"Barnum's Dream" by Ed Ross
Ed Ross has one hell of an imagination. Barnum's Dream has everything: a cowcatcher, cannon turrets, gattling guns, harpoon, a laser, a steam engine, and a train's undercarriage. Not only did he spend years building this thing, he's written an extensive historical record chronicling its service in Her Majesty's service. If you're a modeler, or even just a steampunk fan, you have to check out his build blog.
"The war machine now known as Barnum’s Dream has an eventful history, even though it only saw one battle. It was originally called The Terrible. It was commissioned jointly in 1854 as a ship by Queen Victoria and the emperor of France, Napoleon III to be used against the Russians in defense of the Ottoman empire in the Crimean war. It was to be the largest paddle wheel steam warship to ever be built. Over 300 feet long with over 30 massive cannons, with the main cannon capable of firing a two foot diameter shell. Over 4000 workers conscripted from many of the colonies labored seven days a week for two years, but as it neared completion, the Crimean conflict ended. The ship was mothballed in dry dock and remained so until the Franco-Prussian war.
During the Franco Prussian wars, Napolean III purchased Queen Victoria’s interest to convert the ship to a war train to defend the border of the territory of Alsace which was being heavily bombarded by a massive cannon tanktrain of the Prussians. As time was of the essence, it was simpler to just build a massive train carriage under the existing ship rather than totally dismantling it and going through a total rebuild. The paddle wheel was changed to a twin rail drive wheel. At the same time, It happened that Napoleon was on good acquaintance with Mathew Maury, an oceanographer who was associated with the science team that was then building Captain Nemo’s Nautilus. He told Napoleon that one group in the team had invented a large “light weapon” that could turn distant objects to ash in minutes, but the weapon was too large for the Nautilus and not appropriate for underwater use. The weapon had been completed and Napoleon purchased it and had it transported and installed on the rear section of the ship. While it was on the first mile of its rail being laid, the tanktrain attacked, and was destroyed by The Terrible in a short battle. But again, defeat in the war was already in sight and rather than let it fall into Prussian hands, it was again secreted away and mothballed. Almost all records were destroyed of its making and it was so successfully hidden that it became lost from history."
"Barnum's Dream is conceptually based on a piece by Michael Sormann, the TP Barracuda pictured above. It has long been a favorite of mine. In trying to name it, I was playing with ideas and flipped the T.P. to P.T. and then of course, Barnum came to mind. A fanatical showman with a flair for the strange and odd, he would have probably enjoyed such a machine, from its scale to its diabolical nature. The machines of “The Wild Wild West” also influenced certain concepts. The finished piece will use much of Sormann’s design, some of it a copy, but with many changes and concepts that are my own. The front half will be be very close to the original, but the back half will contain the steam engine and the large laser cannon and Gattling gun. Mr. Sormann has graciously given me permission to use his work as my starting point."
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