Iron Elephant (engine)

The Iron Elephant was a steam-powered engine built by Richard Trevithick of Boston in the 1780s. The Iron Elephant was built in the shape of a hairy elephant, and was intended to replace the beasts of burden as the means of powering the railroads of the Federated Commonwealths.

In 1782, Trevithick took the Iron Elephant on tour. In Springfield, Trevithick was challenged to a race by elephant-driver Prem Chand. The two trains were to race to Cairo. While Chand and his living elephants were able to maintain the lead for the first day, the Iron Elephant was able to overtake them during the night. However, a group of wild sims had set up a trap along the tracks. The Iron Elephant fell in, and the sims attacked, killing two of the crew. Naturally, the Iron Elephant was impervious to the sims' weapons, but that didn't stop them from trying to kill it.

Prem Chand's team arrived to help rescue the Iron Elephant and its crew. Although most were saved, the Iron Elephant itself was lost. However, a second model was being completed in Boston.