"City of Iron" is an appropriate name for the resting place of some of the largest machines ever built by man.  The open-air museum's site is an old strip mining operation that has been filled up with water.  Five gigantic machine primarily employed in strip mining surround a large open-air sort of amphitheater, towering over people visiting.  You can walk right up to (and under) the machines, named "Medusa," "Mosquito," "Gemini," "Big Wheel," and "Mad Max," and even ascend some on twisting catwalks that allow you to venture up, around, and inside the behemoths of mining.  They were built in the mid-1900's, and it's hard to imagine these things in operation - how loud they'd be, how much earth they could move, how much power they'd need.

The sheer scale of these machines is nearly unbelievable.  None of the photos in the album can really convey the enormity or the complexity of these machines' construction.  I wish that I could have read more about the machines while we were there, but unfortunately, all the plaques and brochures were only available in German!  Regardless, we all had a really excellent time getting to see these, especially our good friend "Big Wheel," who you might recognize from somewhere...