The aftermath of a boiler explosion c. 1850.
Locomotive boilers are of a construction with a very small, historically hand-fed furnace (more modern locomotives used mechanical stokers), a boiler barrel containing boiling water under pressure, and tubes containing superheated gases from the fire (a fire tube boiler). Improved design and maintenance markedly reduced the number of boiler explosions by the end of the 19th century.
Recently selected: Retiring a locomotive driver - Penn Station concourse - Didcot Railway Centre at night