Article In March/April Issue Draws Heated Response

A July 26, 1971, article in the Republic reported that a
preliminary investigation of the accident showed that ‘the
bottom of the engine’s water supply tank may have been rusted
out.’ The investigation was conducted by Carl M. Weiser who was
said to be with the engineering department of a Minneapolis
insurance firm. ‘He inspects boilers and related apparatus for
the state of Minnesota for insurance purposes,’ the article
said. Property damage from the accident included a piece of angle
iron which was driven through the trunk of a car parked in the
Firestone garage, and the blast also knocked out one of the
firm’s front windows.

Arnold ‘Creepy’ Janssen, the owner of the engine, is a
John Deere dealer in Emery, South Dakota. He told us that ‘The
people who looked at it at the time first thing said we were low on
water, but I had filled it above the crown sheet, higher than
usual, and had injected more. The safety valve was welded it was
that way when I got the engine.’ Janssen said that the crown
sheet was real thin, probably was just too old and should have been
replaced. It had cold tested to 130. He had paraded it two weeks
before the incident, only up to 60-65 pounds, and had threshed with
it.

‘I’ll never believe I was low on water,’ he said,
‘I had 2 inches over the crown sheet and injected more.’
Janssen lost a leg in the accident, but recovered, as did his son.
He no longer collects steam engines, but still has the Case, and
has not restored it. His current pride and joy is a 1932 Franklin
air-cooled car he restored.’

The photo (which is not reprinted here again) used with the
article had also been used on page 4 of the January/February 1975
issue of IMA, in an article about Art Rah, a Minnesota boiler
inspector. In addition, it had been used in the book, Farm Steam
Shows USA and Canada by Dana Close Jennings, published in 1972. Our
attention to this use was first drawn by a letter from Don Hartmann
of Hastings, Nebraska. In his letter, Don pointed out the version
Jennings gave of the accident, saying ‘…Mr. Jennings clearly
shows failure of the crown sheet, due to a plug being welded where
the safety valve should have been as the cause, while your article
has another less possible cause.’

Why Did IMA Print The Article?

As we stated in our introduction, the article came to us through
a subscriber, Nick Buesch of RR 1, Box 172, Freeburg, Illinois
62243. Nick is employed by a midwest metal plate fabricator and
sometimes ‘gets his hands on’ a copy of the National Board
Bulletin, a sample of which he sent to us.

‘I know your organization is as concerned as everyone else
about boiler safety, inspections, etc.,’ Nick wrote in his
letter to us. ‘I think an accident as talked about in this
article gives our hobby a world of bad press. Since this must have
happened in 1984, I would like to see IMA write some type of
article explaining the cause and circumstances.’

‘Although I realize the problems associated with boiler
inspections,’ Nick continued, ‘and the necessary red tape
involved, when one reads this article they can again begin to
understand the reasoning for all rules & regulations put before
us by state legislation.’

‘I realize there may be lawsuits involved and the article
may be delayed because of this, but please inform your readers of
an important example which will be used against us.’

Inquiry Sent To National Board

On November 1, 1985, IMA editor Gerry Lestz wrote a letter to D.
J. McDonald, executive director of the National Board of Boiler and
Pressure Vessel Inspectors, in which he asked for permission for
the reprint, the loan of the photograph, and details regarding the
names and places of the accident. A reply came from P. G. Dawson,
from the staff of the Bulletin, granting permission for reprint,
sending the photo and stating, ‘We cannot give permission to
use names and places for your article.’ At this time, we had no
reason to believe that the photo had in fact not been taken last
year, and in fact, the suggestions Mr. Buesch had made that
‘there may be lawsuits involved,’ seemed reasonable enough
explanation for the Board’s refusal to permit the use of names
and places. It did occur to us that we probably would have known
about an accident of this dimension, had it happened in 1984 or
’85, but without reprinting the photograph, we would never have
known for sure, and we had no reason to believe we were being
misled.

The Responses We Drew

In response to the appearance of this article, we received
numerous phone calls and letters, most of which were very helpful
and informative. Some readers felt that the National Board, or some
of their inspectors were lodging a propaganda campaign to attempt
to shut down steam engine shows. We don’t have room to print
all of the letters, or mention all the calls, but will excerpt from
them here.

Howard W. Miller of Rt. 2, Box 23, Liberty Center, Ohio 43532
wrote, ‘I think that the article on the boiler explosion should
have been thoroughly researched. It has caused a black mark on the
hobby. The damage has been done. All I hope is that the truth about
this explosion will be printed and whoever wrote this article could
write a retraction and let the truth be known.’

We do not know, nor has the National Board told us, who wrote
the article or how the picture came to be used with it. The
official response from the board came to us from Richard E. Jagger,
Director of Inspections whose letter is reprinted in its
entirety:

In response to your letter regarding ‘The Good Old Days’
article, our face is red! We were obviously given misleading
information and carelessly accepted it at face value. Please accept
our sincere apology for this error and any inconvenience and
embarrassment caused you.

Certainly we have learned a valuable lesson, however, I would
hope the few erroneous lines do not detract from the useful and
proficient message of the article. Rigid precautions and inspection
procedures are always important regardless of past performance.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Your
support in our common goal for greater boiler safety is
appreciated.

Bill Kennedy of P.O. Box 695, Elizabeth, WV 26143 was another
reader who recognized the photo as an old one, and criticized us
for printing an article he considered to be ‘in extremely poor
taste.’ Bill talked with many engine owners who were interested
in getting this matter corrected, and had this to say about
inspectors:

‘I have owned engines myself for over fifteen years and have
had state inspectors and appointed show inspectors look at my
boilers. I have had inspectors that did not know which end to build
a fire in. I also had an inspector who did not know a lapp seam
from a butt strap and had one ask where the man hole was in the
boiler so he could sit inside. I have also seen inspectors which
think they know, make innocent people cut out stay bolts which were
in excellent condition. These are just some first hand experiences
I have had myself. I have talked to many other engine owners who
have experienced the same type of situations. If the person does
not know if his engine is safe himself, he should ask for
assistance from someone with experience. There are many engineers
who would help, if only asked.’

