Steam-O-Rama almost disastrous event

[formariz 11,987]

At the steam engine hill climb there was a very close call. Nothing short of a miracle that no one was hurt or killed. Perhaps this is the time to evaluate that event and or in the very least control where spectators are. As one of the engines was attempting the near impossible climb due to the conditions of the ground the wheel gear broke and the whole machine just freewheeled all the way down the hill. Seconds before there were several people right behind it watching. A total miracle. Raise the volume and you can hear the operator screaming with fear. I later spoke with him for a while and he was visibly shaken by the whole event.

Edited October 8, 2019 by formariz

[rmaynard 15,427]

Wow, that could have been a tragedy. I think some re-thinking needs to be done before that event is run again.

[Pullstart 62,792]

Wow, I can’t image thinking that’s s good idea to hill climb with a steam engine!  I’d rather do the Norwegian gravel climbs!

[adsm08 2,022]

Eh, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

I believe in the sanctity of all human life, but I also believe that if you are dumb enough to put your own life at risk by, say standing behind a big old steam tractor that's climbing a steep hill, you and you alone are responsible for your death when you are so flat that even Denny's won't call you a pancake.

Edited October 8, 2019 by adsm08

[Ed Kennell 38,022]

1 hour ago, formariz said:

. Perhaps this is the time to evaluate that event and or in the very least control where spectators are.

 

I totally agree Cas. 

    As you know, I was in the area below the hill where the runaway steamer finally stopped.

It was heart stopping seeing and hearing that machine freewheeling down that hill backwards.

It is a miracle the machine did not turn over.

There was a young family headed that way and only seconds from being in the path of the runaway.  

  When we met later, I didn't realize you had recorded the accident.

I am sure this will prompt some action to prevent these types of hazards at this show and another local show that has some very steep terrain that large machines are constantly traversing.

[Achto 27,505]

WTF people!! These are over 100yr old machines. They don't have any type of brakes. To me this is even way dumber than pushing boiler pressures to the max that the machine could take when new. I love to see steam engines doing what they were made to do, but I see no need to try to push them to their limits just for an exhibition. I truly hope that the club deletes this competition from their show.  

 

9 hours ago, adsm08 said:

if you are dumb enough to put your own life at risk by, say standing behind a big old steam tractor

 

90% of spectators have no idea about the dangers of old equipment, and naturally want to get close to the action. I have driven an engine around at a show and here is the scene - the visibility for the driver is not great and people will walk right in front of you expecting you to be able to stop on a dime.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Achto

[formariz 11,987]

43 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

When we met later, I didn't realize you had recorded the accident.

Incredibly I was so shaken up by what I was seeing that I honestly didn't even realize that I filmed it to the end. It was after I met you while having lunch with the kids that I was telling my son about the event and he asked me If I was filming it. He had left with the kids right before that guy started going up. He was there in the previous climb by another machine and we were actually amazed that these guys would put those machines through totally unnecessary and reckless abuse, not to mention the personal danger to themselves. As the only one that made it up passed by me I was actually saying to myself that it was not smart of me to be that close although I was on the side  and never directly in front or behind it. Once it got close to me I actually climbed up into the woods to get away from it. 
Here are a couple more crazy videos of the event.

Edited October 8, 2019 by formariz

[Tractorhead 9,064]

It‘s a shame to see, how they rape this beautiful machines.

my machinist heart hurts when i see this.

independent how old the machines are, a technical rape was and is a technical rape.

i‘m as owner decides if i would do this or not.

 

i know, it‘s sometimes hard to reject in such situations,

even if you’re self curious if this will work, 

but sometimes it is better to reject and not try all.

 

To have no fear is the one thing ( at races i.eg., )

but few stupid of the visitors on such events make me allway‘s speechless, 

but i guess mostly they didn‘t realize the danger.

 

fun with machines? Yes please, but not such rape.

A steam engine is built for pulling, even on time, 

but not to climb as a capricorn.

[AMC RULES 37,127]

As an equipment operator...

I can only say, this is painful to watch. 

