Warning! If you work with steam, please read!

[ostlandr]

This may be old news to some, but here is the link to the NTSB study on the Gettysburg RR crown sheet failure that led to the new, tighter steam locomotive regulations. I'm no locomotive engineer, but even a wannabe like myself knows enough to check the gauge cocks before every run to make sure the water gauge isn't lying. And I was absolutely shocked to read that drop plugs (or "soft plugs" as some call them) aren't required safety equipment!!!
Please, gang- if you work with steam, read the report. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others. The fool learns from his own mistakes- unless the mistake in question wins him a Darwin award.
Of note, also, is that while the firemen jumped to safety, the engineer stayed at his post until the train was stopped, despite his burns.

http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1996/SIR9605.pdf

[Gwizz]

Many years ago a Mr. Atwood, who ran a lot of Maine 2 foot gauge steam equipment around his cranberry farm, was working on a small stationary steam engine with its own small boiler. The boiler blew.

Not only did it scald him, it killed him.

[wsherrick]

The engineer was doing his duty. It's a tradition that the engineer stays on until everyone else is safe and property protected. To do any less would make him unworthy in my opinion to be at the throttle.

This incident was due purely to an inexperienced fireman and an inattentive engineer. I have never thought a tourist railroad operating trains of any kind, especially steam power, with volunteers and weekend warriors is a good policy. I learned steam the hard way. I didn't get moved from one step to the next until I was trusted with the responsibilities I had.

It take years to learn the nuances of steam. You can't learn it on a simulator or from a book. You have do it and you have to fail.-Fail many times until the belief in yourself grows to handle the job at hand and you become confident. This only happens when you have a patient and stern instructor. I have trained many young men on steam and I can tell pretty quick who has the ability and who doesnt.

I am a terrible, stern dictator in the cab. I watch the young firemen like a Hawk and attempt to instill in them the degree of seriousness required to run a steam locomotive. Not to do so would be to fail in my responsibilities to the company, myself, the passengers and most of all the people I am teaching.

There was one young man who had the desire and ability down deep inside of his being, but he was inattentive to his task because he wanted everyone to notice that it was him up on the big locomotive as we rode along. I took a 1/2 inch oak dowel and kept it within easy reach. When he wasn't watching the water glass I would smack him on the neck with the dowel and ask, "What should you be doing right now?" I know he hated it, but the engineer is the Lord of the Cab, you only get there by earning it.
He would argue with me about filling the boiler. "I think it has enough." he would say. My response: "It has enough water when I tell you it has enough-now it needs coal-get shovelling!" The only way to get his attention was to make him angry. Now he is a trusted and competent fireman and will be a good engineer someday.

You might think this is a severe teaching method. Of course, I am severe only when necessary. Running a steam engine is do or die, life or death, the operating system is your arms, the microprocessor-your mind. It takes nothing less than all of your attention, brains and your back to do it. Anything less is to court disaster. The prevailing lazy attitudes of our current time period don't work well on a steam engine.
In this manner I hope to avoid an accident like the one that occured on the Gettsyburg Railroad.

[thegrindre]

Very good, wsherrick. I wish this applied to automobile driving as well.

[wsherrick]

Thanks Grindre, I'm glad you don't think I'm a monster.
I have a story about lessons learned the hard way.
When I was a young man about 18 or 19, I was just beginning my education on steam. At this point I wasn't allowed to do too much,(much less than I thought I was capable of at the time ) I think all 19 year olds are that way.
Well, I was working on a trip which started in Memphis made it's way to Huntsville, then to Chattanooga and finally back to Birmingham. It was in July with all of the miserable hot and humid weather that dear old Dixie can throw at you.
My job at the time was to baby sit the engine at night and have it ready when the crew showed up at 7:00 AM.
The night was spent wiping the boiler, rods and drivers down so they would be gleaming the next morning. This was in addition to keeping the fire and pressure up, cleaning out the ash pan among several other chores to do.
During the day, (yes, there was no sleep until the trips were finished) I would ride up on top of the coal pile and push coal down to the fireman so he didn't have to reach for coal.
There was nothing like those moments up on the coal pile, riding along as the locomotive blasted down the track at 60 MPH literally splitting the Earth in two as the whole universe was at your feet and volcanic clouds of smoke and steam went billowing around your head. It was pure glory. All feelings of tiredness would vanish.

