Headstone perhaps. He's probably spread across several fields by the looks of it. Possibly his first and last attempt at building an engine.

Murray

That neat hole was more likely caused by lack of water and consequent overheating centre of the crown.

Russell

Rod,

I agree, thats the bottom of the firebox, the wheel positions are the give away.

Martin P

The torn / bent edges of the hole and the apparent flight of the whole vehicle suggest some sort of uncontrolled event although I'm no expert admittedly. Perhaps the story behind the picture is known?

Murray

You have to remember these were basically agricultural machinery, not showman's engines.

Looks like it went off with a heck of a bang regardless.

The aerodynamics are not quite right to achieve sustained flight though..

John

Optical interpretation is tricky.

Agreed, we are looking into the firebox from underneath and can see the surrounding four parts of the foundation ring. The lower half of the inner walls of the firebox are perhaps still in their proper place as the line of rivets on the upper left are straight and represent the backhead seam. There is also a firebar support plate still at the front of the firebox inner. The odd thing is not seeing evidence of a firedoor ring in the lower backhead.

The iron ruptures look like soft tears and not sharp fractures suggesting that the top got very hot (lack of water) and sagged before tearing away. A cruciform sitting on the top would have held that together and brought it out in one piece I guess.

Interesting to see and think about anyway.

Norm