Seen in Print

[webenda]

The 1,776 mile Transcontinental Railroad was completed on May 10th, 1869. The success of that engineering marvel would not have been possible without the sacrifices of some 10,000–15,000 Chinese immigrants who dug tunnels, built bridges, and laid track from Sacramento, CA to Promontory Summit, UT.



Now the Chinese are building almost everything else we want, including US Flag pins.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

You chose the right word for what the Chinese went through building that railroad , "sacrifice."
Also, posting that picture with those statistics is particularly poignant since their working like that was the origin of and inspiration for the expression, "not a Chinaman's chance in hell," which referred to some of the men in charge of planting and firing the dynamite inserted by the Chinese into those cliff sides exploding the charges before the Chinese could get clear . Furthermore , it is my understanding that many of them were buried right where they died along the railroad, as legend has it .
Now, that was some racism worthy of complaint and umbrage, as opposed to cartoon concerns.

[MYmoo]

You chose the right word for what the Chinese went through building that railroad , "sacrifice."

No arguement there.

Hu-mans, (Any Flavor) have always been the cheapest part of ANY construction project, or Empire construction, or WAR).

The artist's conception of the RR construction is incorrect in many ways.
I'll let Wayne with his more knowledgeful 'in-jun'eering experience explain why...
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[webenda]

I'll let Wayne with his more knowledgeful 'in-jun'eering experience explain why...
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Uh... the center rail is missing? Seriously, I can see nothing wrong in the 1950 watercolor by Jake Lee.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[rogruth]

I'll let Wayne with his more knowledgeful 'in-jun'eering experience explain why...
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Uh... the center rail is missing? Seriously, I can see nothing wrong in the 1950 watercolor by Jake Lee.

I agree, Wayne or it must be very subtle. ???

[rogruth]

Rufus,
I also agree with this and speak from experience.

[MYmoo]

The artist's conception of the RR construction is incorrect in many ways.

Once again, I see what others do not.
Once again, I must ask myself,"Is this a blessing or a curse?"

Since others do not see,
what I see/do not see,
must be only in my mind's eye.
That must be the reason why.

Some questions for those who know more than I, and for others, to ponder,

Why are the Chinese doing 'landscaping' ALONG SIDE of a finished trestle?
Wouldn't talis and other debris from the landscaping/blasting be destructive to the trestle?
20, 30, 40, feet would be adequate clearance for any train clearance.
What are the ones in baskets hanging from? A skyhook?
Why are there no tools for laying the rails on the trestle present near the workers?
The area is too 'clean', 'neat', even for an inspecting 'bigwig' (guy in brown suit).
HOW did he get there?
Walk across the trestle?
Are these questions that "Nice boys don't ask."?
Am I not permitting enough 'artistic license?

That's the part of the elephant that I see. -
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[Rufus T. Firefly]

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The artist's conception of the RR construction is incorrect in many ways.

Once again, I see what others do not.
...
Some questions for those who know more than I, and for others, to ponder,

Why are the Chinese doing 'landscaping' ALONG SIDE of a finished trestle?
Wouldn't talis and other debris from the landscaping/blasting be destructive to the trestle?
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Very interesting point. Perhaps, the watercolor (?) painting is a kind of compressed summary of several phases of the overall effort of excavating for the railroad line as well as building the trestle itself, kind of like how a stained-glass window compresses a narrative into a brief but effective memorialization of a longer and more detailed event, doctrine, or legend?
Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Am I not permitting enough 'artistic license?

Entirely possible/probable. Artist might never have seen what he painted and probably possessed even less knowledge of what he was depicting.

[webenda]

The artist's conception of the RR construction is incorrect in many ways.

Once again, I see what others do not.
Once again, I must ask myself,"Is this a blessing or a curse?"

Since others do not see,
what I see/do not see,
must be only in my mind's eye.
That must be the reason why.

Some questions for those who know more than I, and for others, to ponder,

Why are the Chinese doing 'landscaping' ALONG SIDE of a finished trestle?
Artisitic license to show last years trimming back of the cliff in same scene as this years track laying on the trestle.

Wouldn't talis and other debris from the landscaping/blasting be destructive to the trestle?
They are using rock picks, no blasting. Small bits of talis offer no damage to trestle bents.

20, 30, 40, feet would be adequate clearance for any train clearance.
You can see how far back the cliff is? Anyway, the cliff scene may be from another location and depicted here to show how they worked cliffs from hanging baskets.

What are the ones in baskets hanging from? A skyhook?
The intention of the water color is to depict how the laborers carried the rail by hand and used hanging baskets to work on cliff faces. No other detail is needed.
Here is the un-cropped image:


Why are there no tools for laying the rails on the trestle present near the workers?
See comment immediately above.

The area is too 'clean', 'neat', even for an inspecting 'bigwig' (guy in brown suit).
Again, see comment after, "skyhook?".

HOW did he get there?
Walk across the trestle?
Yes, but it is likely his private coach car is just off to the left, out of sight.

Are these questions that "Nice boys don't ask."?
No, even Sheldon (Big Bang Theory) would ask the same questions.

Am I not permitting enough 'artistic license?
You said it.

That's the part of the elephant that I see. -
Thank you. What you saw was most enlightening. Most of us understand that the impressionist style used by Lee is only intended to capture the essence of the subject, rather than its details. I compare the style to the simple Lionel Trains some of us love. You are more detail oriented. What type of model trains do you like?
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[Rufus T. Firefly]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[rogruth]

I agree with the chart. My wife used one three times I remember after knee replacements. I have not.