Well I think Matty needs to get someone in. Even to suggest such a
thing is extremely foolish.

I have seen the aftermath of a steam flange failure, fortunately I was
not present.
Every window in the place was blown out and the boiler firer was badly
injured but fortunate to survive being burned and afterwards
suffocation..
It was an oil fired boiler, if it had been coal he would have surely
died.

A flange on a CAST IRON valve broke off. Afterwards we found the
casting was faulty in that the pipe bore was eccentric to the exterior
of the casting.
This was a quite new valve too never mind some corroded old rubbish.

Steam locomotive boilers are particularly prone to all sorts of
corrosion and fatigue isses due to using fresh water and poor water
treatment.
Riveted boilers are even worse.

A steam explosion inside a locomtive fire box would be virtually
guaranteed to kill the fireman/driver as all the burning coal could
well be blown out of the firing hole into the locomotive cab.

So in recent years have you any examples of preserved steam operated
railway operations that have had boiler explosions that have injured or
killed people in the railway world, perhaps excluding India which hasn't
got the good a track record ;!....
--
Tony Sayer