Clarkson to Start Up Replica Engine on SS Great Britain

PRESERVATION IS TOP OF THE AGENDA
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It is still less than a year since the world's first screw-propelled, ocean-going, wrought iron ship opened to visitors following its £11.3 million refit.

In February this year, work began to build a working model of the great ship's original engine to replace the replica built by the Engine Committee in the 1980s.

Glasgow-based Heritage Engineering was called in to transform a static model built for the ss Great Britain Trust in the 1980s into a working replica of the engine that took the ship on her maiden voyage to New York in 1845.

The company, which specialises in restoring steam engines and cast iron structures, has been working to bring the vision of the trust to fruition.

The aluminum working replica weighs 90 tonnes - the original cast iron engine weighed 390 tonnes - and stands three storeys high.

The original is believed to be in Ireland, after it was ditched overboard when the ss Great Britain ran aground on the sands of Dundrum Bay in 1846.

The official starting up ceremony will take place this evening (Friday 9th June) at an invitation-only event due to be attended by many who have supported the project with Brunel fan Jeremy Clarkson as the guest of honour.

The TV presenter, who visited the ship as an advocate for Brunel during the BBC's Great Britons series, will throw the lever that will set the engine in motion.

Source: Bristol Evening Post