[formariz 11,987]

Later on I spoke with owner/operator. I did not take photos at that point but he had already disassembled  part of machine that failed. Essentially it is a 3 foot in diameter cast iron spoke wheel with gears. It fits into a  keyed shaft. It literally snapped in half. There was evidence of an old crack at the bottom corner of machined key way that was about one inch long. That gear is what makes machine move and also about the only thing that holds it when going downhill. It looks like the constant stress of trying to go uphill and the constant brutal back and forth finally did it in. I don't find what happened surprising on a piece of cast iron which is so brittle and prone to cracking with impact. One could actually hear that impact in those machines as they would constantly switch from forward to reverse trying to gain traction. Knowing what I know now, it is definitely not advisable to take those machines on a steep grade even with a perfect surface. There is no second provision to stop it and considering their weight it most likely would not work after a catastrophic failure like that. In addition to that these things are basically a real bomb with all of that pressure built up inside. If that pressure relief valve was also to fail while attempting the climb, that operator being so absorbed in trying to make it up the hill that he probably would miss the gauge reading.

I hope that all of those operators and show officials take a good look at the safety of bystanders around those machines, but it seems to me that they will not. The whole event was just taken in stride by all of the others as I could see it. Like a minor mishap. I am also not sure how much the responsible parties in the show know about it. These events are held without too much fanfare and not too many people see them since they are a bit away from the major activity sites, perhaps a good and lucky thing. I believe also that I am the only one that actually filmed it, although there are numerous eyewitnesses.

Quite a bit  of irresponsibility in many peoples parts. I have a steep driveway and I never back down into it unless everyone is up on top of it.  As  bad and as shaken that operator was I told him that it was actually the luckiest day in his life for this could have been a fatal event.

[953 nut 55,077]

Thank you God for saving these people from death or injury.         

I spent several years working with steam boilers and can't imagine someone operating a boiler at an angle that would be likely to uncover the tubes like that. Even if the gear hadn't broken the boiler could have been seriously damaged.

[adsm08 2,022]

18 hours ago, Achto said:

 

90% of spectators have no idea about the dangers of old equipment, and naturally want to get close to the action. I have driven an engine around at a show and here is the scene - the visibility for the driver is not great and people will walk right in front of you expecting you to be able to stop on a dime.

 

This doesn't really dissuade me from my position any, and in fact just reinforces my opinions of the sorry state of our society. We have built all these machines and vehicles that it used to take skill and understanding just to own and removed almost all need for the general public to have any idea of how or why they, or similar machines, work. We have automated and warning labeled and litigated our society to the point where  a lot of people who should have been removed from the gene pool by virtue of their own stupidity have not only survived but been allowed to pass on those same defective genes to offspring, and often at a rate that exceeds that of more intelligent and aware individuals.

[c-series don 8,665]

I can’t play the videos? 

[Ed Kennell 38,022]

12 minutes ago, c-series don said:

I can’t play the videos? 

The videos were deleted due to the length.   They had used up all the RS storage.

[formariz 11,987]

 

33 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

The videos were deleted due to the length.   They had used up all the RS storage.

Can I put a link to YouTube? Better that way?

[c-series don 8,665]

As an equipment operator I feel like I need to see these videos.

[ohiofarmer 3,265]

   Annie Oakley lived about 30 miles from me and of course Greenville Ohio wants to celebrate this by having Annie Oakley days.   Each year, girls from maybe 12 to 16 years old shoot at balloons with BB guns and increase the distance until a winner is declared.  There was no backstop and no roped off area and no one down range to watch out and warn. Just genius to do it this way.

[Zeek 2,286]

That's a shame, I've attended this several times when I lived in PA. Sounds like they just need to do a little crowd control. Sometimes things break (ie tractor pulls, drag races, etc) so take that into account and prepare for it.

 

If you haven't seen what they are doing this is it. in Windsor, PA . They do them in other locations as well. Here's one in Indiana.  Tractors go up hills the boiler level limits the grade. https://www.smokstak.com has a bunch of information about old steam tractors. 

 

I hate to see it condemned because of one mishap. Fix the issue at hand and make it safer so it doesn't get ruined like so many other things we can no longer do. 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Zeek

[stevasaurus 22,709]

@formariz  Yes...absolutely, you can put your videos on You-Tube and put the links or URL's in here.  Then the video is stored on You-Tube and just the link is here.