Not Model A

I received this in an e-mail a week or so ago (from Skip I think) and I have not been able to confirm that this is an actual happening or not. I would have thought Snopes would have written something on it. In this modern age of Photoshopping, can anyone confirm or disprove this actually happened?

To me, it seems like someone who have posted a picture of the hood of the train after the cylinder casing had ejected, ...and while these are diesel engines with higher compression, I doubt these engines use a lot of boost preesure or any oxidizers (Nitrous or Propane). That is why to me it sure seems like it would take a extreme amount of pressure to propel that thing through the sheetmetal on the train, and make it travel that high in the air, and for that piston to drop and then make such a perfectly round hole in the roof decking yet bust the pastered ceiling and the wall with larger & jagged openings.

.
 
I suspect a rod or wrist pin or piston failed, and as the engine rotated the rod jammed and pushed against the cylinder breaking the sleeve bolts and launching the sleeve and what was left of the piston. The spinning sleeve threw the piston like a sling .

Look closely at the roof hole, you can clearly see the piston entered at quite an angle, so I believe the pics are real..... glad I wasn't standing nearby.
 
A simple google search will verify this as a legitimate story. I'm surprised that some didn't do that here.

There is an error in the attached link, the picture of the locomotive in the story may have been the one to throw the cylinder pack, but it's not the moment that the engine gave up some parts. The picture of 2699 was taken at a different time as 2699 likely continued onto a side track (or even to yard) under the power of a different locomotive to keep the tracks free for other trains to pass.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
I received this in an e-mail a week or so ago (from Skip I think) and I have not been able to confirm that this is an actual happening or not. I would have thought Snopes would have written something on it. In this modern age of Photoshopping, can anyone confirm or disprove this actually happened?

To me, it seems like someone who have posted a picture of the hood of the train after the cylinder casing had ejected, ...and while these are diesel engines with higher compression, I doubt these engines use a lot of boost preesure or any oxidizers (Nitrous or Propane). That is why to me it sure seems like it would take a extreme amount of pressure to propel that thing through the sheetmetal on the train, and make it travel that high in the air, and for that piston to drop and then make such a perfectly round hole in the roof decking yet bust the pastered ceiling and the wall with larger & jagged openings.

.
Click to expand...

I think its real, I sent the e-Mail to Skip.
 
Well thanks for verifying. I actually did spend a liittle time trying to Google it and came up "short" on actual proof other than where it had been posted on all kinds of similar forums. One thing that is amazing is if no one was at home at that time, and the train did roll-on without stopping, is how the home owners were able to determine exactly where the piston came from. It would seem more likely that it would have fallen from a plane instead of a train. Good detective work on someone's part.
 
I know this is an old posting but I am still curious as to why there is a Canadian train engine running around in Independence, La. blowing up in the
first place?

Maybe the rails are more international than I thought. Cars being out of place I can understand but engines and I suppose engine crews from Canada seem odd to me.
 
The trains run across the boarders all of the time. It's not uncommon to see Ferro-Mex in the US and BNSF or UP in Mexico. Likewise along the northern border, nothing odd about that.
 
ivoryjohn said:
I know this is an old posting but I am still curious as to why there is a Canadian train engine running around in Independence, La. blowing up in the
first place?

Maybe the rails are more international than I thought. Cars being out of place I can understand but engines and I suppose engine crews from Canada seem odd to me.
Click to expand...

Actually, Canadian Pacific runs most of the thru- freight through NE Pennsylvania, on the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western & Erie systems, then switches-over to the Lehigh Valley to run down to Allentown-Bethlehem-Reading, or down the old Delaware and Hudson ROW through Wilkes-Barre, to connect with Norfolk-Southern running down the old Pennsy Susquehanna branch to Harrisburg.

Reading & Northern is the major regional carrier.

Don't know about Canadian National, but CP Rail is one of the best-run RR's in the world.

As for seeing "foreign" lokies, I was surprised to see quite a number of yellow Union Pacific diesels idling in Enola Yards by Harrisburg last winter...


Those danged high-compression engines... they jest blow-up, I tell ya ! :D
 
Bruce, Appreciate the photos of the blown GE diesel. That is the total destruction of the engine. The assembly laying on the ground is called a power back and what you see the bottom facing you. It is held to the crank case with four 1-1/2 inch bolts and torqued to several hundred foot pounds. There are no sign the bolts.

The piston shows no sign of the connecting rod that ties it to the crankshaft. I cannot see enough of it to tell if the skirt is damaged. My guess is the connecting rod broke at the piston end. A seized wrist pin is usually the cause, but anyway... The now short connecting rod caught under the assembly and literally shoved it out of the crankcase. Cannot see any marks in the photo of the assembly.

Now for the engine itself, I'm sure the area around the errant cylinder is all torn up and very probably the entire crankcase to bent. I'm sure the crankshaft also has a bow in it. I'm sure the cam shaft that runs the length of the engine had to bend to allow the assembly to pass.

The only thing salvageable would the most of the other 15 powerpacks. Everything else is scrap. Time for a new prime mover.

When I worked for the Chicago North Western in their back shop, we blew up a few engines. We'd hook three huge cables to each side of the output of the generator to a "load box". Then we'd warm it up good at a moderate load. Then we would notch it up to 8 and cross our fingers. No one was allowed to walk the length of the unit while wide open.

This one night we had an SD-45 on the load box. The crew that rebuilt it said the bearings were the wrong size and were too tight. The idiot Forman insisted everything was ok. We were suspicious of it and did everything by the book. CYA It started ok and was warming just fine and loading ok.

We notched it out to 8 and all was fine- Then all hell broke loose. First the RPM's dropped like it was loaded way to much. Before Stinky Smith and I could hit the fuel cut off button the unit was rolling side to side so bad we could hardly stand. We both had a finger on the button. Somewhere in there was a hell of an explosion. All the crankcase covers blew off. A few were never found.

When it was torn down- All the journals on the crankshaft were burned, Rods were bent, assemblies cracked. The whole thing was scraped.
Then there was this time.....
Bruce, a rail road can be a nasty place to work. When something happens, it is usually big time.
 
"Bruce, a rail road can be a nasty place to work. When something happens, it is usually big time."

My paternal grandfather worked as a foreman in the B&O's erecting shop at Mt. Clare in Baltimore from about 1914 to 1950. He built / re-built steam locomotives.

He passed away when I was about 12; I never had the opportunity to talk with him about his years with the RR and working on steam locomotives... B&O was one of the first RR's to Diesel-ize... I wonder if Pappy embraced the new technology or if he had any fondness for the iron horse...

I am fortunate to live in the same town as Steamtown National Historic Site, and love touring the shops to see engines and cars being worked-on.

The Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Erecting Shops still stand, although they are now used as a munitions plant for a defense contractor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top