2114 explosion
NW Mailing List
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Fri Apr 5 14:31:48 EDT 2019
I checked the NWHS archives database for fusible plug and found only
three documents, all drawings, two of which were for stationary
boilers. The other one was N&W drawing A9402, dated 7/30/08 for a Shay
locomotive, probably N&W No. 56, built 1907 for N&W, sold 1915. This
drawing showed a threaded brass plug (Patt. No. 11861) with a tin core.
The lack of documentation in the NWHS archives on fusible plugs for any
other N&W locomotives leads me to believe that the N&W did not use
fusible plugs other than on that one Shay.
Gordon Hamilton
On 4/5/2019 8:29 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> British engines were generally fitted with lead plugs in copper
> riveted fire boxes, boiler pressure seldom exceeded 250psi. Plug
> failure was supposed to extinguish the fire, though steam escape
> through firebars and firebox doors was a side effect. US engines had
> steel welded fire boxes with boiler pressure up to 300psi. I do not
> know what material was used for fusible plugs on US engines. Though
> it was not uncommon for plugs to melt on British engines with very few
> explosions, it would seem that boiler explosions were more common in
> the US. Perhaps a lower melting point plug material may have helped.
> Regards,
> Richard Hood
>
> On Fri, 5 Apr 2019, 11:55 NW Mailing List, <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>> wrote:
>
> The head brakeman was riding in the tender doghouse and was found
> walking in
> a daze near the front of the engine. He told me some about the
> incident,
> but I didn't have enough sense at that time to ask him for more
> details.
> The 2114 had been reported with injector problems on its westward
> trip to
> Clare. Some fishermen fishing under a trestle west of Eastwood
> reported
> being soaked by water as the engine passed, evidently overflow
> that wasn't
> being picked up by the injector. I don't remember whether the
> water pump
> was OK or not; evidently it was not, because that should have been
> the
> primary water supplier while working on the road.
>
> The engineer was a noted low-water man and seemed to want to
> continue to be
> on an engine with known injector and water pump problems.
>
> There was a telegraph pole in the vicinity which had a short
> length of pipe
> with a 45-degree ell on the end of it sticking out, a souvenir of
> the power
> of steam. I noted it every trip past Eastwood when I was riding
> on the
> south side of an engine.
>
> Ed King - ARFE Portsmouth, 1962-1965.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NW Mailing List
> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2019 12:06 PM
> To: NWHS LIST
> Subject: 2144 explosion
>
> Some details from the ICC report on the 2114 explosion by
> Eastwood, Ohio.
>
> The force of the explosion tore the boiler from the chassis; tore the
> interior and exterior firebox sheets away from the shell section
> of boiler.
> The boiler shell was blown upward and descended 130 feet forward
> and 6 feet
> south of the track with the combustion chamber end down,
> depressing a hole 6
> feet deep in the embankment; the boiler bounded forward, striking the
> smokebox section on the rails, then rebounded, coming to rest
> headed east at
> an angle approximately 45 degrees to the track with the smokebox
> end 275
> feet forward from point of accident and 16 feet north of center
> line of
> track. The roof sheet with left side wrapper sheet and upper
> section of
> boiler back head attached was blown forward 475 feet and 46 feet
> north of
> center line of track; the rear section of crown sheet with a
> section of the
> door sheet and major portions of the side sheets attached was
> blown 62 feet
> rearward and 30 feet north of the center line of track; part of
> right side
> wrapper sheet was blown 675 feet f
> orward and 234 feet north of center line of track; the lower
> section of the
> boiler back head extending below the arch tube plugs was blown 130
> feet
> forward and 212 feet north of center line of track; the lower
> section of the
> smokebox was badly distorted and torn approximately 40 percent
> through its
> lower rear circumference; the smokebox front was blown 573 feet
> forward and
> 37 feet north of center line of track. The cab was blown rearward
> 557 feet
> and 72 feet north of center line of track. Various other parts
> were found
> within a radius of 600 feet from the point of explosion. The
> chassis of the
> locomotive with tender attached moved forward about 385 feet and
> came to a
> stop with all of the wheels of locomotive and tender derailed. The
> first
> three stock cars of the train, loaded with hogs, were derailed;
> one of these
> was turned over and the other two were slewed on their trucks.
> The engineer's body was found in a field 530 feet west and 127
> feet south of
> the point of explosion. The fireman's body was found in a field
> 112 feet
> west and 200 feet north of the point of accident.
>
> Jeff Wood
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