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FEATURE 18 lowered into the pit and tested to destruction. The boiler exploded at a pressure between 1,800 and 2,000 pounds per square inch. Although no production car used a steam pressure higher than 600 psi, neither were they fitted with any of the racing-type boilers. 6 An August 1903 magazine article described the failure of an Ofeldt “Salamandrine” boiler near Cincinnati. The car in question was a Mobile, which was normally fitted with a Stanley boiler. It is perfectly clear what happened: the boiler had been run totally dry, then, while it was very hot, a large quantity of water was pumped into it by a steam-powered feed pump. The driver was not killed because he had dismounted in order to turn off the burner, which could not be done from the seat. 7 A Stanley reportedly exploded May 13, 1906, in Omaha, Nebraska. The upper tubesheet went straight up and the lower tubesheet went down against the ground. The people in the car received minor injuries from insulation blown into their faces. It is believed the boiler had a copper shell and that the circumstances of the accident involved a hot dry boiler into which water was pumped. Early Stanleys did use copper shells, but steel shells were standard from about 1906. 8 The explosion of the boiler in an 1899 Locomobile in Columbia, South Carolina, December 11, 1906, is the only documented case I have found of the wire wrapping used on Stanley boilers failing while in service. The story claims the boiler was choked NATIONAL BOARD BULLETIN/FALL 2003 by corrosion from constant use of river water, and had made ominous sounds just before the failure. A boiler explosion in a 1903 “Geneva” car August 10, 1908, near Painesville, Ohio, killed two people. The boiler had a copper shell about 1/16 of an inch thick and was not the boiler normally fitted to the car, which was a semi-flash boiler with a steelshelled firetube section above a watertube section. There is no mention of a wire wrapping, which would be absolutely essential on a copper shell boiler at normal automotive steam pressures. The accident happened near the bottom of a long downhill grade, and it is assumed that the fire had not shut off when it should have and the safety valve had stuck. 10 9 In a 1912 Stanley Mountain Wagon, a four-inch section of the weld between the upper tubesheet and the shell failed and released the steam with sufficient violence that the hood (bonnet) flipped up and smashed the windshield. Nobody, either in the car or near it, was injured. I do not consider this incident an “explosion,” as the boiler shell remained essentially intact. There have been steam car explosions in recent years, but all involved fuel tanks, not boilers. There have been boiler failures also, but these have not been explosions. A great many Stanley drivers have “scorched” their boilers by running them dry, including this writer. But so long as only the normal engine-driven or hand-operated feed pumps are used, this situation is expensive, not dangerous. ❖
Madiha Kotb Assumes Leadership of ASME Conformity Assessment Board PProvince of Québec Chief Boiler Inspector and National Board Member Madiha Kotb, P.E., has begun a threeyear term as ASME vice president for conformity assessment. She was elected to the position for a term extending from June 2003 to June 2006. The Board on Conformity Assessment, under the direction of the Council on Codes and Standards, supervises ASME’s accreditation, registration, and certification activities as well as developing activity criteria. As vice president, Ms. Kotb serves as chair of the board and a voting member of the Council on Codes and Standards. “The next three years will see Ms. Kotb play an instrumental role in the important codes and standards process,” commented Donald Tanner, National Board executive director. “We extend to her our best wishes for what we believe will be a productive term and continue to offer our support for the important work performed by the Board on Conformity Assessment.” A native of Cairo, Egypt, the former Miss El Mehelmy was graduated from Concordia University in Montréal with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering. She joined the Québec Pressure Equipment Division in 1981 as technical support engineer, and became a member of the National Board representing the Québec jurisdiction in 1989. She is the only woman to have served on the Board of Trustees (1991-1993). Currently a member of the ASME Subcommittee on Nuclear Accreditation and the Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Conference Committee, Ms. Kotb has been a member of the Board on Conformity Assessment since 1994 and most recently served as the board’s vice chair. According to Ms. Kotb, the major issues that she will seek to address during her tenure include: a careful examination of emerging trends and evaluation of the need and value of select conformity assessment programs, promotion of wider recognition of conformity assessment programs internationally, and building cooperation within the society to further integrate ASME strategies. Another issue on Ms. Kotb’s agenda involves reconciling the differences that presently exist between the public and private sectors. “It is a tremendous challenge that will undoubtedly require extraordinary patience and resourcefulness,” she noted. “One of my main objectives for the next three years will be to open up our communications so that all industry professionals will be better informed and consequently more able to contribute to the conformity assessment process,” she added. “Ms. Kotb’s election to this prestigious position is made possible through the outstanding cooperation and encouragement of her jurisdiction,” explained Mr. Tanner. “We commend the Province of Québec for its excellent support of Ms. Kotb’s National Board and ASME involvement.” In a related professional honor, this summer Ms. Kotb was presented the Canadian Standards Association Award of Merit in recognition of her “advocacy, expertise and dedication towards the development of safety regulations, codes and standards . . . over the last 20 years.” ❖ NATIONAL BOARD BULLETIN/FALL 2003 FEATURE 19
Page 1 and 2: BULLETIN FALL 2003 • VOLUME 58
Page 3 and 4: 2003 Registrations National Board C
Page 5 and 6: Inspector Notices Importance of Reg
Page 7 and 8: Perhaps the most difficult cost to
Page 9 and 10: A Labor of Love getting a new desig
Page 11 and 12: Very quickly, improvements were add
Page 13 and 14: overweight at 4,400 pounds on a 130
Page 15 and 16: BULLETIN: Are many still running? H
Page 17: Steam Car Boiler Explosions CCollec
Page 21 and 22: Stamp Maintenance By John Hoh, Assi
Page 23 and 24: Gold Medal Guests Bill Russell and
Page 25 and 26: Ensemble Effervescence Modeling the
Page 27 and 28: New York Chief Inspector Ronald K.
Page 29 and 30: John J. Duffy Remembered by Nationa
Page 31 and 32: “There weren’t a lot of boilers
Page 33 and 34: Joe Ball, P.E. Technical Manager Na
Page 35 and 36: ENDORSEMENT COURSES (A) Authorized

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