Impressed the Hell Out of Me': The Amazing Backyard Steamer That Isn't Exactly What It Seems

From the outside, it looks like a replica train engine with a wood-stoked fire that generates steam for a working whistle, but when the gentlemen who took three years to build it walks to the side and lifts the lid, you'll find it barbecuing.

Instead of a chef's hat, the man who made the unique settup wears a conductor's cap.

Image source: YouTube

Image source: YouTube

Image source: YouTube

"This is the barbecue steam smoker I've been working on, on and off, for three years," the man said.

He numbered the smoker 97 after the country song "Wreck of the Old 97" famously sung by Johnny Cash and others.

Most of the components for the smoker were "built from scratch," according to the Reddit user going by DrewCIL, who posted the video tour his father gave of the invention on the social news site.

Check it out:

"The fire box is from an old farm house wood stove and the wheel rims are from cut up fence posts. He built the water tank and whistles himself from scratch," DrewCIL wrote.

Living in California, DrewCIL wrote that the last time he saw the smoker at his parent's house in Illinois, it was "just a hunk of rust that made some damn good ribs."

"He impressed the hell out of me with this video," DrewCIL wrote.