“Did you know the Missouri Pacific Railroad is mentioned in the Bible?” is the start of an old railroad joke. “MoPac” service was so slow that people told jokes about it.
Wikipedia: Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac; AAR reporting mark MP) was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The company merged with Union Pacific in 1982.
History
On July 4, 1851, at St. Louis, Missouri, ground-breaking for the Pacific Railroad, chartered in 1849, marked the beginning of what would later be known as the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The first section of track was completed in 1852. In 1865, it became the first railroad to serve Kansas City, after construction was interrupted by the American Civil War.
In 1871, the Texas and Pacific Railway, which merged with the Missouri Pacific in 1928, set plans to build a line from Marshall, Texas, to San Diego, CA. In 1872, the Pacific Railroad was reorganized as the Missouri Pacific Railway by new investors after a railroad debt crisis.
16 January 1910, Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, NE), pg. 12A, col. 5:
Among railroad people a story is told that the Bible contains a reference to the Missouri Pacific railroad.
“Where is the passage?” usually asks the interrogated.
“Why, you know where it says the Lord created all creeping things?”
Then every one is supposed to laugh.
23 February 1969, Galveston (TX) Daily News, “Texas Railroads Target of ‘Harmless Revenge,’” Galveston County Profile of Progress section, pg. 2, col. 4:
To end it all, there is the old story about the conversation between a conductor and a salesman on one of the better known lines.
“Did you know the Missouri Pacific Railroad is mentioned in the Bible?” the salesman questioned the conductor.
“No, where?” pondered the conductor.
“Right here where it says…‘the Lord created the heavens and the earth…and all creeping things.’”
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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