A wasteful project—something that might look like it has value but has none—or the act of wasting time and/or money on something dumb. The real life example of this is a carnival game. The typical example of this is the Big Dig. The stealth example of this is the HQ2 search (for cities). The best example of this is the Louisville Bridge.
ReactionsStep BrothersJohn C. ReillyMetaphorsI smell sarcasmBad jokes killed the dinosaurs?
An interesting thread from rail enthusiast Tim Dunn about an oddity in the London subway turns out to have more intrigue than originally thought:
I have been asked an interesting question. Why does London’s Moorgate tube station have a mix of “traditional” bar-and-Circle roundels... and weird diamonds? Well... (1/6) pic.twitter.com/jxz6rH6dN9
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
The Metropolitan Railway, or “the Met” opened in 1863. It was the world’s first passenger underground railway, and soon it extended beyond Farringdon, thru Moorgate. Other extensions also pressed on, fast. The core route is broadly the Metropolitan line that we have today. (2/6) pic.twitter.com/33vLYPHq4K
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
The Metropolitan Railway was a trailblazer. It was an innovator, a user of great tech and engineering ideas.
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
Steam trains underground? The Met.
Cut’n’cover tunnels under roads? The Met.
Smokeless loco experiments? The Met.
Restaurant cars underground? The Met.
(3/6) pic.twitter.com/WA7DayO9fs
The Metropolitan Railway pushed further from London than others. It was clever. It even created “Metro-Land”, what we now know as the suburbs of NW London. It built rails then sold nearby land back to house developers, guaranteeing passenger revenue for generations to come (4/6) pic.twitter.com/A61GrM0TyG
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
(Oops. I’m going to go over the /6 thread count. By a few. Sorry. I’m enjoying typing this. Anyway... 5/2,864,118)
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
The Met even had as one of its constituent parts the Brill Tramway, way out in rural Bucks, whose main loco had been based on a steam traction engine. It had become, by 1919, a proper network of its own. (6/X) pic.twitter.com/KwJ62Migp2
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
The Metropolitan gained a chairman - Sir Edward Watkin - a fierce, visionary man who defied convention. He tried to build a Channel Tunnel, but failed. He tried to build a double-height Eiffel Tower at Wembley (“Watkin’s Folly”) but it failed. But his Met... his Met worked. (7/X) pic.twitter.com/aZd3VdCwFq
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
The Metropolitan Railway’s identity, like Watkin, was fiercely independent. Whilst in 1920s London, Johnston’s now-famous bar-and-circle roundel took hold across the deep level tubes and other sub-surface lines, The Met pressed on with theirs: a red diamond. (8/X) pic.twitter.com/oE5tXEI7Up
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
Uh oh! Shock! horror! In 1933, the Metropolitan Railway was amalgated into The London Passenger Transport Board. So one by one, the Met’s signs came down. Yet proud Neasden Depot staff, until the A-Stock scrapping in 2012, still stuck Met crests on their drivers’ cab sides. (9/X) pic.twitter.com/5SZuDn2pKW
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
Still the Met lived on in the people it affected. It built people’s lives.
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
My parents met along the Met. My grandparents met as schoolkids waving to each other across platforms on the Met. I rode in Met No.1’s cab every birthday from age of 7 on the old Met. (I’m 2nd right) (10/) pic.twitter.com/z2Bk0rTFN9
There was so much love for the Met that in 2013, its 150th birthday, @TfL & @ltmuseum celebrated by driving steam train specials through Underground tunnels again. It was INCREDIBLE. People broke into spontaneous applause & I saw grown men cry tears of joy. The Met was BACK. (11/ pic.twitter.com/TALPBALjuH
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
At Moorgate, those brill, history-loving @TfL @ltmuseum staff in 2013 put back up old Met-style signs on platforms. They’re still there today, the diamonds facing the circles, reminding us of the story of this remarkable railway that runs beneath London’s streets.
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
♦️⭕️/Ends pic.twitter.com/5lmF3cyPMx
OK an extra bonus (or spam, depending on your POV) tweet:
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 23, 2018
If you know where to look, you’ll find old Metropolitan Railway company evidence. I’ve just been here, at its former Farringdon station. Check out the Met red diamond & bar frieze! Buildings find it hard to forget.♥️♦️ pic.twitter.com/lL5Q3YFZaN
For your weekend viewing:
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) November 24, 2018
John Betjeman & chum Edward Mirzoeff made a *beautiful* documentary in 1973 for the BBC about the Metropolitan Railway & Metro-Land. I was obsessed by it as a child (still am). Full film is online here https://t.co/LJHVV1KHMb; famous title sequence thus: pic.twitter.com/o5iR02XorH
So you knowTrainsLondonUnderneath the groundForgotten historyYou now have three underground tokens remaining?