No, I am admittedly not a big fan of Mr. Payton's. However, the mandatory retirement age in Pa has now been raised to 72, so it seems we will have him for another 7 years.
Beyond all that I do think his record IS bearing on the issue of "Why him?". Isn't it just a little bit curious that the person that was chosen is a man who seemed to already have an axe to grind against old boilers?
BUT, The real question is still "Is this report accurate?". I honestly do not know. And you don't either.
Was the boiler that badly neglected? Quite possibly. Again, I don't have first hand knowlege. There are, unfortunately, bums in every profession and hobby.
Now, I HAVE heard reports that it was inspected, and passed, by the state of Minnesota in '93. That was 8 years, ago. A long time ago, or is it? Most traction engines in restoration would have been run maybe 75-100 days total in that length of time. Therefore, it surely must have been marginal then, why wasn't this mentioned?
I have heard from sources that I trust (and already reported about here) that the owner had more money than sense. But remember, he only had the engine for one year, and much of that time it was disassembled. Not really long enough for that kind of alleged neglect to be all attributable to his mismanagement.
Also, since it was apart, at the time of sale, then I would have logically assumed that the handholes, etc. were out of it as well. At least to allow an internal inspection to be done by those who were considering purchase. Perhaps this basic assumption is wrong, but I think someone might have said something.
Now, before you go and attribute a bunch of other attitudes to me, here is how this Mawse sees it:
Do I favor an inspection program that is a fair assessment of the boiler's condition? You betcher azz!
Are most inspectors familiar enough with "buttoned" boilers to perform a "fair assessment" of the boiler's condition? Sorry, but not really.
Lacking trained inspectors, has there been advances in NDT that could be used better? Yup, especially in disputed cases. Ultrasound is portable, fairly cheap, and easy to use, and it will show you things even a trained eye can miss.
Have the laws of physics changed in the last 50 years? nope. So any new regulations won't do much beyond making the lawmaker think he's accomplished something. Beyond that look for the insurance industry to be behind them, they are in business to collect money, not pay it out.
Do I have very little patience for unnecessary red tape, and bureaucratic hoops? Guilty as charged.
Do I favor common sense things like regularly cleaning the soft plugs, blowing down the water column, boiler washes, and having the safeties checked? Yup. I'm NOT stupid.
Do I favor engineer training in the form of "steam schools"? Yup, but they also need to be made more easily available. Perhaps a correspondence type program with videotape.
Is the FRA, the state dept of labor and industry, or the ASME in possession of a "magic" formula or pill that makes them the only possible source for safety? Hayl no! Most westernized nations have codes that work as well or better, AND have fewer contradictions.
A safe and conciensious operator is the thing that makes it all hang together. Without him, all the idiot proofing, over building, assinine regulations, and redundant features mean absolutely jack. There, thats for the record.
