LNER Blue Peter Massive Slip Flashback

I hadn't heard of the Blue Peter incident. Why would they not be able to close down the throttle/regulator sooner? An awful shower of sparks from the drivers spinning frantically and an explosion of steam when the cylinder heads blew - it's terrible to see the loco suffer that damage.

As for the second video - I have to wonder if "fans" haven't sometimes been guilty of greasing the rails for "special effects". How coincidental that it happened right in the center of their camera view.

The Blue Peter incident was way back in April 2003

Regards,

Neil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L..._A2_60532_Blue_Peter

1994 accident

In 1994, during the first run of a preserved steam locomotive from Edinburgh to Newcastle, 60532 suffered extensive damage during a catastrophic uncontrolled wheelslip.

During an unscheduled stop at Durham station the inexperienced footplate crew overfilled the boiler. As the train departed south across Durham viaduct an initial slip was poorly controlled by the driver, who then reopened the regulator too early, probably worried about stalling on the bank up to Relly Mill. The force of the initial slip caused the boiler to prime, carrying water over into the regulator valve and jamming it open. This allowed passage of steam through to the cylinders, perpetuating the slip and accelerating the driving wheels. When the driver attempted to wind the reversing gear back into mid-position to halt the slip, the force of the boiler spun it into full-forward position, and the driving wheels reached a rotational speed of 140 mph before the cylinder heads blew off and the motion disintegrated.

The driver suffered major injury to his arms, as a result of the screw reversing lever whipping around when he released it. The accident brought to light the importance of train crews being trained on the specific locomotives they were driving, rather than simply a common general instruction on steam locomotives. Neither the driver or fireman had ever worked 60532 before, and were unaware of the locomotive's sensitivity to priming, which led to the accident.

This is what happens when an unqualified engineer (engine driver in England) is at the controls of a steam locomotive. If you want to hear what a properly controlled slip sounds like, watch THIS VIDEO. At about 30 seconds in the 765 slips, I slam the throttle closed and WAIT for the slip to stop and then re-open the throttle. Done.

When the Blue Peter slip starts, the engineer is slow to react. Then, when he does react and close the throttle, he only closes it part way (you can hear this in the audio.) Then he re-opens it before the slip has stopped! Once he did that, the die was cast and the rest is history.

Some years ago a friend sent me an audio recording of the Blue Peter slip. This audio was recorded further forward in the train from where the video was shot, and is much clearer. I synced up this clearer audio with the video and added a few titles to explain what was going on. You'll hear the clear audio fade in when the announcer finishes his narration.

If this happened in the US with one of our steamers it would never run again!  The engineer would sue, get millions for his broken hand and his own mistake.  The owners of the locomotive would be bankrupt and never have the funds to run it again.  

Well, I seriously doubt THAT would happen here in the U.S., however anything is possible. Take for example the AT&SF #3751 trip, way back when she was first completed, the SBRRHS ran a two day trip from LA, over the mountains to Bakersfield, and return. While on the Tehachapi grade, 3751 slips when exiting one of the many tunnels, but the "Engineer", the late Vince Cepola, didn't reach for the throttle but instead started to reach for the sand valve! Luckily, one of the 3751 guys, slapped his hand away, and yelled "SHUT HER OFF!!!". There is a trackside video of the whole event.

Shows what can happen when some one who really doesn't know what the **** they are doing, tries to operate a steam locomotive!    

... inexperienced footplate crew overfilled the boiler ... The force of the initial slip caused the boiler to prime, carrying water over into the regulator valve and jamming it open. This allowed passage of steam through to the cylinders, perpetuating the slip and accelerating the driving wheels. When the driver attempted to wind the reversing gear back into mid-position to halt the slip, the force of the boiler spun it into full-forward position, and the driving wheels reached a rotational speed of 140 mph before the cylinder heads blew off and the motion disintegrated.

 

The driver suffered major injury to his arms, as a result of the screw reversing lever whipping around ...

Blue Peter had screw-operated manual reversing gear? Would the problem not have escalated with power reverse gear?

I doubt it. If the "Driver" doesn't shut the throttle OFF, what type of valve gear or power reverse set-up the locomotive has is involved is irrelevant.

To add a neophyte perspective, let me tell this little story.

My two favorite steam videos are "Running that New River Train" and "No. 261 New River Adventure." In both, the camera is on Rich as he runs both locomotives up grade in the New River Gorge and he gives a running commentary. When the engines slip he shows the proper technique of recovery. As he said in above in this thread, he closes the throttle immediately and pulls it out when the locomotive has recovered. He then puts the sanders on as well.

