Salamanca's boiler exploded on 28 February 1818 killing the driver when, as a result of the force of the explosion, he was ""carried, with great violence, into an adjoining field the distance of one hundred yards."" This was the result of the driver tampering with the safety valves. Another boiler explosion occurred on 12 February 1834, again killing the driver. This time the most likely cause was a badly worn boiler, kept going by in-house repairs which were no longer expertly carried out after Blenkinsop's death. The driver killed on this occasion was James Hewitt, the world's first regular locomotive driver.