In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

RAILROADS 181
into the impulse to murder his beloved-and gorgeous-spouse. Over
and over, the cousin appears in his dreams as a huge figure sitting on the
cars of an express train which the poor husband cannot stop because he
stands behind a railway barrier, and can only gesticulate helplessly.
Psychoanalytic treatment brings an understanding of and redemption
from this torture. The husband's impotence and the fears resulting from
it go back to a Christmas eve during his childhood when he received an
electric train set, and when the little girl who was to become his wife
offered her Christmas present, a baby doll, to the cousin.
Train schedules and the railroad system in general are associated with
unalterable fate, but whoever is willing (and patient enough) to explore
their internal structure will be able to use it to great personal profit. In
this spirit, the New Year's edition of the "Reise- und Biider-Beilage"
("Travel and Spa Supplement") to the Berliner Borsen-Zeitung (January
3) offers its readers detailed information concerning the official rules for
occupying and keeping seats in a railway car: "Many travelers are mistaken
about the seating vouchers in railroad compartments. Our inquiries
addressed to the main transportation authority provided the following
information: According to official regulations, a seat is regarded as
occupied by a passenger only when it is covered with a handbag or an
article of clothing. The small numbered cards which are located near the
compartment doors hold seats only until the train leaves the station."
An article in the same "Reise- und Biider-Beilage" seems to promise a
description of the famous American Pullman cars that will be integrated
into the service of the French National Railway Company on Friday,
September 10 (Annees-memoire, 48), but it turns into a detailed systemic
account of the Twentieth Century Express that links New York and
Chicago: "This train is so heavily used that it must always run in two
segments. Each of the two trains has thirty-two employees. On the trip
from New York to Chicago, the engine is switched in Harmon (thirtythree
miles outside New York) and then in Buffalo, Niagara, and Toledo.
The longest stretch without a change of engine is the approximately 300
miles between Buffalo and Toledo. For the entire trip, thirty-eight tons
of coal are required." [see Present vs. Past]
Such immense (albeit transparent) complexity is the result of a long
process of technological innovation whose most recent additions, onboard
telephones and automatic coupling devices between cars, are introduced
in January (Chronik, 17; Annees-memoire, 139). [see Tele-