Two-Track Soap Opera
Absolutely, and the story of the relationship is vividly told in Dark Genius of Wall Street ,a biography of the railway magnate Jay Gould by Edward J. Renehan Jr.
In the period after the Civil War, the Erie Railroad, which connected New York City to Lake Erie
and eventually Chicago, was used as a piggy bank for a dizzying series of stock manipulations
by some of Wall Street’s biggest robber barons.
Among them were Gould and Jim Fisk. In 1868, using Erie funds, they bought (for themselves)
the former Pike’s Opera House at the northwest corner of 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue. They
renamed it the Grand Opera House and lavishly refurbished the upstairs office space as the new
headquarters of the Erie.
While the dour Gould concentrated on Erie business, the flamboyant Fisk staged lavish musicals
and melodramas at the opera house. Some of the shows included his mistress Josie Mansfield, whom
he set up in a town house half a block from the theater. He also arranged handouts to the poor from
the opera house. Reporters soon began calling the opera house Castle Erie, and describing Fisk as
the Prince of Erie.
In 1872, Fisk was shot to death by his mistress’s new lover and Fisk’s ex-business partner,
Edward Stokes. Fisk’s body lay in state in the Grand Opera House. Gould lost control of the
Erie a few months later, and the railroad moved out of Castle Erie.
The Grand Opera House lived on; Gould, who bought out Fisk’s share from his estate,
leased it to various impresarios. It became a movie house in 1917.
As the R.K.O. 23rd Street Theater, it burned down in 1960.
Credit to MICHAEL POLLAK: The New York Times
Published: August 20, 2006
Japan is FAST
The Shinkansen has five series of trains. The 0-series are the original
sets, which now run the stopping-services on the Tokaido and Syany lines.
The 100-Series run the semi-fasts and the 300-Series the fast -- Nozomi --
trains, both on the Tokaido/Sanyo lines The 200-Series run the Joetsu and Tohoku
services and are distinguished by a green rather than a blue stripe along their
sides. The 400-Series are short, narrow sets, which look distinctly different
from the others and run the Yamagata service. The E-2 Series are double-deck sets
for use on the Joetsu and Tohoku routes and have been christened "MAX".
The Shinkansen are fitted with an in-cab singnalling system. This can be
seen in a driving-simulator unit at the Tokyo Transport Museum. The
original lines operated at 220 kph, increased to 240 kph on the northern
routes. Nozomi trains run at 270 kph. It is planned to run the next generation
of stock at an increased speed of 320 kph, experimental sets having run much
faster. There is a dense service pattern. for example, ten trains leave
Tokyo on the Tokaido line between 08.00-09.00 hrs, six terminating at Osaka,
one continuing to Okayama seaport, two to Hiroshima and one service going
through to Hakata. The fastest service covers the 515 km(320 mi) to Osaka in
2 hours 32 minutes, with tow intermediate stops, and overtakes four trains,
en route
Excert from The World Encyclopedia of Locomotives
Lorenz Books; 2002