Mini-Challenge #587 - Transportation

requa wrote:

gloaming wrote:

Yikes!

I wonder who determined that the steam locomotive was safe to be around. I can see vapour at extreme right, an indication that the boiler is under pressure. With the engine tilted onto its side, the crown sheet inside of the firebox is exposed partially, and will be above the water level in the boiler. If there's still a sizeable fire in the firebox, the crown sheet could melt and the boiler contents will explode outward, expanding 1600 times its liquid volume. Yes, steam expands at least 1600 times when it is released to atmosphere if it is contained in a pressurized vessel.

I love that you know that -- or even if it is just that you know enough about the equipment involved to track down the information. I always thought I was just here to learn a little about photography but I often learn so much more. Based on the earlier post it appears all involved remained safe in this incident, but it is also always enlightening to see lesser precautions at play in other parts of the world and to appreciate the confy world I live in.

Hey this is Africa, not many rules and regulations, we're tough, lol. We were standing there around the train for about an hour and there was no police or emergency services. So we all just started walking to the nearest town, which was our destination anyway, Just a few km's.

Trip was to a small mining town called Cullinan. The place where the worlds largest diamond was discovered. Pieces of this diamond is part of the British crown jewels.

We just carried on with the day, did some sightseeing. had lunch and then by the afternoon they at least organized us some busses to take us back the 80km to the train station where our cars were, The date on pics is not correct, my son was not even born yet, hehe don't know if if was even married yet. It should be more somewhere 2010-12.

Sometimes you do feel safer with many rules and regulations, but it can also feel like less freedom?

And to give some perspective. Nobody was really angry or wanted to sue or anything, it was quite exciting.

A few years later we went on the same trip on the same train. On our trip back the afternoon the train ran out of coal, halfway back and we sat there for a few hours in the bush next to the train, waiting for another locomotive to come tow us back. That time everyone was up in arms and angry at the operators, demanding money back etc.