Not counting the years of running my Lionel's, the sole experience I have had running a real, 4'8 1/2" steam locomotive was at the Valley Railroad in Essex CT. It was on their No. 40, a 1921 built, 141 ton 2-8-2 Alco during one of the "Your Hand On The Throttle" days. With the payment of a hefty fee, you too can be a steam engineer for an hour. After a 1 hour class, you get your turn of the eight slots that day. My turn was with two Valley veterans; Ken Blandina, fireman and the late Pete Frederickson, instructor engineer. 

The Valley Railroad is hard by the Connecticut River and thus has a fairly flat profile. None the less on this cool, damp November day, on the northbound trip running light (pulling no cars) No. 40 started to slip. I found out that in the engineers seat, you do not see a slip so much as hear it and to a lesser degree, feel it.

Then, purely based on my watching Rich so many times in a railfan video, I knew what to do. I slammed the throttle closed, waited till the slip stopped and then pulled it out again.

Pete, who was at my left shoulder, had started to go for the throttle to do the same, but I beat him to it. I must admit, it was fun to see his eyes pop at this newbie's action.

(So that I don't paint of picture of perfection, I drove Ken crazy by leaving on the bell too long after every crossing.)

In any event, I always find it astonishing how one person's action, such as Rich's, can affect another's, even years later.

When I met up with Rich a few months later, I mentioned I had a WHOLE HOUR of engineer experience and when could I run No. 765? He said, "Only 199 more hours to go!"

Thanks Rich.

(The following image was taken by Ken showing me running No. 40 with Pete on the right.)

I went back a looked at the Blue Peter video again. It is astonishing that it took so little time, about 12-15 seconds for the cylinder heads to be destroyed. 

Any pictures of the aftermath?

I've looked, and have never found any.

The best picture of cylinder carnage I've found was the following, showing NKP 759 in 1971.  I believe I read at one time that this was also the result of priming, but I can't find that story now.  The 759 was supposedly repaired with parts from NKP 757 and ran for a couple more years before the '73 incident on the B&M where she was allowed to freeze while still full of water, and she hasn't operated since.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=338057&nseq=9#remarks 

No, that is NOT what happened. The previous night a switch crew in the engine terminal moved the 759 with a diesel. Since the 759 was "banked" for the night, the air pumps were shut off. The NKP 700s have air operated cylinder cocks, i.e. it takes air pressure to open the cocks. Thus, when the 759 was moved by a diesel, the condensed water in the cylinders could NOT escape via the closed cylinder cocks. The end result was one cylinder was hydrauliced, and the piston rod key in the crosshead was loosened. While on the road the next day, the key came out and the piston rod became "loose" in the crosshead, which eventually rammed the piston rod/piston assembly through the cylinder and knocking the cylinder completely off its mounting studs.

That is the "rest of the story", as Paul Harvey used to say. 

The 765 dodged a bullet like this once. It happened in the late 80's.

We were deadheading to Huntington, WV for the annual New River Trains. Tom Stephens was running and I was firing. The trip was routine and we rolled into Huntington just after dark. We were securing the engine and Tom was doing the post-trip walk around inspection. When he got to the right-side cylinder, he saw something that left him speechless! The big, tapered key that holds the piston rod to the crosshead was GONE! By all rights, the piston rod should have separated from the crosshead and done a LOT of damage in the process, similar to what befell the 759 in the picture linked above. But there it was, the piston rod and crosshead still locked together on the taper of the rod, right where it should have been.

We were very lucky that day.

You bet your ***!  That is why I have always prefer the steam powered cylinder cocks. Since the boiler steam pressure keeps the cylinder cocks CLOSED, any overpressure from hydraulic condensate in the cylinders Forces the cylinder cocks open, i.e. the hydraulic pressure overcomes the steam pressure and spits the liquid out the cocks. Even when starting a train, after the Engineer has closed the cylinder cocks, when they start to "pop and spit", we know that there is still condensate in the cylinders, and the cocks are then re opened.

The North Eastern Loco Preservation Group has an excellent website which includes a concise history of 60532. It mentions the wheel slip incident and tells the story of making the necessary repairs so the locomotive was able to return to operation for several years prior to expiration of its mainline certificate in 2001. 

http://www.nelpg.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=9

The locomotive currently resides at Barrow Hill Roundhouse along with many other historically significant pieces of equipment.

Bob

Thanks for the correction and the "rest of the story", HW.  I remain amazed at the damage this apparently caused.  Looking closely, it appears that all of the studs that hold the cylinder head in place are bent outward, along with the obvious damage to the cylinder head itself.

I took the following picture in 2006 of the 765's right side piston rod and crosshead, and I've drawn an arrow to what I believe to be the "large tapered key" you guys are talking about - is this correct?

 

The only reason I suspect this is the part mentioned is that it appears to be missing in this other close-up shot of the 759 following the damage mentioned above.

http://godfatherrails.com/photos/pv.asp?pid=1024 

Yes, your big yellow arrow is pointing to the key I was referring to. Nice detailed photo, too.

Yep...that's it.

