Beach Pneumatic Transit facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Beach Pneumatic Transit
Photograph c.1873
Overview
Owner	Beach Pneumatic Transit Company
Locale	New York City, United States
Termini	Warren Street and Broadway Murray Street and Broadway
Stations	1
Service
Type	Atmospheric railway
Operator(s)	Beach Pneumatic Transit Company
Rolling stock	1 car
History
Opened	February 26, 1870
Closed	1873
Technical
Line length	300 ft (90 m)
Number of tracks	Single track

The Beach Pneumatic Transit was the very first try at building an underground public transit system in New York City. It was created by Alfred Ely Beach in 1869. This subway line used pneumatic power, which means it moved cars using air pressure. It had just one stop and one car that went back and forth. It was more of a demonstration or an attraction than a regular way to travel. It operated from 1870 until 1873.

History

Alfred Ely Beach first showed a small model of his pneumatic subway system in 1867. This model used air pressure to push subway cars. After showing that his idea could work, Beach and his company, the Beach Pneumatic Transit Company, started building a real subway line in 1869. It was built under Broadway in New York City.

Beach used $350,000 of his own money to pay for this test project. He used a special tool called a tunneling shield to dig the tunnel. The tunnel was finished very quickly, in just 58 days! It was 300 feet (90 m) long and 8 feet (2.4 m) wide. It ran under Broadway from Warren Street to Murray Street.

One of the city's most powerful politicians, William "Boss" Tweed, did not support Beach's project. So, Beach started the project by saying he was building postal tubes for mail. He got a permit to dig smaller tubes. Later, Tweed changed the permit to allow one large tunnel. This is where the smaller tubes could go.

The subway line was built to show how a pneumatic transit system could work. The public could ride it for 25 cents per person. The money collected from tickets went to a school for soldiers' and sailors' orphans. Beach had big plans to extend the line about 5 miles (8 km) to Central Park.

The project became a popular attraction for the public. It had only one car that went back and forth on its short track. Passengers would ride to the end and then back again. This let them see what a future subway might be like. In its first two weeks, over 11,000 rides were sold. In its first year, over 400,000 rides were sold!

Even though the public liked it, Beach had trouble getting permission to make the subway bigger. This was due to various official delays. By the time he finally got permission in 1873, people had lost interest. Also, a big financial crisis, called the Panic of 1873, caused investors to stop supporting the project. So, the subway closed down that same year.

After the project closed, the tunnel entrance was sealed. The station was in the basement of the Rogers Peet Building. This space was used for other things until the building burned down in 1898. In 1912, workers digging for a new subway line, the BMT Broadway Line, found the old Beach tunnel. They found parts of the car, the tunnelling shield used to build it, and even a piano from the waiting room! The shield was given to Cornell University, but its location is now unknown.

The old tunnel is mostly under the City Hall station of the Broadway Line. Some people say a small part might still be reached through a manhole on Reade Street. The New-York Historical Society placed a plaque at the City Hall station to honor Alfred Beach.

Even though the Beach Pneumatic Transit only lasted three years, it led to the New York pneumatic tube mail system. This mail system was based on Beach's original idea and operated until 1953.

Design

Aesthetics

The subway station was very fancy and beautiful. It had colorful wall paintings called frescoes and comfortable easy chairs. Bright zirconia lamps lit up the luxurious inside. There were even statues and a goldfish pond for people to enjoy while they waited for their ride.

Technical specifications

The subway car could hold 22 people. Riders entered the station at Devlin's Clothing Store. This was a well-known shop at 260 Broadway.

A powerful 48-short-ton (44 t) machine called a Roots blower controlled the ride. It was nicknamed "the Western Tornado." This machine pushed the car forward with air. When the car reached the end of the line, parts of the blower system were reversed. This pulled the car back by suction.

For digging the tunnels, Beach used a round design for his tunneling shield. This was different from earlier square designs. The New York Times wrote an article in 1870 describing Beach's original round tunneling shield. This helped show when and how the design changed from square to round.

Related developments

• The Crystal Palace pneumatic railway was a similar system. It was longer and operated in 1864 in London, at the Crystal Palace.
• In 2013, a businessman named Elon Musk suggested a hyperloop system. He hoped it would one day move capsules through empty tubes at very high speeds. This system would use magnets and electric motors. This idea has not yet been built.

In pop culture

• The Beach Pneumatic Transit is shown in the movie An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island. It is an important part of the story.
• "Sub-Rosa Subway" is a 1976 song by Klaatu. It describes how the subway was built, its station, and how people reacted to it.
• In the 1989 film Ghostbusters II, the Ghostbusters find a fictional pneumatic transit station and tunnel. It looks like the Beach system. It is found under First Avenue in Manhattan. The movie says the tunnel was finished in 1870. This is the same year the real Warren-to-Murray tunnel was completed.
• In the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the abandoned subway tunnel where the turtles live is a reference to the pneumatic transit.
• The 2015 novel Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray uses the abandoned City Hall tunnel. It is a main part of the story. The tunnel is an important setting in both the real world and the dream world.

See also

In Spanish: Transporte neumático de Beach para niños