This is an 1857 Blackburn Agricultural Engine, and steampunky as it may appear, this really was a working* steam-powered traction engine, complete with a boiler and two-cylinder steam engine mounted inside the enormous front wheel.

Recreating this Victorian oddity is Nikolaus Lowe, who has not only replicated the Blackburn’s remarkable appearance, he’s included Power Functions motors so that his version can trundle around too. Only it’s likely geared much higher than the real thing was, as Nikolaus’ model is much too fast for a steam traction engine. This may not be Victorian-authentic, but it sure pleased the Elf that found it…

Sitting atop its find, the aforementioned Elf trundled into the Elves’ cage room and simply flattened those that were milling about on the floor, so evenly and precisely they could have been cookie cut-outs. Thank the Blackburn’s huge heavy drum for that neatness. Pressed Elves do not produce wine as it turns out, just vomit and other bodily fluids, so we’ve got some cleaning up to do. Whilst we get on with that you can check out more of Nikolaus’ amazing machine on Flickr – click the link above to take a look.

*No proof exists today, but there is a photo of an updated version from the 1860s, so we like to think this really did work.