It also happened at Knott's a few years ago. This was after I left the farm. 41 had a leaking plug and someone tried to tighten it up while under pressure. The plug broke and blew out. Surprisingly no one was hurt.
In an effort to admit to mistakes, I'll tell you about a stuck slowdown valve.
In 2020, the day we moved RGS 20 for the first time we decided to blow her down a bit on the turntable. I was in the cab and was tasked with pulling the handle. When I pulled the handle it opened just fine but when I tried to close it the whole valve turned(loosening slightly.) and was now stuck wide open. After a few tense moments(seemed like forever.) 3 of us managed to get it closed, just as I was about to dump the fire.
Bottom line is we should have made sure that valve was tight. We made sure to was tight for the next steam up and now it has a bracket to keep it from rotating unexpectedly.
Jeff Taylor
CRRM curator of equipment and rolling stock.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2021 06:39PM by Jeff Taylor.