"That" thread asking for help at Kingswood appears to have been deleted. Why?

[David Mack]

35 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I am wondering how it happened.

Most likely low water in the boiler apparently.

12 May 1948 near Chillicothe, Ohio.

Killed the three men on the footplate, and debris landed up to a mile away.

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by David Mack

[Athy]

1 hour ago, 1st ade said:

Locomotive PRV's are called "safety valves" for a good reason (I'm not sure we've yet had a thread "how do I wire the PRV shut so i can get a proper hot shower" but I'm sure it's coming...)

 

There's a story of a rail fitter in Wolverton works in the 1800's who was "annoyed" by the sound of discharging steam; so he screwed the safety valve down. The locomotive retaliated by slicing his ear off when it exploded...

He was lucky that it didn't turn him into a kit of parts. I'm surpriderd it wa at Wolverton, as for many years that was known as a carriage and wagon works. Perhaps in its early days it dealt with engines as well.

   Indeed they are called safety valves, such as the Salter type which, like many locomotives, managed to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing. I for my part have never heard of a "PRV", though it sounds as if it ought to be a Japanese hatchback. The PRV 1.8 Turbo is apparently well thought of.

[bizzard]

56 minutes ago, Athy said:

He was lucky that it didn't turn him into a kit of parts. I'm surpriderd it wa at Wolverton, as for many years that was known as a carriage and wagon works. Perhaps in its early days it dealt with engines as well.

   Indeed they are called safety valves, such as the Salter type which, like many locomotives, managed to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing. I for my part have never heard of a "PRV", though it sounds as if it ought to be a Japanese hatchback. The PRV 1.8 Turbo is apparently well thought of.

Wolverton was originally the LNWR engine works before moving to Crewe. This is a good book. Boiler explosions by C.H.Hewison. I later years on the British Railways there were a few explosions, not too severe . A couple I mention here.  One on a LMS Coronation pacific, 46224 Princess Alexandra, in 1940, firebox crown sheet gave way due to lack of water, driver killed, fireman badly scalded. The test cocks on the water level gauges had just been fitted wrongly at Glasgow St Rollox giving false readings. The explosion occured at Lamington about 40 miles south of Glasgow. The second one was on the SR. Lord Nelson 854 in 1945 again firebox crown sheet blew down off it's stays. It had travelled about 12 miles from Bournemouth and was between Hinton Admiral and New Milton when it blew. fireman scalded to death, driver escaped lightly by scrambling out onto the running plate, again water gauges not properly tested.

[magnetman]

One day all these things will be electric running on Lithium batteries and we can all stop worrying.

[1st ade]

2 hours ago, Athy said:

He was lucky that it didn't turn him into a kit of parts. I'm surprised it was at Wolverton, as for many years that was known as a carriage and wagon works. Perhaps in its early days it dealt with engines as well.

   Indeed they are called safety valves, such as the Salter type which, like many locomotives, managed to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing. I for my part have never heard of a "PRV", though it sounds as if it ought to be a Japanese hatchback. The PRV 1.8 Turbo is apparently well thought of.

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=3813

 

Quote

The incident was referred to in Tom Rolt's 'Red for Danger', where he commented on the poetic justice of the explosion slicing the labourer's ear off.

 

 

And PRV = Pressure Relief Valve - fitted to all good hot water systems where an NRV (Non Return Valve) may prevent expanding water going back from whence it came... (cold water tank)

[Jen-in-Wellies]

5 hours ago, bizzard said:

Probably wasn't the smartest move to name the engine Cthulhu.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Pluto]

Boiler explosions did happen on canals, and there were at least four on the L&LC where workers died. This is one report on such an incident:

1889-1-22 explosion.pdf

[Tacet]

I thought the fusible plug addresses a shortage of water rather than excessive pressure.

Rolt relates a couple of instances where an ancient locomotive boiler had its safety valve tied down to prove sufficient pressure for the task in hand; it scared him.

[1st ade]

1 hour ago, Tacet said:

Rolt relates a couple of instances where an ancient locomotive boiler had its safety valve tied down to prove sufficient pressure for the task in hand; it scared him

And others where the explosion happened at the bottom of steep gradients... Same logic.

[Chris Lowe]

8 hours ago, MtB said:

Nothing is deleted Mike we just hide things.

 

Back for me too now, thank you.

 

I was very concerned as we had this a few months ago, where a new poster asked a question, got a quite a few helpful answers then they demanded the thread be deleted for no good reason other than a mild contretemps late in the thread, and Team Mod just deleted it! No credible explanation ever provided.

 

 

 

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Pluto said:

Boiler explosions did happen on canals, and there were at least four on the L&LC where workers died. This is one report on such an incident:

1889-1-22 explosion.pdf 2.03 MB · 0 downloads

A rather alarming report! One of the crew replaced a couple of leaking boiler tubes during a trip. The next day they were leaking again so he again replaced them again. And the day after, one of them blew out, resulting in a blast of steam and burning coals out of the firing hole, just as another of the crew was stoking the boiler. He died from his injuries.

The perils of letting boat crew do their own repairs!

[Pluto]

57 minutes ago, David Mack said:

A rather alarming report! One of the crew replaced a couple of leaking boiler tubes during a trip. The next day they were leaking again so he again replaced them again. And the day after, one of them blew out, resulting in a blast of steam and burning coals out of the firing hole, just as another of the crew was stoking the boiler. He died from his injuries.

The perils of letting boat crew do their own repairs!

With the other three reports, it does seem that boiler maintenance by boatmen was fairly standard. Even Mr Wilkinson, the owner of the firm which made L&LC engines and boilers, was fairly offhand in how he addressed problems. On one occasion, when testing a new boat, he plugged a leaking tube with a wooden bung - with fatal results. One of the accidents happened at Greenberfield, the victim being transported by boat to the nearest hospital at Blackburn, where he died.

[Bee]

And then there are Mississippi steam boats that apparently used to go bang quite frequently.