The Pneumatic Transit Beach was the first attempt to build an underground public transport system in New York City. It was developed by Alfred Ely Beach in 1869 as a demonstration run subway line on pneumatic strength. Because the subway line has one stop and one shuttle service back and forth, it's just a novelty and not a regular mode of transportation. It lasted from 1870 to 1873.
Video Beach Pneumatic Transit
Histori
Alfred Ely Beach demonstrated a model of the basic pneumatic subway system, where air pressure in the tube propelled the car, at the American Institute Exhibition in New York in 1867. After demonstrating that the model was feasible, in 1869 Beach and his Company Pneumatic Transit Coast began to build a pneumatic subway line under Broadway. Channeled through the company he founded, Beach collected $ 350,000 of his own money to finance a full-scale test project. Built with a tunnel shield, the tunnel was completed in just 58 days. The single tunnel, 312 feet (95 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) in diameter, was completed in 1870 and ran under Broadway from Warren Street to Murray Street.
However, one of the city's top politicians of the day, William "Boss" Tweed, will not support such a project. Without initial political support for the project, Beach started the project by claiming he was building a postal tube. The initial permit was to install a pair of smaller pipe posts under Broadway; However, Tweed then changed permissions to allow the excavation of one large tunnel where smaller tubes could be located. The exact location of the tube is determined during construction by the compass and survey and verified by moving the iron bars continuously through the roof of the tunnel to the sidewalk. The line was built as a demonstration of the pneumatic transit system, open to the public at a rate of 25 cents per person. Results for admission to Union Home and School for Soldiers' and Orphan Seafarers. It is planned to run about 5 miles (8.0 km) in total, to Central Park, if it ever finishes.
For the public, the project is essentially an attraction. The car only runs one car on a one-block passage to a dead end at the end, and passengers will just go up and back, to see what kind of subway is proposed. During its first two weeks of operation, the Beach Pneumatic Transit sold more than 11,000 rides, and more than 400,000 total rides in its one year operation. Although the public indicates preliminary approval, Beach is delayed in obtaining permission to extend it due to official obstruction for various reasons. By the time he finally gained permission in 1873, public and financial support had been reduced, and the subway was closed within this year. The project is closed when the stock market falls causing investors to withdraw support. It is not clear that such a system could be practical for large-scale subway networks.
After the project closes, the tunnel entrance is sealed and the station, built in the basement section of the Rogers Peet Building, was reclaimed for other purposes. The entire building was burned down in 1898. In 1912, workers dug for the BMT Broadway Line currently digging an old Beach tunnel, where they found car remains, tunnel shields used during initial construction, and even pianos in the subway waiting room soil. The shield was removed and donated to Cornell University, which has since lost track of its existence. The tunnel is almost completely within the limits of the current City Hall station under Broadway, but it is rumored that a small part is still accessible by the manhole on Reade Street. The New-York Historical Society commissioned a plaque in honor of Alfred Beach to be placed at the City Hall station.
Although the Coastal Pneumatic Transit lasted only three years, the project paved the way for New York's pneumatic tube mail system, based on Beach's demand for Tweed and which lasted until 1953.
Maps Beach Pneumatic Transit
Design
Aesthetics
It was designed as a very ornate project. The station is adorned with frescoes and easy chairs. Zirconia lights reveal the luxurious interior of the station. There are statues and gold fish ponds at the station that people can see when they wait their turn to enter.
Technical specifications
The car can hold 22 people and the riders will enter the site at Devlin's Clothing Store, a well-known store, located on 260 Broadway, in the southwest corner of Warren Street.
The journey is controlled by 48 ton tonnes (44Ã, t) Roots blower, dubbed "West Tornado", built by "Roots Patent Force Rotary Blowers" (see Roots Blower Company). When the car reaches the end, the baffle on the blower system is reversed and the car is pulled back by suction.
Related developments
Crystal Palace pneumatic trains are a similar but older system that operated in 1864 on the Crystal Palace grounds in London.
In 2013, entrepreneur Elon Musk proposed a Hyperloop system, which would push the capsule through a tube that was evacuated at high speeds using magnetic levitation and linear electric motors.
In popular culture
The 1973 novel by Morton Freedgood (under the pen name John Godey) features characters speculating in the Beach tunnel as a possible escape route for four men who have hijacked a subway and ask for ransom for its passengers. The history of the Beach project is briefly described, but ultimately it is not related to the criminals' escape plan.
See also
- atmospheric trains
- Cobble Hill Tunnel
- Track 61 (New York City)
- Crystal Palace pneumatic train
References
Note
Quotes
Further reading
External links
- "Pneumatic Transit Coast" at the Unfit Station, by Joseph Brennan
- "Pneumatic Transit Beach" at nycsubway.org
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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