The Locomotive . cted six feet or more below the bottom of the water-leg. When the crown-sheet came down, it pulled away from the riveted screw-stays entirely, leaving them attached to the jaw braces, which stAl remained 1907.] THE LOCOMOTIVE 195 fastened to the inside of the outer shell. .Many of the crown-bolt holes in the crown-sheet were oblong after the expli ion, their length, in some cases, beinga- much as 3/16 inch greater than the original diameter of the hole. Itwould seem to me, said one expert, who examined the boiler on our behalf,that the sheet had bent down between the bolts spr
The Locomotive . cted six feet or more below the bottom of the water-leg. When the crown-sheet came down, it pulled away from the riveted screw-stays entirely, leaving them attached to the jaw braces, which stAl remained 1907.] THE LOCOMOTIVE 195 fastened to the inside of the outer shell. .Many of the crown-bolt holes in the crown-sheet were oblong after the expli ion, their length, in some cases, beinga- much as 3/16 inch greater than the original diameter of the hole. Itwould seem to me, said one expert, who examined the boiler on our behalf,that the sheet had bent down between the bolts spreading the hob- on theupper side, leaving only one or two threads on the lower side of the sheet (to-gether with the riveted head) to hold lie fore it let go. It would appear that thesheet let go at the rear end. starting at about the center line of the boiler. From testimony given in the course of the investigations, it appeared that thepressure observed on the boilers was about 150 pounds per square inch, a few. Fig. 3.—-General View of the Destroyed Power Plant. minutes before the explosion. Two months before the exploded boiler hadwithstood a steam pressure of 175 pounds, and a hydrostatic pressure of 263pounds. The coroner who held the inquest was unusually fortunate in the selectionof the jury, which consisted of six men who were all familiar with boiler con-struction and management, the foreman being Samuel H. Vauclain, generalsuperintendent of the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The jury was of the opinionthat the failure was due to lack of water on the crown-sheet. At the inquestthe fusible plug played a conspicuous part. Instead of being filled with bancatin, which melts at 4420 to 4460 and which, since it is an element, is notliable to experience a change in melting point from mere continued exposure tobeat, it appeared that the plug in the exploded boiler was filled with an alloyof antimony, tin, and lead, which was supposed to melt at 4360 Fahr. An actual 196 TH
Size: 1853px × 1348px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorhartfordsteamboilerin, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860
