Empire. Even as a child of democracy, the word invokes powerful feelings in me. An advocate of democracy and equality, still I am drawn by the romantic concept of a complete conqueror.

Empire State. I've never been to New York, so maybe the Empire State as an image is more powerful. Perhaps I idealize the place as the culmination of my hopes and dreams. Then again, the feeling of living in a place that has been on top of it all for so long can't be inconsequential.

999. Even if you know nothing about why that number is significant, it still strikes you. Like an odometer about to test a new digit. Probably a favorite with numerologists.. Three numbers. 999 divided by three is 333. Add up the digits, 9. Three 9's. 999, it just looks cool.

Empire State Express #999. A masterpiece in semantics.

Pounding.     Blowing.

Fucking no shit, full steam ahead.

This is no quaint look into the history of a nation.

may 10 1893 Buchana 999 4-4-0 36 miles of straight flat track lay the throttle open 112.5 mph inertia 8 years at the top 32 seconds per mile