Once we climbed over the mountain into Chattanooga, the engine needed to be, "turned," that means serviced.
We had to fill up the tender with water, clean the ash pan and fire and lubricate the engine.
Well 4501 was built in 1911 without all of the nice modern devices which came later to make things so much easier.
Everything on the 4501 had to be done by hand and we had an hour to do it all, before the return trip to Huntsville. Of course there is all of the required posing for photos and interruptions by the passengers and everyone else who was drawn in by the magic spell of a living steam engine.
I had been up for 3 days by this time and suddenly I was feeling quite hot, tired and ready to get on the way back.
My jobs consisted of crawling under the pilot with a gallon oil can and oiling the pony trucks, then filling up all of the driving wheel boxes, helping with the heavy compressed air grease gun to do the driving rod pins and last and most hated of all, oil the hub liners.
The hub liners are located where the driving axle fits into the driving wheel between the frame and the wheel itself. This area was a wear point and allowed the axle and drivers to move in and out so the engine can track around sharp curves.
On later engines the hub liners are oiled by simply fitting a grease gun on a fitting located near the center of the driving wheel. Later engines with roller bearings totally eliminated hub liners and the need to oil them.
Old 4501 never heard about roller bearings.
How this was done back in the good old days (pre 1920) you had to use a horrible, thick, stringy grease called, "Crater Oil."
Crater Oil was impossible to work with. You had a metal rod with a square paddle on the end of it which was dipped into the bucket of Crater Oil and and hopefully you could get some to stick on the paddle.
Next, you had to scrape off the oil onto the spring hangers which are located right above the center of the driving wheel and BEHIND everything else. You had to work your arms through the spokes of the driving wheel, past the rods and around the valve gear which always seemed to be in the way.
The idea was that as the axles and everything warmed up during operation the Crater Oil would soften up and drip down to lubricate the hub liners.
Most of the time the Crater Oil would fall off the paddle or stick to the wrong place before you could get it to where you wanted it.
(I know I must have provided a lot of secret entertainment for the rest of the crew while doing this)
By the time I had made it to the last driver, the one on the front/fireman's side, I simply had enough. I was hot, sweaty, tired, my gloves, arms, hands, and overalls were all covered with Crater Oil and it made me uncomfortable to say the least.
The final straw was there was a leaky valve overhead which was sputtering a shower of steam and hot water.
I thought to myself that well, it wouldn't hurt to leave just that one, after all; I had gotten them earlier that morning.
I heard someone scream at me from the cab that we had to go pick up the passengers and head out. I climbed up in the cab and didn't say anything about it.
Everything went fine as we fought the mountain on the way back to Huntsville. It was after we started to come down that the trouble started.
The Southern Railroad had trackage rights over the L&N from Chattanooga to Stevenson Al. We were in a hurry because there were trains waiting for us in both directions to clear at Stevenson.
About halfway down the mountain with Stevenson still a good distance away, smoke started issuing from around the left front driving wheel.
Mr. Purdie, the absolute Lord, Master, the end of all authority when it came to steam power, and my boss, told the engineer to stop.
He climbed down out of the cab and checked the driving wheel bearing by pulling off his glove and touching it.
The second he touched it he shot a death glance at me up on the tender.
He waved for me to come down there that instant. He had both hands on his hips. That told me he was MAD.
"Billy, did you put the Crater Oil on these wheels?!"
I was stuck, I couldn't lie to him, I know if I did he would know it.
"Yes sir, I put it on all of them except this one."
"Why in the HELL did you skip this one?!!!"
"It was getting late and I thought it would be okay."
Mr. Purdie's voice changed from outrage to cold anger.
"Don't you know how important this is?" I trusted you to do a simple job and look at where we are -we are tying up TWO $%#!!@$ RAILROADS with trains backed up all the way to Atlanta!!"
I'm really sorry Mr. Purdie. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Sorry don't mean a #$@#@!! Go get the hose!"
"Can't I oil it now?"
NO!! No you can't oil it now. It's too hot!! It has to be cooled off first. And you better hope that this bearing isn't ruined boy! Go get the hose."
I was devastated, humiliated and trying really hard not to cry. Why did I not just do what I was told?
I climbed up on the back of the tender and got the hose, hooked it up and dragged the whole heavy mess over to the boss. It seemed like an eternity. I didn't look up but I knew everyone else was watching and I could just feel their respect for me going down the drain.
It was obvious to Mr. Purdie that I was beyond upset, so he used the occasion to rub plenty of salt into the wound.
"Don't you know that there's 700 people on this train? Don't you know that a hot axle can heat up to the point that the wheel comes off of it? This could've been a lot worse, this could've caused a derailment and you would have cost us our jobs or our lives!"
At the very least you have caused hours of delay for TWO RAILROADS. And I have to live with the fact that we broke down on the L&N."
After that he didn't say anymore except to put the hose away and go get the #@$& Crator Oil.
After that we proceeded back to Huntsville without any further incident. Everyone was unusually quite on for the rest of the trip.
After everyone else left, I began my end of trip work wondering how much longer I had a job.
Mr. Purdie suddenly appeared around the front of the engine.
"I know you are upset about what happened today, but I hope you learned that we all count on each other to get everything done. Greasing the hub liners is as important as any other job. I know you work hard and I know you are a good boy."
I just looked up at him without a word.
He said, "You looked right at me and didn't lie to me about what you did or blame it on anybody else. That lets me know I can trust you."
If I live to be a thousand years old I will never forget the lessons I learned that day.
The moral code and devotion to duty is what separates the real railroad men of the steam era from what passes as situational ethics today.
A steam locomotive will always teach you about the nature of responsibility, trust and about the nature of reality and consequences.

