Isambard Kingdom Brunel a white elephant, but it has been argued by David P. Billington that in this case Brunel's failure was principally one of economics—his ships were simply years ahead of their time. His vision and engineering innovations made the building of large-scale, propeller-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality, but the prevailing economic and industrial conditions meant that it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry. "Great Eastern" was built at John Scott Russell's Napier Yard in London, and after two trial trips in 1859, set forth on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York
Sam FM (Swindon) awarded the licence, it was renamed as Brunel FM after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, chief engineer of the railway which had converted Swindon from a small village to a large town. Brunel was also the previous name for AM station Classic Gold Radio (now DAB station Gold) when Wiltshire Radio / GWR-FM (now Heart Wiltshire) launched on FM. However, Brunel FM and Brunel Radio / Brunel Classic Gold did not have any connection other than their name and studio location. Brunel FM launched at 10am on 2 September 2006, and remained under control of The Local Radio Company until its sale