Steam Organ

 

In 1865 Dr Hamilton Goodwin developed a machine to compete with that of his arch rival and fellow mechanical engineer, Charles Babbage. Dr Goodwin's machine, built around an old church organ, was designed to calcute advanced mathmatical sums by hitting the keys of the organ in sequence. The answer to the sum was then printed from a slot in the organ's rear.

 

Beneath the wooden shell of the organ were various analytical engines and procesing units, all given a boost in power by a steam-compression tank located behind the organ. Rumour has it that during the many years Goodwin spent perfecting the machine he added a number of devices inside the organ including a cooling fan, several more steam chambers and even a cage containing several mice.

 

Sadly, despite making the Steam Organ his life work, Goodwin failed to gain any fame or acceptance due to the machine's tendency to mis-calculate sums. It was also common for the print-out to read gibberish rather than the actual answer, such as the infamous incident when Goodwin showed the organ to Queen Victoria and it printed out a sheet which read '786TRAPPED! 01000101010!!?!>>NOT AMUSED WE ARE NOT 0111!'

 

Goodwin died alone in 1880 and the organ was donated to the local scrap merchant.

 

[Created for Reasonably Clever's LEGO Steampunk Challenge contest.]

Done