Less than a half-decade-old Super Power steam. I don't know where Rick Fleischer found this gem, but what a scene. Imagine the piston, free of load, being blown back to the rear of the cylinder. Would steam have rocketed straight out of the piston rod hole from the rear cylinder inlet ports on each revolution of the wheels, until the 411-ton beast came to a halt, or could the piston have traveled so far back, it blocked its escape? Had this event been captured from trackside on movie film, it would have been an incredible YouTube video, today. This certainly had to be LOUD! I was going to add that with this failure being so close to Schenectady, the folks from Alco probably came quickly to gather and analyze the components to see what corrective measures could be taken, but they were more than a year past delivering their last steam locomotive, ever (P&LE A-2a Berk #9046), so they couldn't have cared...
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