Phil in SF quoted Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars Trilogy, #1)
For centuries, the barren, desolate landscape of the red planet has beckoned to humankind. Now …
When they were done, the tractor looked as overloaded and topheavy as a steam calliope.
— Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars Trilogy, #1) (17%)
new vocabulary: calliope
an American keyboard instrument resembling an organ but with the notes produced by steam whistles, formerly used on showboats and in traveling fairs.