Fusible plug
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A fusible plug is a threaded cylinder of metal, usually bronze, brass or gunmetal, with a tapered hole drilled completely through its length. This hole is sealed with a metal of low melting point that
The core of low-melting-point metal is visible in this modern fusible plug.
Fusible plug with a core
Boiler explosion
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A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler.
Fusible plug
…and the resulting blast of steam into the firebox warns the operators before the top of the firebox itself runs completely dry, which could result in a boiler explosion. The flue gases in a steam engine firebox can reach 1,000 °F (538 °C), a temperature that copper, from which most fireboxes were made, softens to the…
The aftermath of a boiler explosion at Strømmen station near Oslo, Norway, 22 December 1888. One locomotive was thrown into the air and landed on the roof of another; the crews of both escaped without injury.
In the Crash at Crush, Texas, 1896, two locomotives crashed into one another for a publicity stunt. Both boilers exploded, causing two deaths and many more injuries as a result of the explosions sending flying debris into the crowd.
Aftermath of a boiler explosion on a railway locomotive circa 1850.
Steamboat explodes in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1830