New York's Secret Subway

The London Underground had been completed - the world’s first subway system - was completed in 1863, but it was plagued by the dirty soot of its steam-powered trains. Alfred Beach promised something similar, and yet entirely different for New York City. But his dreams for the future of transportation would be mired in the politics and economics of the present.
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Пікірлер: 432

  • @kurtwinter4422
    @kurtwinter4422 Жыл бұрын

    "We can go half way to Philadelphia in the same time to go down Broadway" NOTHING has changed

  • @christophervandenberg4830

    @christophervandenberg4830

    Жыл бұрын

    Now that's funny!

  • @elcastorgrande

    @elcastorgrande

    Жыл бұрын

    Some things never change.

  • @boobah5643

    @boobah5643

    Жыл бұрын

    Well, there's less horse poop on the streets these days. Not saying they're cleaner, just that it's not horse poop you're walking in.

  • @christophervandenberg4830

    @christophervandenberg4830

    Жыл бұрын

    @@boobah5643 in LA, San Francisco, and Seattle the city workers wash the homeless excrement off the sidewalks early each morning. I'd be happier with the horse stuff.

  • @KittyStarlight

    @KittyStarlight

    Жыл бұрын

    @@boobah5643 That's definitely a change. Just don't walk where the police ride. Or right behind them, either.

  • @rexmyers991
    @rexmyers991 Жыл бұрын

    Well, this explains the drawings I saw on the walls of the sandwich shop chain Subway. I couldn’t figure out why the passenger tube” fit the walls of the tunnel so tightly. LOL - I was looking at Mr Beach’s invention.

  • @wallybooger1

    @wallybooger1

    10 ай бұрын

    I saw those too,thanks for the story

  • @thechancellor3715
    @thechancellor3715 Жыл бұрын

    History Guy: While working in NYC design and construction trade I came across old Building Dept record drawings of little known but still extant East River tunnel crossing. Connected the Con Ed Hell Gate substation to Big Alice, the giant generating station in Astoria Queens. It's s wide enough for truck traffic between the two sites.

  • @christophervandenberg4830

    @christophervandenberg4830

    Жыл бұрын

    Isn't that the Men in Black headquarters? 🤔

  • @thechancellor3715

    @thechancellor3715

    Жыл бұрын

    @@christophervandenberg4830 ya think that Hell Gate was a clue ;>)

  • @joseywales4638

    @joseywales4638

    Жыл бұрын

    Stop telling lies

  • @charlesangell_bulmtl

    @charlesangell_bulmtl

    Жыл бұрын

    @@joseywales4638 This channel doesn't have any content

  • @rigormortiz5357

    @rigormortiz5357

    Жыл бұрын

    @@joseywales4638 lol

  • @bradenpassmore2855
    @bradenpassmore2855 Жыл бұрын

    everytime I decided to watch a history guy video despite feeling like the subject won't be interesting I end up loving the video.

  • @johntabler349

    @johntabler349

    Жыл бұрын

    I call it the history guy paradox "the less interesting the topic appears the more interesting the episode actually is"

  • @antr7493

    @antr7493

    Жыл бұрын

    yup, me too😁

  • @KittyStarlight

    @KittyStarlight

    Жыл бұрын

    @@johntabler349 I think that's called trivia. 😉

  • @KittyStarlight

    @KittyStarlight

    Жыл бұрын

    @@johntabler349 He is good at it, though. Actually maybe even *very* good, I'd say.

  • @johntabler349

    @johntabler349

    Жыл бұрын

    @@KittyStarlight great events are built upon a succession of trivial ones

  • @Cydonia2020
    @Cydonia2020 Жыл бұрын

    I love any stories about old Boss Tweed. One of the biggest crooks that ever lived who pretty much got his just desserts.

  • @filanfyretracker

    @filanfyretracker

    Жыл бұрын

    I think any story in this time period of NYC will always eventually somehow connect to Tweed. Just because he had his corrupt fingers in every pie in the city.

  • @rhuephus

    @rhuephus

    Жыл бұрын

    yep ... change the name to TRUMP and the story is the same. Tweed is the idol of diaper-don-the-lyin-commie-con

  • @midwestreview6382

    @midwestreview6382

    Жыл бұрын

    If I was writing a movie full of bad puns and need a bad guy I can't think of a better name than boss tweed

  • @jetsons101

    @jetsons101

    Жыл бұрын

    I think by now biden has taken over as the biggest crook, and he does love his ice cream desserts.

