Selbstportrait mit Katzen

Not many people know the following bit of obscure American historical trivia, but, as it was recently brought back to my attention and I love nothing more than sharing interesting tidbits which delight and instruct, I lay it out for you below.

Before the profusion of railroad lines capable of transporting one from basically any major origin on one side of the country to any major destination on the other, regardless of the latitude of either, plans were made for two chief lines, or, if you like, one line with a major point of divergence, though they would still be two logical lines.  Both would start in the highly populated northeast, travelling southwest for a spell until hitting roughly the middle of the country, there heading west in a more-or-less straight line.  Then, one of the lines would turn to the northwest, ending in Washington state, and the other southwest, ending in Arizona.  It was decided that construction on the lines (post-bifurcation) would proceed serially, with the latter being constructed first.  However, as is well known, the process of undertaking such a vast construction project, in an era of rampant corruption (which is as much as to say, in an era), was more involved than anyone anticipated during the planning phase.  As a result, after construction of the first branch was completed, all parties agreed that they wouldn't bother with the construction of the second, and those lines that did eventually service those areas were added piecemeal by individual operators.

And that's why we never got a ciscontinental railroad.

Comments

[Standpipe Bridgeplate]

You had me at "railroad lines". (Seriously.) Does it get better? Is that possible? I will find out.

[Standpipe Bridgeplate]

I don't get it.

[ben wolfson]

Geometric isomerism.

 H      Cl
  \    /
   C==C
  /    \
Cl      H

Trans!

Cl      Cl
  \    /
   C==C
  /    \
 H      H

Cis!

[rone]

Now you have to make up a similar story for "cissexual". OR I WILL DESTROY YOU.

[eb]

We got so many railroad lines we finally couldn't figure out what to do with them. So we tore up a bunch of them.

[ben wolfson]

See, I don't think it makes any sense to talk about cissexuality. "Cis" is just being on the same side, so maybe "cissexual" would mean "same sex as me"? But "transsexual" isn't an adjective meaning "opposite sex from me". In the absence of a clear geometrical analogy, the only thing for "cissexual" to mean, as a noun, is something like "still the same sex".

So I'm afraid it's destruction at your hands for me, rone.

[LizardBreath]

I was told a more compact version of this joke in college -- the chem major in question drew an airplane with both wings on the same side of the plane, and the letters "CWA" on the tail. "What does it stand for?" "Cis World Airlines?"

[ben wolfson]

Convergent evolution in action.

[rone]

Curses. Hold still while i go get my Destruct-o-Ray, will you?

[slolernr]

"Cis Sexual" is an old Lou Reed song.

[Matt Weiner]

Wouldn't a cissexual be someone who had an operation to convert their genitalia into the same kind of genitalia, but different?

[froz gobo]

I told you Amtrak was a waste of taxpayer money.