‘I am not saying all inspectors are bad, but I have seen
this type of thing tear shows and friends apart and this is very
unfortunate for our hobby.’

Kennedy goes on to stress the need for proper education and
offers this safety suggestion: ‘I think that engine boilers
should be washed out each fall and in the spring and at this time
all hand hole plates removed and a thorough examination take place
of stay bolts, sheets and rivet heads, new gasket and a hydrostatic
test of 1 to 1 times working pressure with warm water. I believe,
if you will check, that Federal law requires 1 times working
pressure, but most states and shows in our area require 1 times
working pressure, but the most important thing of all if, a
competent operator.’

Some of our readers were more forceful in their condemnation of
IMA for reprinting the article. Dr. Gerald Gysler Parker called the
reprint ‘an example of extreme irresponsibility on your part…
you may state that you were simply reprinting that which someone
else submitted but I feel that you are responsible for what appears
in IMA and should have at the very least, given some editorial
comment to attempt to get rid of the misinformation in the
article.’ While we were unaware at the time that the photo was
an old one, or that the description of the mishap erroneous,
possibly printing more of Nick Buesch’s letter with the
original text might have made our position and his intent more
clear. ‘I challenge you to give examples of ‘antique’
boiler explosions that have taken place solely because of failure
of the structure of the boiler,’ Dr. Parker says.

‘Those of us that care about this hobby and its passage to
our children do not take boiler safety lightly. Remember that it is
the operator that will be the first to be destroyed in an
explosion. We realize that proper inspection is all-important to
safety. We realize that the licensing of operators and their proper
training is important. We realize that boilers that have
significant structural defects should not operate until the defect
is repaired. There is a growing number of us that feel we should
have more careful inspection and that it should be carried out by
someone who is intimately familiar with the locomotive style
boiler.’

Randy Schwerin, of Route 2, Sumner, Iowa, another strong
advocate of boiler inspections (by competent inspectors) also
recognized the photo, and claimed that from his examination of
photos of the interior of the firebox after the accident, ‘the
crown sheet blew down and it wasn’t because of the
‘staybolts reduction in the cross sectional area because of
corrosion’ but because of low water and the over heating of the
crown sheet… and as for the soft plug, well if there was one, it
might have been in the engine tool box because it certainly
wasn’t in the crown sheet where it belonged. It had been
replaced with a close nipple and a pipe cap.’ (Mr. Janssen
acknowledged that the safety valve was welded and that it had been
before he acquired the engine.)

Mr. Schwerin did not think that the article was ‘worth
starting a fire in a Case engine with.’

On the positive side, Chady Atteberry of 131 Tobin Road,
Blackwell, OK 74631 wrote to tell us of the account of the accident
given in Jennings’ book, and also to let us know of some
developments in Oklahoma:

‘There is no question that we need to respect a steam
engine, you do not need to fear it. With proper boiler inspection
and trained engineers a steam boiler is safe. In Oklahoma we have
good boiler inspectors. They will not allow a boiler to be fired
that is not safe… you can see that a pipe nipple is in place of
the soft plug (in the photo). I can tell you a boiler inspector
will not allow this at any show with state inspection.’

‘The Oklahoma Steam Threshers at Pawnee, Oklahoma has a
school on steam traction engines. Our president, Mr. Ivan Burns is
very safety conscious. I know that Midwest Old Threshers at Mt.
Pleasant, Iowa also has a school that is very good. I am sure other
associations also hold schools but I am sure there is a lot that
don’t. I think we all agree that we need to think safety all
the time.’

We have started to get news of clubs that are holding courses
over a period of weeks, in steam traction engine operation and
safety. There is another article in this issue about the course at
Midwest, and we expect to hear for a future issue about a program
in Dayton, Ohio. We would urge others to let us know what clubs are
doing in this regard so we can spread the word.

Another reader who wrote to Nick Buesch, was Ken Majeski of
Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Ken had some suggestions for boiler
maintenance that we hope we’ll be able to incorporate in a
future article.

Summary

For forty years, IMA has been a magazine devoted to collectors
of steam traction engines. From the time Elmer Ritzman began the
magazine, it has been a forum for articles written by its readers,
not by a staff of professional writers. In addition, readers have
frequently submitted articles from other publications which have
been reprinted when permission was granted.

While there certainly has been much criticism generated by the
use of this article, much good has also come from it. We now know
the facts surrounding the accident which was pictured. We are
hearing good things about engine operation schools being started by
clubs in different areas. We are seeing open discussion of the need
for qualified operators, qualified inspectors, and safe
equipment.

There is no need to dwell on what we at IMA might have done
prior to publishing this article. We felt we exercised appropriate
journalistic prudence. None of us recognized the photo, and we had
no reason to believe that the National Board of Boiler and Pressure
Vessel Inspectors would publish false or misleading information in
their bulletin. We truly appreciate the quick response* which
helped us to clear up the facts in time for this issue, and we now
consider the matter closed.

*Others who wrote or called included John E. Wilhelm of Fort
Wayne, IN; Stan Alber, Clark Lake, MI; Steve Denlinger, Brookville,
OH; Andy Michels, Plentywood, MT; V. H. Stroud, Hutchinson, KS;
John Schrock, Mason, MI; and C. E. Christian, New Carlisle,
OH.