I'm trying to find info on a Maine Central locomotive that blew up on the Mountain Division on Sunday, July 3rd 1927. MEC #505 was a 2-8-0 that was of the same class as #501 that now is in North Conway.
Did the FRA make an investigation into this accident? Where would I look to find the report? I'm sure Maine Central investigated, but I'm not sure where to start looking. Any ideas?

Brian Hebert

In the days of steam, the Interstate Commerce Commission would have had jurisdiction over all railroad safety incidents.

The ICC Reports are listed here: http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net/.

I searched for this accident and did not find a report.

Steve Zuiderveen

There is another, and lesser-known, series of ICC accident reports that were done by the "Chief Inspector, Bureau of Locomotive Inspection." These are reports on some sort of component failure involving locomotives, including boiler explosions. They can be just as detailed and lengthy as the primary series of ICC Accident reports posted on-line at the DOT site. Also, the "Annual Report of Chief Inspector of Locomotives" has short summaries of the accident reports issued for a particular year. A few years ago, while researching a boiler explosion that occurred on the Reading Railroad in 1930, I obtained a copy by mail of the 20-page Bureau of Locomotive Inspection accident report from the government documents collections at the Duke University library. A good university reference librarian may be able to find other places holding this series of reports.

-- Rick Bates

The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors publishes The National Board BULLETIN, published three times per year and available free of charge by subscription.

The National Board is affiliated with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The National Board publishes the National Boiler Inspection Code, and it registers boilers marked with "NB" and a registration serial number. The ASME Boiler Code applies to current boiler and pressure vessel design and construction criteria, as well as steam locomotive boiler issues. The Board's primary objective is boiler safety; it is interested in details of boiler failures.

Recent issues of the BULLETIN recounted the FRA reports on the boiler explosion of C&O 2-6-6-6 no. 1642 at CW Cabin, near Hinton, on June 9, 1953, and ex-CP Class G5 4-6-2 No. 1278‘s June 16, 1995 firebox crown sheet failure --- including a photo of the belly in 1278's crown sheet.

For leads on obtaining a specific boiler failure report, you can Email the Board offices at <getinfo@nationalboard.org>
or call the Board offices at 614-888-8320.

Bruce Manwiller