A lot of unusual, intriguing photos appear on the Internet, the authenticity of which is hard to believe. And sometimes it is simply impossible to understand what is happening on them. This is the case with this photo. Everyone who has seen her is wondering: what happened to this locomotive? Now we will tell you everything!
Steam locomotives have become an integral part of the era of the Industrial Revolution. Humanity during this period gravitated to everything massive, powerful, iron. At the same time, no one thought about ecology, the conquest of nature was considered something right and natural. A huge amount of coal was used for steam locomotives. 
The vehicle was serviced by stokers who threw fuel into the furnace, constantly raising the temperature of the boiler. Engineers were also present on the locomotives, who determined whether it was necessary to throw more coal. At the same time, these specialists often did not have a sufficient level of knowledge to understand when to stop heating the boiler.
The fact is that people in the era of industrialization could already build massive iron pieces, but they did not always know how to properly maintain them. At the time of the appearance of steam locomotives, the basic laws of thermodynamics had not yet been discovered, little was known about the level of resistance of materials. 
And the engineers not only did not have the necessary knowledge, but also wanted to squeeze the maximum out of the vehicle. So the boilers were heated to an unacceptable limit, as a result, the equipment simply could not stand it. This can be compared to modern motorists who are trying to step on the gas to the last in order to develop as much speed as possible.
The result of this attitude to steam locomotives was what is depicted in this curious photograph. What is imprinted on it? The photographer captured what happened to the locomotive after the explosion of the boiler. It looks really fascinating! It was as if the hunters had gutted some unprecedented monster. 
Steel pipes really look like guts that have fallen out. A pile of twisted metal looks majestic and pathetic at the same time, and certainly very impressive! Boiler explosions were often observed in the 19th century, during this period the phenomenon was very common.
This is due to insufficient knowledge in the field of design, as well as the poor quality of the material used for the construction of steam locomotives. There were no strict standards of vehicle operation, which were documented only at the beginning of the 20th century. After that, boiler explosions began to occur less frequently, but they still happened. 
As a rule, accidents were the result of strong steam pressure on the outer surface of the heat exchanger tube, which led to a decrease in the strength of the system. Over time, the boiler could not withstand the constant load and exploded. The first such case occurred in 1813, when the driver raised the speed of the locomotive to the maximum, which led to a strong increase in the steam pressure level.
As a result, the boiler exploded, the accident claimed the lives of 13 people. But this story did not teach the drivers anything, did not force the designers to improve the design of the locomotive. The necessary changes were finally made to the documents almost 100 years later. But even after that, accidents did not stop happening. 
So, the described photo shows the consequences of a boiler explosion that occurred in 1948 in the US state of Ohio. As a result of the accident, a stoker and an engineer who asked to slow down were killed. Interestingly, before the explosion, the locomotive developed an incredible speed. You can see the result in the photo.
In the middle of the 20th century, explosions almost stopped, but not because of improvements in the design of steam locomotives, but as a result of the fact that safer electric and diesel locomotives took their place.
Now amazing equipment can be found only in photos and in museums to look at them and remember the era when people loved everything big and iron, while frightening. Trains have replaced the smoking giants, traveling on which is much more comfortable and safe.