From Wikipedia.
"In 1994, during the first run of a preserved steam locomotive from Edinburgh to Newcastle, 60532 [Blue Peter] suffered extensive damage during a catastrophic uncontrolled wheelslip."
"During an unscheduled stop at Durham station the inexperienced footplate crew overfilled the boiler. As the train departed south across Durham viaduct an initial slip was poorly controlled by the driver, who then reopened the regulator too early, probably worried about stalling on the bank up to Relly Mill. The force of the initial slip caused the boiler to prime, carrying water over into the regulator valve and jamming it open. This allowed passage of steam through to the cylinders, perpetuating the slip and accelerating the driving wheels. When the driver attempted to wind the reversing gear back into mid-position to halt the slip, the force of the boiler [sic] spun it into full-forward position, and the driving wheels reached a rotational speed of 140 mph before the cylinder heads blew off and the motion disintegrated."
"The driver suffered major injury to his arms, as a result of the screw reversing lever whipping around when he released it. The accident brought to light the importance of train crews being trained on the specific locomotives they were driving, rather than simply a common general instruction on steam locomotives. Neither the driver or fireman had ever worked 60532 before, and were unaware of the locomotive's sensitivity to priming, which led to the accident."
As has been speculated about the current incident with the BR tank, the throttle valve could not be closed, due to water carrying over. In the case of the BR tank, the driver eventually opened the cylinder drains and regained control. The same thing, plus applying brakes, might have saved the Blue Peter as well, but as is noted above, the crew were untrained and inexperienced.
Michael