Finding that key missing was a heart-stopping moment.

I was interested to see that the photo also shows an automatic lubricator linked to the valve gear, labeled valve oil. Could a steam expert tell us some details about those appliances for general interest?

Modern steam locomotives have two mechanical lubricators. The Valve Oil lubricator provides valve oil (steam oil, which is generally water soluble oil, originally tallow based) to each of the two valves, each of the two main cylinders, and usually the hot water feed pump, thus five individual high pressure feeds through high pressure terminal checks.

The Mechanical Lubricator, provides machine oil (or sometimes called car oil or journal oil), for the journal box jaws which allow the roller bearing boxes to slide up and down in the frame. Additional feeds from the mechanical lubricator, would be for the crosshead guides, and many more for other moving parts in the running gear.

Our valve or steam oil is called Sapon-A-Med, which is an oil intended for medium-level steam pressures up to 230 lbs. As HW posted, these oils were originally animal-based. Interestingly, they STILL use animal tallow in these oils today! The animal fat allows an emulsion to form, which is a gooey coating that really clings to the inner working surfaces, and isn't washed away in the heat or the moist environment of our cylinders. You can read more about this amazing oil here:

http://www.steamenginelube.com/cylinderoil.htm

Additional to what Steve just posted, many of the big, high horsepower, main line steam locomotives have been using a VERY high temperature, synthetic steam oil, good for superheated steam temps up to, and over 1000 degrees F.

I bet!

Thanks for the insight and corrections, guys.

OOPS! Darned automatic "spell check" got me again. Should of course be sand valve. I'll go back and correct THAT.

Thanks Dan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/s...krichard/3387457270/

Found this photo of on the the rods. Ouch!!!

Those are rods???? I have support arms on my lawn tractor bigger than those.

Great find, Zac - "Ouch" is right!

They do seem small on British locomotives....

Are we looking at rods or valve gear? Also keep in mind that many British express passenger locos were 3-cylinder machines, some had 4-cylinders, for more even power output and better balancing at speed. So the rods can be smaller with the power distributed from more cylinders.

Just because they're called "rods" doesn't mean they are side or main rods. The first one appears to be an eccentric rod, for example, which is part of the valve gear.

It hurts just reading about Blue Peter bent rod.

"During an unscheduled stop at Durham station the inexperienced footplate crew overfilled the boiler. As the train departed south across Durham viaduct an initial slip was poorly controlled by the driver, who then reopened the regulator too early, probably worried about stalling on the bank up to Relly Mill. The force of the initial slip caused the boiler to prime, carrying water over into the regulator valve and jamming it open. This allowed passage of steam through to the cylinders, perpetuating the slip and accelerating the driving wheels."

I'm not quite following this sequence of events. The Wiki quote above says the engineer reopened the regulator too quickly in response to the slip, but goes on to say the force of the initial slip set up a condition (due to the over-filled boiler) that pushed water into the regulator and jammed it open.

Something's not adding up...the question in my mind is, at what point in this would the engineer have been able to intervene, if as the description of events seems to say that the regulator (throttle?) was jammed open almost immediately when the drivers first slipped? Would the engineer still have been able to close the throttle at that point, and his mistake was reaching for the reverser?

---PCJ

I have not had a Farmer Bill laugh in a long time! 

OK HW (or Rich), please enlighten me.  On numerous occasions I've seen a FWRHS member grab the silver-colored crank handle visible about 1' to the right and 1' down from the right-side of the "VALVE OIL" sign (hanging sideways, handle pointing to the left), place it on the end of the shaft that goes into the body of the "VALVE OIL" lubricator, and crank away for a few seconds or more.

Why?  Is it the small amount of steam leaking into the cylinders washing away the lubrication, or is this oil also used for a device that operates constantly even when sitting (such as the air pumps)?  I remember seeing the injector used to fill the boiler while stationary, but don't remember hearing the hot water feed pump (mentioned by HW above) used, which is why I ask.  Also, was this typical practice when the berkshires were being used for revenue service by the NKP?

First, cranking either of the lubricators by hand simply adds an "extra charge" of valve oil or machine oil to their respective locations prior to departure. Remember, you can't have too much lubrication nowadays! oil and grease are a LOT cheaper than bearings.

Second, the Worthington type S feed water systems should NOT be used at ANY TIME the throttle is closed, whether sitting still or drifting down grade. Without exhaust steam to preheat the feed water, the Worthington system pumps stone cold water into the boiler, which is definitely NOT a good practice. Thus, the injector is used to maintain boiler water level when drifting or sitting still.

What is the capacity of a DV7?  I for the life of me do not remember what is shown on there.

The number, i.e. DV5 or DV7 indicates the reservoir capacity in pints, as I recall. Thus, a DV7 has a greater quantity of oil than a DV5. Plus, there were other suppliers of mechanical lubricators than Nathan.