Re: Boiler Explosion !

In regard to locomotive, Ohio can pass all the anti-steam laws they want to; where locomotives are concerned, they won't be worth the paper they are written on and will be unenforceable.
I call your attention to 49CFR Part 230, section 230.5, Preemptive Effect. In plain language, it sets forth the fact and legal precedent that the Locomotive Boiler Inspection Act (49 USC 20702-20703) preempts all State laws or regulations concerning locomotive safety and inspection. For the purposes of jusrisdiction, this means that any steam operation over which FRA exercises jusrisdiction (which is spelled out in section 230.2 Applicability) is exempt from State regulation.
For practical purposes, FRA covers anything that operates on the General system, anything that is not insular (as defined in this section), and anything 24-inch gauge and above. Thus, the little live steamers, amusement parks, etc. are outside FRA and may well be regulated by the States, but not "real" railroad stuff.....
In summary, you might see and hear some hack state politicians thumping the podium and making threats and trying to look good on the evening news, but in reality, they can't do a damn thing about steam locomotives that come under the FRA.
And that, IMO, is a GOOD thing.
Traction engines and hobby boilers are a whole 'nother thing. Going back to the turn of the century, most ag equipment and operations has been exempted from most Federal safety regulations. That's why farmers don't have to comply with most OSHA regs. This came about as part of large-scale lobbying efforts by the Grange and other farmer/ag groups to keep the government out of the farm machinery. If anything, farmers are even more fiercely independent than railroaders, and hate to be told what they can and can't do.
Some states do regulate said boilers and engines. Others don't. An incident such as this one will prod some states to begin regulating, and others to tighten the regs they already have.
At this time, there is no national code of boiler regulations that applies specifically to traction engines. The NBIC is working on such a code, but it's not in place yet, and even when it is, states that are not part of NBIC will not be covered by it. In the meantime, it's probably fair to say that the integrity of any given traction engine boiler is only as good as the integrity, knowledge and experience level of the person(s) who own it, maintain it and operate it.
Just as the rail industry has a few shylocks who will try to get away with anything, so does the traction engine genre.
That doesn't mean that we as rails can't learn something from this one, once the FACTS (as opposed to silly headlines and quotes from ignorant media-seekers) are known.