Working rail roads and their tracks.

[buckeyefarmer]

Just watched some video on steam train explosions. I knew there used to be a dinner train in Gettysburg, but I don’t recall hearing about this explosion.

The Gettysburg railroad explosion 25 years later - YouTube

Another one in Ohio.

The 1948 Steam Locomotive Boiler Explosion Outside of Chillicothe, Ohio - YouTube

 

[cqaigy2]

Interesting videos.

Scary what those boilers are capable of.

 

[5030]

Some video's of stationary explosions on You Tube as well. Don't matter, on wheels or on a foundation, low water = a blow up.

 

[5030]

I've always wanted a rail speeder to restore, preferably a Fairmont with a 4 stroke twin but at 70, I'm too old so now I just watch the speeder vids on the tube.

 

[caver]

There was a club outing of speeders on the Cumbres Toltec narrow gauge RR a few years ago. I was waiting for the train and out riding my motorcycle.
I recall there was quite a number of them. I later caught up with them at the ghost town of Osier where there is space for the two opposing tourists trains to pass. They waited until the east bound train arrived and then headed Chama NM. speeder club

 

[Norm W]

For steam power there are three words to remember, water, water and water. I've been around steam for 40 years. If you don't respect it, it can kill you. The Gettysburg was either stupidity or carelessness. Failure to maintain the sight glass (it's checks and maintenance) and lack of multiple sources of feed water. Unfortunately, it is situations like this that end living history displays.

 

[Hay Dude]

For steam power there are three words to remember, water, water and water. I've been around steam for 40 years. If you don't respect it, it can kill you. The Gettysburg was either stupidity or carelessness. Failure to maintain the sight glass (it's checks and maintenance) and lack of multiple sources of feed water. Unfortunately, it is situations like this that end living history displays.

Agree. That’s akin to an air show airplane crash

 

[buckeyefarmer]

For steam power there are three words to remember, water, water and water. I've been around steam for 40 years. If you don't respect it, it can kill you. The Gettysburg was either stupidity or carelessness. Failure to maintain the sight glass (it's checks and maintenance) and lack of multiple sources of feed water. Unfortunately, it is situations like this that end living history displays.

Yes, they had no business running the Gettysburg engine as it was.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I used to weld a boiler in Jay Maine for shutdowns, and they said back in the 1990's it was the only boiler of that design, that had not blown up.

Last month it blew up and was caught on a dash cam by a trucker waiting to go into the paper mill. It was quite the explosion...

RAW: See the moment of the massive Jay, Maine mill explosion - YouTube

 

[BrokenTrack]

This only happened once, but we were in Chicago when a steam engine that was on an excursion run between Chicago and Minneapolis, pulled into the railroad yard we were at. I got some pictures of it as I had not seen that before. (BNSF-Cicero Yard if memory serves me right).

It was pretty neat, but no longer runs I heard, because it derailed, and at $30 per second when the track goes down, to when it goes back online, the railroads cannot afford the liability of old trains on the rails.