So not one Not two but probably 4 fish were in there I can just imagine the bump sucking the already two stuck fish into the boiler and the Scotsman having a nice fish lunch
there was three buckets full of various types of freshwater fish, none were in danger of being sucked into the feed pipes. It was the feed pipe filters that had become clogged with muck and weeds.
Well, that's understandable, since Reverend Awdry was said to have originally came up with the Railway Series, as stories he told to his children before bed, that he made up on the spot based on real incidents
It was in 1958 when Ken and his driver Cyril took over Flying Scotsman on the up "South Yorkshireman" at Leicester Central. They were told by the previous crew that there had been some problems with both the injectors. Passing Aylesbury, one injector stopped working and then, near Wendover, the other. Ken and Cyril worked frantically to get them working again, and when the water was almost at the bottom of the gauge Ken started dropping fire when the injectors just started working again and a weary, perspiring crew made it into Marylebone, a mere 5 minutes late. The actual problem was caused by the feed pipe filters inside the the tender being clogged with muck and weeds, not the feed pipes blocked with fish! They did find three buckets of live fish all swimming around happily and living off the algae in the tender but these were in no danger of being sucked into the feed pipes. Also had the fusible plugs melted, they would have allowed the water and steam to escape and either put the fire out, or douse it enough to prevent the firebox crown overheating to the point where it collapses.
also the photo shown is a boiler explosion caused by the failure of boiler barrell shell not the firebox, most likely caused by cracking between the boiler barrel lap seam rivet holes, or a inactive safety valve (which were often tampered with in the early days to get more power out of a loco), and must have a interesting story behind it.
also seam's it was a regular thing for the crews on a sunday to go fishing in the loco tanks. Ken said the best locos were the ones with the big tenders, the tank engines and small tenders didn't hold as many fish. Apparently it wasn't as good as fishing in the river but much better than fishing in the local canal.
I figured that this had happened before. In the American west, there were a lot of water spouts fed by diverting a stream, so I suspect that this was not that rare of an occurrence.
The fusible plug isn’t exactly a last chance device. It’s a warning to get water in the boiler and ditch the fire or die. It will almost certainly not reduce any chance of dying
They puffed along the valley and were in the tunnel when Thomas began to feel a pain in his boiler, while steam hissed from his safety valve in an alarming way. "There's too much steam", said his Driver and the Fireman opened the tap in the feed pipe to let more water into the boiler, but none came. "Oh, dear!" groaned Thomas. "I'm going to burst! I'm going to burst!" They damped down his fire, and struggled on. "I've got such a pain, I've got such a pain," Thomas hissed. -Thomas Goes Fishing, second story of Tank Engine Thomas Again
I've seen it in an episode of the BR Series, and funnily enough I even have the Andrew Roden book that recounted that same incident from the beginning prologue.
WILD (true!) story: On a german steam engine, going down a long slope, the water level in the boiler had sunk so much that the firebox top was out of the water. So it became red hot, the steel became soft. They did not notice anything until they came into the station and braked. The water in the boiler sloshed forward, then back, over the red hot firebox. The extreme heat caused a explosive expansion of the water, breaking the roof of the firebox. The (w)hole acted like a rocket nozzle. Driver and stoker were instantly killed, the complete boiler took off from the rest of the locomotive and flew away, turning over. It crashed back-end first onto the rails 70 meters (210 feet) ahead and welded itself with the rail.
Thomas and friends Thomas Tell me how we feel The flying Scotsman Feel strange and will some fish in my tenure is feel uncomfort. Don't worry I know you do i've been Thomas and the flying Scotsman Thanks thomas said the flying Scotsman It's still, you know, fish in your tank, Thomas. Next Seaweed
Okay that’s hilarious. I’m surprised it’s possible to drop the fire while still traveling and even more so when it was what made the injectors work again. And the fact that it kind of lines up with Thomas’ experience with fish is the icing on the cake
Thomas, Duck, Scotsman, James, and Henry have fish tales like Thomas say in the story "Fish" the model series "If fish get into a engier boild their can cause trouder". (I know Henry crash into a good train and James with fish scale in the book series).
Good sir, the engine wouldn't overheat. The water would boil off into steam, revealing the crown sheet and firebox. This would/could cause the metal to melt and weaken and cause an explosion. If the plug doesnt have enough water left in the boiler to put the fire out you could experience a boiler explosion. Of course its unlilely you'll have a full on explosion with a firebox heat plug installed. Still anything is possible. Just thought I'd give more information on what can happen.
