianapolis had beer condemned
for some time, but there was such a shortage
Of power that the company took the chance
Of using the engine until a letup in the
traffic would give 1t an opportunity TO lay
the engine up for repairs.
THE engine idn't wait for that time to
come, but let loose one night about twenty
miles from Indianapolis and scattered the
played out boiler over all the immediate
vicinity, incidentally distributing the en-
gineer and fireman over about the same
area.
sNo sooner did word reach headquarters
Of the explosion than a large force OF men
was sent to the scene before daybreak,
and for perfectly obvious reasons, taking
sledgehammers they pounded every bit
Of the old boiler that could be located into
such a condition that no one could ever tell
whether there had ever been anything
defective about it or not.
But you may depend upon it when the
company Is in the right every effort In
made TO preserve evidence that The. ex-
plosion was brought about through the fault
Of the engineer. Some time ago an engine
blew up on one Of the roads running into
Baltimore and both the engineer and fire.
man were killed. The engine. or what /,
was left Of IL, was placed on a sidetrack
hv the company for future reference. The
fault was clearly with the engineer, for the
reason that the crown sheet was badly
burned and the boiler had given way in
that spot.
There is not the slightest truth in the
statement that an engine about TO blow up
will make some sort Of noise. II never
gives warning. but simply let's go. ane
lucky is the man who sees one 60 up and
lives to tell about IT,"
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