  • @Cydonia2020

    @Cydonia2020

    Жыл бұрын

    @@jetsons101 No one asked you to politicize this. Go away.

  • @frglee
    @frglee Жыл бұрын

    A similar pneumatic railway was built underground at Crystal Palace in South London in 1864. It was more a demonstration line, only 600 yards long, and was closed within two months of opening. Oddly, the line may (or may not) still be there, but the exact location of the tunnel is now unknown. Wiki has an interesting article about the Crystal Palace Pneumatic Railway.

  • @almostfm

    @almostfm

    Жыл бұрын

    Hey, it took 500 years to find Richard III's burial place under a car park in Leicester. "Not known" may be only a temporary condition.

  • @therecanbeonly1497
    @therecanbeonly1497 Жыл бұрын

    Looks different without the slime. Good thing the Ghostbusters took care of Vigo the Carpathian!

  • @bens9792

    @bens9792

    Жыл бұрын

    It’s old pneumatic system, it’s still here!

  • @curiodyssey3867
    @curiodyssey3867 Жыл бұрын

    My man back here in the 1800s inventing the hyperloop like it's no big deal

  • @curiodyssey3867

    @curiodyssey3867

    Жыл бұрын

    @Amy Taylor hello robot person. How are you? Beep boop. Go spam some other nigga and gtfo

  • @rabbi120348
    @rabbi120348 Жыл бұрын

    I grew up in New York City. The description of crossing the street is quite accurate, even today.

  • @hobbified

    @hobbified

    Жыл бұрын

    "Dirty and filled with brutal ruffians" still describes the buses too.

  • @razor1uk610

    @razor1uk610

    Жыл бұрын

    @@hobbified ..depends on the time of day, day/night of the week and from where to where.. ..but some busses at times of their route aren't so good with whom get on.

  • @rabbi120348

    @rabbi120348

    Жыл бұрын

    @@hobbified There was a very funny episode of the Honeymooners where Alice is describing her commute on about a dozen buses to Trixie. Trixie asks why she doesn't just take the subway, it's just one transfer. Alice replies, "You meet a higher class of people on the bus!"

  • @AshesAshes44

    @AshesAshes44

    10 ай бұрын

    Describes crossing the street in Mexico. Only, you've got to hold your 'NO!' hand up and look the driver in the eyes and imply you're looking forward to eating his spleen. 👋

  • @davidequattrocchi5083
    @davidequattrocchi5083 Жыл бұрын

    I always wondered what the pneumatic transit referred to in Ghostbusters II was. Thank you History Guy!

  • @SB-qm5wg

    @SB-qm5wg

    Жыл бұрын

    Good call!

  • @TheCimbrianBull

    @TheCimbrianBull

    Жыл бұрын

    Vigo the Carpathian wants to know your location!

  • @davidequattrocchi5083

    @davidequattrocchi5083

    Жыл бұрын

    @@TheCimbrianBull Nah, he just misses his kitten

  • @SB-qm5wg

    @SB-qm5wg

    Жыл бұрын

    @@TheCimbrianBull Vigo!!!

  • @chuckgrenci6404

    @chuckgrenci6404

    Жыл бұрын

    Yea, that was my first introduction to the term 'pneumatic transit system'. History in the movies; love it!

  • @billmcdonald4335
    @billmcdonald4335 Жыл бұрын

    The subject of one of my all time favourite songs: "Sub Rosa Subway" by Klaatu. ". . .As for America's first subway, The public scoffed, 'It's far too rude.' [It's far too rude!] One station filled with Victoria's Age, From frescoed walls, and goldfish fountains [clap clap] To Brahmsian tunes, Brahmsian tunes, Brahmsian tunes. . . Brahmsian tunes, Brahmsian tunes, Brahmsian tunes. . . Brahmsian tunes, Brahmsian tunes, Brahmsian tu-u-uunes. . . Supe, supe, supe, supe! [clangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclang/rushing, whooshing sound, with Doppler] Brahmsian tu-u-uunes, Brahmsian tu-u-uunes, Brahmsian tu-u-uunes. . ."

  • @HM2SGT

    @HM2SGT

    Жыл бұрын

    😄 it's awesome that so many of their fans are here today! Whoda thunk it?

  • @billmcdonald4335

    @billmcdonald4335

    Жыл бұрын

    @@HM2SGT Sorta think there's a common thread there, wouldn't one?

