Michael Martin wrote:
>
>
> I guess I didn't want to believe that individuals could be
> that careless or ignorant when lives other than their own
> were at risk.
>
It was simply an issue of complacency. If you deal with anything on a
regular basis for a long time, no matter how dangerous, the tendency is
to become complacent about it. The owner of the engine in this instance
was by no means new to steam power. In fact, he had been steaming for
years, even decades. He became complacent and overlooked the
possibility of disaster. REMEMBER, the same thing could have happened
to anyone! Every single person who ever deals with anything dangerous
is susceptible to making the exact same mistakes he did. He was not at
all unusual, even the most conscientious and careful operator could have
made the same mistakes. That is why these things require eternal
vigilence.
