Steam & Excursion > If You Turned Your Back On The Power Of Steam, This Happened!

Those who operated steam locomotives on a regular basis quickly grew to respect the destructive power they were in charge of.  If they ever failed to treat the power of steam with the respect it was due, there were often disastrous results like we see here.

The date was May 3, 1941 and the time was 1:43 pm and the crew of Southern Pacific's cab-forward #4199 had the big engine working hard on the head end of a heavy freight near Cooper, California (near Salinas) when all hell broke lose.  With no warning the crownsheet of the big AC suddenly exploded with the force that only could come with superheated steam being produced in great volumes because the water in the boiler had dropped so low as to expose the red hot crownsheet to the air and surrounding steam.  the result was a boiler explosion strong enough to rip the boiler from the locomotive's frame and send it hurtling back some 562 feet over the freight cars of the train it was pulling a few seconds earlier.  The mangled crwonsheet can be seen nest to the front of #4199's running gear in the first photo.

The destruction of the engines explosion not only resulted in the damage the to engine and train but also the death of the 4 crewmen in the cab of #4199 and the injury of one other in the trains caboose that had come to a sudden stop when the train suddely was halted in it's tracks by the explosion.

While the crew of #4199 was lost for all time, the big cab-forward would live on.  She was sent to SP's L.A. shops where she was rebuilt and returned to service in August of 1941.  She would last on the roster until finally being retired in 1956.

Martin



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/18 04:06 by LoggerHogger.

---

---

---

 Appreciate the background information on SP 4199 unfortunate boiler explosion 💥 

Going up grade the water in the boiler ran back, away from the crown sheet but at Cooper the track is almost dead level so that was not the issue.
Returning to the home terminal (Watsonville Jct.) may have let their minds wander....
I think the metal sheds are still there.
Thanks for sharing.

Its hard to wrap ones head around that large of an object becoming airborne and then the running gear appearing unharmed much like a display. 

The railroad at this location is alongside US Highway 101.  The story goes that a guy was driving his truck alongside 4199 looking at the engine at speed, waving to the crew.  He said said all of a sudden the fireman got off his seat and stepped into the middle of the cab to look at something....

The next thing he knew he was climbing out of the wreck of his truck which was on its side in the ditch of on the opposite side of the highway.  The concussion of the explosion blew his truck across the highway into the ditch.

Earl,

Thanks for adding that.  Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time!

Martin

Similar story to when C&O 1642 blew up near Hinton, WV.  Some kids were along the river and watching the train pass, and I read the fireman was waving at them just before the boiler let go.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

All good lessons to anyone running this steam locomotives.  Watch the water level first and the spectators later.

Martin

I recall one of the first lesson James Boynton ever gave me about steam engines: "We called 'em 'Rolling Bombs', kid.  There's a reason for that."

Z

On a lark, I decided to research this incident through period news coverage.  My findings will be coming soon in a new thread.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

I have an original report on the wreck, somewhere. When I find it I will post it.  It goes through the stay bolts, drop plugs, past inspections in Santa Barbara and a boiler wash at WJ. 

If memory serves me correctly, It was Engineer Jollie, his fireman and the head brakeman that were killed. They had just left Watsonville Jct, away home terminal. on the way to SLO, their home terminal. The truck driver was injured but survived.

Nudge

spnudge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If memory serves me correctly, It was Engineer
> Jollie, his fireman and the head brakeman that
> were killed. They had just left Watsonville Jct,
> away home terminal. on the way to SLO, their home
> terminal. The truck driver was injured but
> survived.
>
> Nudge

HERE is contemporary news reporting of the accident.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/18 14:56 by MaryMcPherson.

Are there any videos of a steam locomotive's boiler exploding? All I've seen are pictures of the aftermath.

Those sheds are still there and this was along highway 183 not 101. This was between Salinas and Castroville across from the one room school house that still stands.

SD80MACfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are there any videos of a steam locomotive's
> boiler exploding? All I've seen are pictures of
> the aftermath.

None that I'm aware of.  The only video footage I've seen catching anything like a boiler explosion happening is from a security camera when a stationary boiler in a building failed.  It shows nothing more than a cloud of vapor.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Look at old WWII film clips of pilots shooting at locomotive boilers.

I take it SP didn't use low water alarms like some other roads did?

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I take it SP didn't use low water alarms like some
> other roads did?

Crew blew up C&O 1642 and bystanders heard the low water alarm sounding before the explosion.  Having it doesn't mean it will prevent a catastrophe.  That said, I don't know if S.P. used them or not.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

SD80MACfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are there any videos of a steam locomotive's
> boiler exploding? All I've seen are pictures of
> the aftermath.

Not s video, but a photo of a couple locomotives having boiler explosions at Crush, Texas--another story showing the power of steam:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush,_Texas

If the low water alarm is sounding, you (generally) have just four inches of water to spare above the crown sheet at that point.

Any change in grade can quickly reduce that small level of remaining insulation inside the boiler and above the crown - and any change back can expose that now weakened metal to water just as quick. Running low water can be easily exacerbated by losing situational awareness and being painfully reactive. Four inches may sound like a lot in a stationary boiler, but sloshing up and down the railroad means changes happen fast.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/18 06:02 by nathansixchime.