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Tom Fisher's N Scale |
| Southern Pacific - Quartz Rift Subdivision (SPQR) |
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Southern Pacific (loosely)
Southwest U.S.
1950s |
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The original Quartz Rift Line was named for a local quartz quarry owned by one of its customers (Dastardly Dave Diamond and his dazzling wife Jewel). It was established in the late 1880s by a sleazy group of swindlers, horse thieves, low-life desperados and villains hoping for a shot at instant, if unearned, wealth. For over two decades the QRL operated on the brink of bankruptcy, never showing any profits, thanks to the huge salaries and phony dividends those useless reprobates stuffed into their own coffers. The little Company held on until the last straw....
The comptroller was an exceptionally reprehensible rascal named Charlie Fortunado (alias Rotten Luck Chuck). This scoundrel allegedly in 1902 absconded with all the operating funds, fled into Mexico or South America and was indicted in absentia, but was never located to stand trial. It is said that he ran a crooked but successful gambling operation and used his ill-gotten proceeds to start a revolution, setting himself up for a rather shady political career. Some say he was the infamous dictator Carlos "Malfortuna" Perron (probably not related to Juan), but this claim was never verified by anybody who outlived him. Judge for yourself!
The Company never recovered from this humiliating loss. It continued struggling at ever decreasing levels and for the next ten years desperately sought a benefactor. Alas, its creditors foreclosed on the poor firm and it was soon up on the auction block. The only bidder was Southern Pacific, which paid only two cents on the dollar and took over all the QRL's assets, most of which by then were not worth even a plug nickel.
The quartz quarry eventually gave out and the chief product mined today is a scarce mineral called coprolite. Meanwhile, other, more honorable businesses moved in and contributed to the road’s bountiful affluence. The SPQR operates today as a bridge route between huge rail lines that have been around for so long, they have become far more than just corporations ‒ they have become institutions.
And so it became the Southern Pacific - Quartz Rift subdivision, or SPQR (with immense thanks to Chuck Jones and humble apologies to the Old Republic), hence the fasces logo.
Caveat emptor!
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