Beach’s Pneumatic Transport: The Hyperloop of 1870

The Original Hyperloop

The world was left speechless when Elon Musk presented his Hyperloop, and since then several companies have tried to replicate it. However, the essence of the Hyperloop is much older than we imagine. Today we are going to go back to 1870, the year in which Alfred Ely Beach presented his pneumatic transport system located under Broadway. It had a single car, and its length did not exceed a hundred meters, but despite its failure, it was a true pioneer among the “metros.”

In the mid-nineteenth century, traffic in New York City was a real chaos. Horses, carriages, people... more horses, more carriages, and more people. Of course, steam lines could cover large distances with relative ease, but an urban solution was needed. The concept of rapid transit or mass transit captured the interest of many entrepreneurs, and given the scarcity of horizontal space, the main ideas recommended going up (with elevated platforms) or down (underground tunnels). This second option brings us to Alfred Ely Beach, creator of a typewriter for the blind and owner of the renowned publication Scientific American. Beach was aware of the traffic problems the city suffered and proposed an alternative: the creation of an underground artery that used pneumatic technology.

A Secret Underground Railway

The Beach Pneumatic Transport had its first small-scale version at the 1867 exhibition of the American Institute, and after verifying the stability of its design, it began construction of its line under Broadway two years later. Beach invested a true fortune to make his project materialize: between 200 and 350 thousand dollars. The 95-meter-long and 2.4-meter-diameter tunnel was completed in just 58 days, a not entirely easy task due to the opposition of the New York elite who feared for their properties. The ‘trick’ of Beach and his Beach Pneumatic Transit Company was to ask permission to build “two small postal tubes”, and with a subsequent minor amendment, the excavation of the entire tunnel was allowed. The secrecy around the project was absolute, and apparently not even the mayor of New York could enter to inspect the facilities.

Success and Decline

From every point of view, the Beach Pneumatic Transport was an attraction for residents. More than 11 thousand tickets sold in two weeks (at a cost of 25 cents per passenger) and 400,000 trips in the first year of operation confirmed its initial success, although bureaucracy and the influence of certain wealthy people in the city delayed the expansion process. Senator William M. Tweed had initially supported the project, but his arrest on corruption charges made Beach declare him an opponent of pneumatic transport, in an attempt to retain public sympathy. The definitive permit arrived in 1873, however, the lack of financial support and the famous “panic of 1873” sealed the fate of Beach’s transport.

The Legacy of Pneumatic Transit

Still, that was not the end of pneumatic technology. Almost 25 years later, New York added a pneumatic tube mail system, which operated until 1953.

Source: Damn Interesting