The Beach Pneumatic Transit Company –…
Illustration from The Broadway Pneumatic Underground Railway, 1871, in the Ephemera Collection.
Pay attention to the quality of the picture high definition picture in 1871.
Taras Grescoe’s Straphangers, a new book about public transportation. The review mentions the inclusion of “a subway prototype, from 1870, constructed inside a huge pneumatic tube” in New York. In other words, an underground train whose motion was controlled entirely by forcing air through the tunnel.
The pneumatic underground railway conceived by Alfred Ely Beach, in 1869, in response to the ever growing traffic and congestion on New York City streets, especially Broadway. Beach’s underground railway ran just the length of one block under Broadway, between Warren to Murray Streets.
The rail line was built primarily as a demonstration of how such a system could work, and employed a 48-ton blower to move the train down the tracks. When the train reached the end of the line at Murray Street, the baffles on the blower were reversed, drawing the train car back toward Warren Street.
The entrance to the station was through the Devlin Stores, in what was later known as the Rogers, Peet & Co building. The station and passenger car were both very elegant, with mirrors, fountains, and saloons for ladies and gentlemen in the station; and the car featured comfortable, upholstered seats for 22 people. When the number of riders exceeded 22, a large platform car with a wooden sail at one end was used instead, where passengers sat upon comfortable settees, which accommodated up to 30 passengers.
Despite the popularity of Beach’s railway, selling 25-cent rides to over 400,000 people during its first year of operation, it remained little more than a novelty. Beach fought Tammany Hall for over two years as he tried to pass a bill introduced to the New York State Legislature to extend the line all the way to Central Park. The bill finally passed in 1873, only to face funding problems both from waning public interest, and the stock market crash that led to the Panic of 1873.
Eventually, Beach abandoned the project. This blank stock certificate below is probably one of many that sat unused as financiers drifted away.
Lobbying and in 1894 granting municipal ownership of the underground railroad.
In 1891, the Rapid Transit Act was passed, establishing the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and mandating that the Board was to first design routes and develop a general construction plan. The Board was then to receive consent for construction from property owners and local authorities. Once consent was obtained, from the property owners themselves or the Supreme Court in lieu thereof, the right to build and operate the railroad could be sold at auction to a construction corporation.
Unfortunately, the Board received only one bid that was promptly rejected. It was openly suggested that this was due to opposition from the owners of the elevated railroad, still in operation at this time. In order to move forward, an amendment to the Rapid Transit Act was passed in 1894 granting municipal ownership of the underground railroad. The contractor was to supply all equipment for construction, held in lien by the city, and operate the railroad as a lessee of the city for a period not to exceed fifty years. Construction plans and routes were finally approved by the Supreme Court, and in January of 1900, the Board awarded John B. MacDonald contract for construction of the subway. August Belmont provided the financial backing to complete the construction and organized the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Organization, later named the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
Link
https://www.mcny.org/search/site?keys=pneumatic+underground+railway
https://www.mcny.org/story/contemplating-and-commemorating-rapid-transit-new-york-city
Pay attention to the quality of the picture high definition picture in 1871.
Taras Grescoe’s Straphangers, a new book about public transportation. The review mentions the inclusion of “a subway prototype, from 1870, constructed inside a huge pneumatic tube” in New York. In other words, an underground train whose motion was controlled entirely by forcing air through the tunnel.
The pneumatic underground railway conceived by Alfred Ely Beach, in 1869, in response to the ever growing traffic and congestion on New York City streets, especially Broadway. Beach’s underground railway ran just the length of one block under Broadway, between Warren to Murray Streets.
The rail line was built primarily as a demonstration of how such a system could work, and employed a 48-ton blower to move the train down the tracks. When the train reached the end of the line at Murray Street, the baffles on the blower were reversed, drawing the train car back toward Warren Street.
The entrance to the station was through the Devlin Stores, in what was later known as the Rogers, Peet & Co building. The station and passenger car were both very elegant, with mirrors, fountains, and saloons for ladies and gentlemen in the station; and the car featured comfortable, upholstered seats for 22 people. When the number of riders exceeded 22, a large platform car with a wooden sail at one end was used instead, where passengers sat upon comfortable settees, which accommodated up to 30 passengers.
Despite the popularity of Beach’s railway, selling 25-cent rides to over 400,000 people during its first year of operation, it remained little more than a novelty. Beach fought Tammany Hall for over two years as he tried to pass a bill introduced to the New York State Legislature to extend the line all the way to Central Park. The bill finally passed in 1873, only to face funding problems both from waning public interest, and the stock market crash that led to the Panic of 1873.
Eventually, Beach abandoned the project. This blank stock certificate below is probably one of many that sat unused as financiers drifted away.
In 1891, the Rapid Transit Act was passed, establishing the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and mandating that the Board was to first design routes and develop a general construction plan. The Board was then to receive consent for construction from property owners and local authorities. Once consent was obtained, from the property owners themselves or the Supreme Court in lieu thereof, the right to build and operate the railroad could be sold at auction to a construction corporation.
Unfortunately, the Board received only one bid that was promptly rejected. It was openly suggested that this was due to opposition from the owners of the elevated railroad, still in operation at this time. In order to move forward, an amendment to the Rapid Transit Act was passed in 1894 granting municipal ownership of the underground railroad. The contractor was to supply all equipment for construction, held in lien by the city, and operate the railroad as a lessee of the city for a period not to exceed fifty years. Construction plans and routes were finally approved by the Supreme Court, and in January of 1900, the Board awarded John B. MacDonald contract for construction of the subway. August Belmont provided the financial backing to complete the construction and organized the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Organization, later named the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
Link
https://www.mcny.org/search/site?keys=pneumatic+underground+railway
https://www.mcny.org/story/contemplating-and-commemorating-rapid-transit-new-york-city