[Hawk]

I believe I met that Mr. Purdie you mentioned.
It was about 3 years ago, a group of us MSTS fans took a ride on the SAM Shortline in Cordelle, GA. and there was a Mr. Purdie that I was introduced to.
He was an older guy, probably in his 70's or 80's. He was introduced as the Grand Master of steam, or something like that.
Stern looking individual, but seemed friendly enough.

Really enjoyed the story.

[Gwizz]

I also enjoyed that story and learned something I didn't know as well.

[Canadian Viking]

Great story, wsherrick, and an excellent lesson, too! Thanks for telling it. Sounds like Mr. Purdie was a good judge of character. The fact that you told the truth when you were on the hot seat, and the truth was going to get you in trouble, meant you had the character to be worth a second chance. Most people, if they had made the first bad choice as you did, would have followed that with a second bad choice by lying to cover up their fault. I'll bet if you had lied, that would have been the end of your career on steam, because the truth has a way of coming out in the end.

[wsherrick]

I believe I met that Mr. Purdie you mentioned.
It was about 3 years ago, a group of us MSTS fans took a ride on the SAM Shortline in Cordelle, GA. and there was a Mr. Purdie that I was introduced to.
He was an older guy, probably in his 70's or 80's. He was introduced as the Grand Master of steam, or something like that.
Stern looking individual, but seemed friendly enough.

Really enjoyed the story.

Glad you liked the story. I tried to make it as compact as possible.
Mr. Purdie has to be close to 100 years old now, if he is still alive. He was elderly back in the '70's.
He was a huge celebrity back in the Southern Steam Day's.
I learned much from him and others that were his contemporaries.

[wsherrick]

Great story, wsherrick, and an excellent lesson, too! Thanks for telling it. Sounds like Mr. Purdie was a good judge of character. The fact that you told the truth when you were on the hot seat, and the truth was going to get you in trouble, meant you had the character to be worth a second chance. Most people, if they had made the first bad choice as you did, would have followed that with a second bad choice by lying to cover up their fault. I'll bet if you had lied, that would have been the end of your career on steam, because the truth has a way of coming out in the end.

Thanks CV! Yes, it was a bad moment, I found out about the universal law that I learned later as, "Causality." I learned that a simple oversight due to laziness, discomfort or whatever reason. (The reason doesn't really matter) That oversight can have huge far reaching effects. If you do the best that you can and something still happens-then it's out of your hands, you don't have to live with the weight on your spirit that maybe, if you had done all, maybe the outcome would have been different.
Apparently the, "old man," (Mr. Purdie) saw something in me, because after the fact he never mentioned the incident again and it wasn't but a few years before I got to try my hand at the throttle.