out dated tractor pull

Now I know what is meant by "turning on the steam".  Seems when they started to slow a bit, they just turned on more power!

i always like to watch the steamers pull at our local show

Here is the one I shot at Rantoul in 09. Watched them back up a pickup truck load of wood to it and just started chucking it in before it pulled up to the sled.
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wow!! i've never seen em pull like that before! what kinda HP?? about 13?

Thought I heard the one in my video was suppose to be 100 horse, but I'm not sure on it.

The 100HP case belongs to the fellow next door, he seems to always have the biggest and the best of everything....Its only one of 3 left I think..

Is it true that they can explode if not ran properly? Someone told me that would happen occasionally back in the old days.

VERY few boiler explosions occur due to boiler mechanical issues. Most are due to operator error of letting the water get too low, or other issues such as a malfunctioning  safety valve , pressure guage  or water glass. As long as there is sufficient water over the crown sheet and properly functioning safety equipment, there should NEVER be a boiler explosion. A conscientious operator will ensure this. Might spring a leak, but should not go boom. Rob.

Maybe a dozen years ago I remember one exploding at a show in Ohio that killed like 4 or 6 people. It was on the news. I was told by an old steam engine guy, Bud Budenski from West Concord MN if anyone might know him, not even sure if he's still around, that if you replace the soft lead pipe plug with a steel one then you can have big trouble.He figured that was what happened in Ohio.

Yes, the Medina incident was clearly a case that the operator did not perform his duty to inspect the boiler prior to firing.  If he had, he would have found staybolts unsuitable for tension, crown plate too thin for pressure, and crownplate fuses corroded over.

Crownplate fuses are essentially brass bolts that have been drilled and filled with lead.   As long as the crownplate is kept submerged (by proper water management), the temperature of that plate will NEVER exceed the temperature of boiling water... which in a pressurized boiler is obviously higher than 212F, but not higher than 450F.

Once crownplate temperature exceeds the melting point of the fuse plug, the lead melts, spraying water and steam into the firebox.  This is a very uncomfortable thing for the operator, but it 'blows down' the machine before the crownplate can overheat and rupture.

It's all about
1) inspecting and certifying the boiler for operation at a given pressure
2) setting and testing the safeties according to the certified pressure, and
3) maintaining proper water level at ALL TIMES.

Given these three responsibilities, a boiler will NEVER explode.  ALL boiler failures are a result of one or more of these being ignored.

That said, boiler explosions leave very interesting blast-sites.  The initial explosion is that caused by whatever steam is present IN the boiler.  This generates a 'ring' wherin everything within the first 15-20' or so is scalded and imploded.  Beyond that, a second damage ring, even worse than the first, projects out in all directions.  At this ring, a secondary shock wave occurs, because the first explosion ejects high-temperature water... well above 212, and when it reaches the 25-30' mark, this water expands about 1700 times it's original volume instantaniously, creating a shockwave exceeding the speed of sound. This vaporizes everything for the next 100'.  If you watch WW2 footage of steam-powered ships being torpedoed, you'll see the initial and secondary shock waves of boiler explosions.

It ain't a pretty thing, and I sure-as-heck don't wanna be near the TOWN when something like that happens...  but the important thing to remember, when operating a steam boiler, is that it's your responsibility to maintain that water level at all costs, and when something goes wrong, you stay WITH THE ENGINE, for 2 reasons-  first, the lives of everyone within 500' of you depend on you being there, maintaining that water level, and quenching the fire.  Second of all, it will do you no good to run- if it goes, you're the first to die.

That being said, taking care of those three tasks is simple.  It is no more dangerous than operating a farm tractor, or shooting clay pigeons, operating high powered HAM radio transmitters, or going golfing.  It is rediculously fun to fill a big rolling tank, start a fire, jockey the dampers, watch gauges, then spin up the engine and feel a 15-ton antique rumble along pulling essentially anything you can tie to the drawbar.

Yep, they're inefficient.  Thermally-speaking, they waste about 90% of the thermal energy you throw in, but hey-  they're the ORIGINAL "Flex-Fuel" machine, and they were BUILT with "RENEWABLE RESOURCE" and "ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY" in mind.

(and you never have a day where the heater don't work)