Top Gear and The power of Clarkson

First of all well done to all concerned for the splendid run of Tornado from Kings X to Edinburgh looking forward to seeing the program on Top Gear.

Having previously worked in the motor trade I know how powerful and influential Jeremy Clarkson can be if he told the nation on Top Gear or wrote in a newspaper that the latest car a manufaturer has designed was pants and not worth considering at all it was Doomed.

The same can be said of the people involved with the Steam Movement as a whole if Clarkson slates us then we will still be seen as pathetic Trainspotters however if Clarkson portrays the movement as fun and comes over passionate about Tornado and the Steam Movement as a whole then he could do the movement the world of Good. Lets hope its the later.

 

From the look of him as he got down I think this is a no brainer - lets face it £3m and all the years of effort recreating something designed in his own home town...........

 

I think someone on the forum said Clarkson had a smile on his face everytime they saw him. And with his love of anything Engineering. He did that Bruel thing for the BBC which involved the GWR.

 

Knowing Clarkson's style im willing to bet they'll be one or two cheap shots but overall the impression will be one of being impressed at what Britain can still achieve.

 

It is likely that he will comment on the boilers builder though and with some disaproval...

 

And just think how many times this episode will be shown on Dave and on other TV channels across the world which show Top Gear! It'll be more far reaching than getting one of the Royals to name it, marvellous.

 

Not if it's the same Clarkson who does all those Top Gear features whizzing around in Mercedes-Benzes and that Bugatti developed by Volkswagen...

 

As a point of order on the car trade - Clarkson has, as he himself freely acknowledges, a totally crap record in either predicting (market) lemons, or being able to kill off bad cars from becoming best-sellers. This has nothing to do with Tornado, but I feel compelled to correct an often innacurate myth perpetuated about the Clarkson. (read his books, you will know what I mean).

 

Clarkson has no problem with foreign owned companies designing and building in Britain. But a German designed and built boiler? Because Britishers could not be bothered? He is going to have a field day!

 

I've not yet heard a really valid reason why they chose to redesign what was a satisfactory boiler in the first place.

Sits waiting for the onslaught on the armchair experts. http://tinyurl.com/d9eryr

 

OK, I'll bite \/

How about these:-

Lowering the height to allow Tornado to comply with today's loading gauge
Steel firebox instead of copper
Welded construction instead of riveted.
Oh, wasn't an original design drawing found to have as one material specification 'make from good Yorkshire iron'? I can see that going down well with modern insurers, never mind elf'n'safetee...

 

What is the point of all this speculation ? The programme will be broadcast with the content decided by Clarkson and his Producer. No amount of arguing or in some cases 'flaming' will influence the outcome and all of you could be totally wrong. Wait and see...............the inquest comes after the event - not before it.

 

Do we know (?approx.) when it's due to be screened?

 

June has been mentioned

 

Lucky they bought the boiler when the £ was still worth something.... combined with the exchange rate and europes current spiraling inflation it would be 50% more expensive if ordered now from Germany.

 

Isn't it more a case of there being a 'thing' against rivetted boilers these days? Our 'friends in Brussels again, perchance?

 

I dont think you can blame the move away from rivetted boilers as a 'Brussels' thing - quite simply, most if not all modern industrial boilers are welded and have been for some time. This has obvious consequences on the price of insurance, inspection and construction for traditional ones as they are 'non-standard' - something likely to get worse if the number of suitably experienced inspectors decreases further.

Chris

 

Whilst I accept that most if not all newly constructed pressure vessels are welded and many young insurance inspectors are unfamiliar with rivetted boilers perhaps you can cite where your information came from that confirms the "obvious consequences" of price of insurance? I'm particularly curious how much more expensive the insurance for a rivetted boiler is over that for an all welded one. Without such evidence/confirmation such arguements fall.

 

There's another one.