Pneumatic subway openedIn 1870, New York City's first pneumatic-powered subway line was opened to the public. It was built by Alfred Ely Beach who included a waiting room 120 feet long (the entire tunnel measured 312 feet) and embellished it with a grand piano, a fountain, ornate paintings, and candelabra so customers would not feel they were entering a dank, dreary tunnel. The twenty-two-seat subway car impressed observers with its rich upholstery and spaciousness, and comfortable ride. It fitted snugly into the nine foot diameter, cylindrical tube. Propulsion was provided by a giant fan that the workers nicknamed "the Western Tornado." It was operated by a steam engine, drawing air in through a valve and blowing it forcefully into the tunnel.American inventor and editor of Scientific American magazine which reported on technology developments and patents in the 19th-century. It is still published today, one of the world's leading science magazines. Beach himself invented a tunneling shield and built the pneumatic tube subway which propelled a carriage by means of air pressure generated by huge fans. The tunnel was short—one block—so it operated as a demonstration (1870-73), with one station and train car. In 1856 he won First Prize and a gold medal at New York's Crystal Palace Exhibition. Beach had invented a typewriter for the blind, resembling the modern typewriter in the arrangement of its keys and typebars, but embossed its letters on a narrow paper strip instead of a sheet.[Image: Tunnel entrance.] |
