The videos that start about 1/4 down this page are the opposite of preservation, but I think you will like them anyhow.

http://steampunker.ru/blog/video/5695.html

Fascinating collection of film clips. While they wreck steam engines, does anybody have film of a boiler explosion? That would be pretty graphic.

In the last scene "Saturday Night Outing" they wreck a train and it remains upright. Assuming that there are no cracks in the boiler, is there a potential for a boiler explosion in this type of wreck? I guess you just let the fire go out, and as long as you don't add water you are OK.


Would people pay good money to see a staged train wreck today using old diesels? (I'm sure all of the class 1s will jump right on this concept) Any museums up for a fund raiser?

Tom P

The Sept. 1977 issue of Trains Magazine has an article on one of these staged wrecks, on the Katy at Crush, Texas in September 1896. Seconds after the collision, both boilers exploded, killing two and injuring scores.

I think in the move Ring of fire the boiler blew when the train fell off the bridge.

I also only see photos in OPs link not any videos.

"Ring of Fire" had to be one of the dumbest movies ever made--and at the same time, it has, from what I remember of it decades ago, a sort of charm. Perhaps it's because it's a late example of an ambitious "B-movie," and of course we like seeing old cars, trains, and all that.

The funny thing is, an old steam train and those "modern" (for the time) autos would have been a rare combination even then. Reminds me of something a young model railroader (i.e., a kid) or Gomez Adams (of "The Adams Family") would stage on a model railroad!

Can we find better material on YouTube, like the bulk of "Union Pacific," or "Whispering Smith?" No, we find the train wreck from "Ring of Fire:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGnzVdnFkmI

Well, I will say the fire scenes do look impressive. Bet it would be CGI today. . .