Top Gear and The power of Clarkson

Oh c'mon guys.

Lets face it, who cares whether Clarkson called it a 'locomotive' or a 'train'..... the bottom line is that is was good entertainment, and a wonderful advert for steam. We need all the advertising we can get, in this industry - and to be represented as well as that, on primetime family telly, is something not a lot of hobbies can claim. Please, lets not pick holes, chaps!

Well done A1 Trust and Danny, for securing such a coup.

 

DVD release?

Great entertainment and a good advert. As is usual with these events, the BBC will have yards of unused footage - particularly those more unusual camera angles from the mini-cams. Any plans to release a DVD of the trip in aid of the Trust?

(The BBC Top Gear website does say some exra outtakes will be added shortly...)

 

Back in 1985 I was on a southbound S&C run from Carlisle with Sir Lamiel and apparently none of the 4 or 5 people on the footplate noticed a low water level. The first they seemed to be aware of it was when the loco dropped a fusible plug! August 1985 I think that happened. Unbelieveable.

Re Tornado's coal consumption, the A1s never worked the non-stops on the ECML. On an A1 the firegrate was a lot bigger than on an A4, so would have burned more coal on a non-stop than the A1s tenders were able to carry.

 

..........and no seat belt !

great program, reputation intact i reckon despite the result. =D>[/quote]

A car of that vintage does not need seat belts.
Colin

 

Add to that that no A1 was ever coupled to a corridor tender (as far as I know) so the non-stop was not an option.

 

That is correct. The A1s could not run with corridor tenders because the two types of tenders had different braking sysrems.

 

Can you explain that further please ? 8-[

 

An excellent program featuring Tornado. Clarkson looked some what disappointed that he wasn't going to drive Tornado! The camera angles plus lineside & scenes from the air were 1st class.

Was a bit of a shame that Tornado came 2nd

 

Steam would have won in 1949 - fewer dual carriageways and water troughs available.

 

Steam would have won in 2009 if the limit was 90 and the path green all the way...

 

It can happen! I was on the footplate of South African 4-8-4 3436 in the 1980s taking an 800 ton goods train out of Orange River. I was left to drive it whilst the driver took my video camera and filmed me after he walked down the side of the loco and stood next to the chimney! He came back and chatted for quite a while. Until I noticed the water level dropping below the bottom of the gauge glass. The fireman was in his seat asleep, (black guy, in the days when they had to work stupid hours at low rates of pay just to sustain life. So no blame whatsoever there). I wondered what to say to the driver who was, and still is a good friend. "How low do you run the water level in these locos?" was my question to him! Which got him turning around and doing all that was needed rather quickly! (He was NOT a racist by the way. A decent guy who tried to look after his fireman whatever their colour).

RE low water in SA locos. Anyone ever meet Dick, "low water" Marsh? Sadly I didn't. Of 15F 4-8-2 fame out of Bloemfontein in the 1970s.

Anyway back to 60163 before Ralph gives me a deserved reprimand for going off topic.

Yes.There are things that have to be done in today's highly competitive commercial TV market to gain and try and keep audience share. That is the world we live in whether we like it or not.

 

Done

It's interesting to see there are still a few small troubles on the UK's newest loco

 

It would be interesting to hear from someone who was actually on the footplate but I'm guessing that the low water scene was real. Tornado's exhaust steam injector wasn't that reliable when I was on it and, if it knocked off and it wasn't noticed, the water level would drop quite quickly at the steaming rate required. The distraction of the event and filming could easily have contributed to the oversight. What was the problem with the so called steam leak in the earlier part of the run?

The 'antiques' on the footplate with all those people moving around was a bit like a scene from the Keystone Cops. I'm sure that it wasn't like that for the majority of the run..... I hope it wasn't, anyway!

All in all, good entertainment for the masses.

Weren't the original Peppercorn A1's steam braked throughout? The A4's and A3's were vac braked throughout and this was the case with the corridor tenders fitted to them. Conversion wouldn't have been a huge job, though.

 

seat belts,if the car was not fitted with them when new no legal requirement to fit them now.

 

And if (retro-)fitted with one it might well have been a lap belt and not necessarily visible.

Fine piece of popular television, which managed to do the general TG job without patronising anyone (if there had been a Morris Marina involved, however...). Don't knock the terminology - re "train", remember TG is written with international syndication in mind. Was amused however by Clarkson, in awe of the loco's motion, being unable to come up with anything but "RSJ" for the conn rod...!

 

The water level would drop significantly with the change of gradient when they went over the summit after Grantshouse.

A drama helps to make good TV!

 

Quite frankly the whole crew on all modes deserve a medal

I drove Edinburgh - Manchester on the last day of GB2 - it came out at about eighty miles less than this run, one way or other, and was damned hard work even in a modern car with all the creature comforts.

The only problem with the show was Tornado being up against Schumacher - talk about double billing!

 

Never, ever forget the East German Steam loco, (03 pacific?), that had it's boiler explode with fatal results in 1977 at Bitterfeld.

A fast stop on a falling gradient near the end of a run when the boiler water level was low. What water was in the boiler surged forward exposing the fusible plug. But with no water to flood in and put out the fire when the fire heat melted the fusible plug. Until the loco stopped and the water surged back all of a sudden...............tremendous heat on the water..........vast and sudden increase in steam pressure ......BANG..............and deaths............. So sad.

(My understanding of what happened that dreadful day on a normal service train).

Maybe not be possible with a sudden gradient change with very low boiler water. But who wants to take the chance?

Oh dear. Look who's become an anorak now. ME!

 

Lets see that again.................: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... new_series)/