If you visit the historic French city of Nantes in the Loire Valley, don’t be surprised if you see a mechanical elephant walking down the street. The city has a unique attraction called Les Machines de L’Île, which is basically a steampunk amusement park.
source/image(PrtSc): Tom Scott
Les machines de l’île, in Nantes, are famous for their giant mechanical elephant. And to my surprise, tourists can just pay and ride it. They create fantastical contraptions using a huge range of materials, including steel, leather, wood, glass, fabric and metal. These machines then “come to life captivating audiences.Watch the video from Tom Scott:
The mechanical elephant is a 12-metre high 48-tonne mechanical creature that walks its way through the island’s streets each day, trumpeting and spouting water at curious visitors.
Advertisement
The creations are designed to be touched, explored and even ridden in. The mechanical elephant can carry 50 riders and stomps the entire length of the park in 30 minutes.The mechanical elephant runs on 62 hydraulic, pneumatic and gas cylinders that keeps it moving./Tom Scott
