Steam locomotive crashes into excavator - GIF

**Altair** · Mar 20, 2023, 09:14 AM

Steam locomotive crashes into excavator.

Previously:

Steam locomotive boiler explosions - video
steam locomotive drag racing
1880s derailed steam locomotive - photo
Train crashes into semi trailer on crossing - GIF
Train crashes into turbine blade transported by semi - GIF

**hemmjo** · Mar 20, 2023, 06:19 PM

I have never worked on a locomotive, so please correct me if I am wrong. Are we sure that video is real? 3 things seem not right.

1 The stick and bucket on that hoe fold up way too easily. The hydraulics are basically "locked" when the machine is off and all of the valves are in the center position. It takes A LOT of force to make them move like that. I was expecting to see some hoses burst, spewing hydraulic fluid all over. Despite all of the force it takes to move the stick, the tracks on that little hoe never move. Only when the boom is deep inside the boiler do the tracks lift and the hoe slides back.

2. The boom enters the locomotive so deep it has to be into the firebox. We know this because of the thick black soot along with how much of the hoe boom enters the front. Why are there no smoke and sparks blowing out the front?

3. Someone was standing there with a video camera shooting the scene. How could they not notice that cute yellow CAT sitting on the tracks? If it had been a child sitting there, would have have said anything?

I think someone who does not know much about stream locomotives or construction equipment faked that video.

I am open to being corrected.

click photo to enlarge

Steam locomotive crashes into excavator - GIF-steamlocomotive-cutaway.jpg

**astroscuba** · Mar 20, 2023, 08:19 PM

I see the top ram being pulled out of the cylinder. No compression on the hydraulics. The tracks don't move because they are suspended above the rails and the hoe is on a track dolly. The bucket does hit the ties for just a second and looks to be tossing material. The fire box is actually at the other end. That is here coal is fed into the boiler. The end that the back hoe punctures is a clean out area where the hot gasses escapt up the stack.
I'm not saying that you are wrong and it is not a fake video, but it does look legit to me.

**schuylergrace** · Mar 20, 2023, 11:36 PM

I wonder if the switch wasn't set wrong and that they didn't intend on running down the section of track where the cute little CAT was. My first thought about the black smoke was that the impact had shaken loose a bunch of soot.

**hemmjo** · Mar 21, 2023, 05:41 AM

Originally Posted by astroscuba

I see the top ram being pulled out of the cylinder. No compression on the hydraulics. The tracks don't move because they are suspended above the rails and the hoe is on a track dolly. The bucket does hit the ties for just a second and looks to be tossing material. The fire box is actually at the other end. That is here coal is fed into the boiler. The end that the back hoe punctures is a clean out area where the hot gasses escapt up the stack.
I'm not saying that you are wrong and it is not a fake video, but it does look legit to me.

Ok that makes sense to me. Thanks

**astroscuba** · Mar 21, 2023, 08:57 AM

Thats probably what did happen. You can see the track in the foreground and the engineer probably was in the process of saying "oh ****" when he realized the locomotive was not taking the new rails! There is not a lot of speed involved as the loco was able to stop in short amount of time. Had the back hoe been facing the other way, the cattle catcher would have just bumped it out off way. Soot was disloged from impact and seeing as there was so little soot indicates they are running the boiler well.

**BuffaloJohn** · Mar 21, 2023, 10:59 AM

looks legit to me. I have busted a hydraulic cylinder when I ran a backhoe into a wall (trying to navigate in a very tight space).

The front box that the trackhoe broke is where the smoke from the firebox behind the boiler vents though the smofe stack. Draft though the system is helped by exahusting steam up the stack to draw air in the firebox. There are lots of tubes that run from the firebox to this front chamber. When the trackhoe broke the through there was a big release of black smoke, mostly the soot in the exhaust that collected in the chamber that would normally get cleaned out ever so often.

This locomotive is in for some extensive repairs. All the tubes need to be replaced, the contents of the front chamber often held a supercharger or other steam enhancement devices, yeah, the engineer needed his brown pants that day and the switch was set wrong - somebody was probably fired...