November 24, 2019
Eric - This is a very likely scenario proposed by a former Sheridan Division locomotive engineer who knows the route through Ranchester well. Particularly so if your great uncle was an engineer who was used to running with a minimal amount of water covering the crown sheet (top of the firebox) for maximum steam capacity and locomotive efficiency. A scaled-up water glass would've only compounded the problem.
Sometimes young folks take what to us senior citizens are unnecessary risks. But, when you're young, you're immortal.... I still think the disaster resulted from a number of unfortunate circumstances that all came together in an instant to propel your great uncle and train crew into Eternity. I'm attaching a photograph of the Ranchester depot taken sometime in 1910. This is how your great uncle would've seen it - Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
In a message dated 11/24/2019 10:57:36 AM Central Standard Time, runextra@gmail.com writes:
Although a lot of Wyoming has bad water the route of this ill fated train has good water for 100 miles or more both east and west of Ranchester. However, no doubt that the said locomotive did operate in less than perfect water territory at times. As for the cause of the explosion, my speculation is that the train had just come down the 10 mile Parkman hill (1.25% grade) and thus the boiler water was at the front, low end of the boiler, uncovering the top of the firebox. The explosion location 1.5 miles east of Ranchester would be the first location the grade changed from downhill to slightly uphill to go over a small hump (now the east CTC switch of Ranchester siding). That caused the boiler water to rush from the front of the boiler to the rear of the boiler where it flowed over the dry, hot, firebox and flash boiled. I don't know about the general age of crews in that era but when I came to work as engineer at Sheridan in the mid-1970s I was 25 years old. During the coal boom it was not uncommon for the entire 4 man crew to have a TOTAL seniority of only 1.5 to 2 years.
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CBQRanchesterWYStation1910.jpg
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