  • @GallifreyanGunner
    @GallifreyanGunner Жыл бұрын

    The Canadian rock band Klaatu had a song about Albert Beach and his subway on their first album "3:47 EST" called "Sub-Rosa Subway". It's the same album that has their sing "Calling Occupant of Interplanetary Craft" that the Carpenters covered. The sing begins "Back in 1870/just beneath the Great White Way/ Alfred Beach worked secretly/ risking all to ride a dream - his wind machine".

  • @goodun2974

    @goodun2974

    Жыл бұрын

    For those who've never heard of the band Klaatu, it was named after the robot in the classic science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. "Klaatu barata nikto"! were the instructions given to the robot to stop it from carrying out previous orders to destroy Earth.

  • @GallifreyanGunner

    @GallifreyanGunner

    Жыл бұрын

    @@goodun2974 And there was a short-lived rumour that they were actually The Beatles in disguise.

  • @goodun2974

    @goodun2974

    Жыл бұрын

    @@GallifreyanGunner , I remember that. And later, we got the Rutles! 🤣

  • @davesvoboda2785

    @davesvoboda2785

    Жыл бұрын

    @@goodun2974 And there was a lot of speculation at the time that they were the Beatles.

  • @johnkaminsky1657

    @johnkaminsky1657

    Жыл бұрын

    I was just visiting Terry Draper, the drummer for this band a couple of days ago. We talked at length about the Klaatu days and this song in particular.

  • @lp-xl9ld
    @lp-xl9ld Жыл бұрын

    As a native of New York, I knew part of this story (that someone had developed an air-powered subway that existed before the system we now know) but I didn't know the details. Must say, though, I'm not surprised to see W.M. Tweed's fingerprints on this.

  • @nicolek4076
    @nicolek4076 Жыл бұрын

    I doubt that the hyperloop will amount to anything. What I do know is that we need more cats on this channel.

  • @theoldgrowler3489
    @theoldgrowler3489 Жыл бұрын

    I especially appreciated the "gaining traction" mention in your closing statement.

  • @derekmills5394

    @derekmills5394

    Жыл бұрын

    So if a pneumatic system is gaining traction, does that mean it is failing?

  • @TheCimbrianBull

    @TheCimbrianBull

    Жыл бұрын

    @@derekmills5394 if so, it's gone off the rails!

  • @RetiredSailor60
    @RetiredSailor60 Жыл бұрын

    Navy ships use a pneumatic tube system, Radio Central being the Central starting point. Going to the bridge, Captain's cabin, Combat Information Center, etc...

  • @lancerevell5979

    @lancerevell5979

    Жыл бұрын

    Yep, my ship had it, 1970s.

  • @RetiredSailor60

    @RetiredSailor60

    Жыл бұрын

    @@lancerevell5979 What ship did you serve on? I served on USS Semmes DDG 18 1983-84, USS Cape Cod AD 43 1984-86, USS Kinkaid DD 965 1987-89, USS Whidbey Island LSD 41 1993-96 and USS Wasp LHD 1 2000-03.

  • @lancerevell5979
    @lancerevell5979 Жыл бұрын

    "Pneumatic message tubes", aka "Bunny Tubes". In my Navy days, 1970s, Navy ships were equipped with bunny tubes, for sending paper communications between radio room, bridge, radar room, etc. In the radio room, we'd here a "woosh!" and a "plunk" as the bunny arrived. Certainly a quaint system of sending messages.

  • @stevenverhaegen8729

    @stevenverhaegen8729

    Жыл бұрын

    Makes a difference from the "dit"s and "dah"s 😂

  • @Goatcha_M
    @Goatcha_M Жыл бұрын

    Coles Supermarkets in Australia use Pneumatic Tubes to send money from the register desks to the safe whenever the tills exceed a certain amount.

  • @robertdragoff6909
    @robertdragoff6909 Жыл бұрын

    If you have eaten in Subway restaurants over the years some had interesting wallpaper that showed people riding in cylindrical rail cars dressed in mid 19th century clothing. I think it’d make a great movie to show how someone put one over on Boss Tweed. A comedy maybe? Great video

  • @joejones9520

    @joejones9520

    Жыл бұрын

    to think I used to calmly sit and eat at Subways...I value my life and not getting shot too much now to risk that again.

  • @robertdragoff6909

    @robertdragoff6909

    Жыл бұрын

    @@joejones9520 Why? What city do you live in? Detroit, Chicago, NYC?

  • @joejones9520

    @joejones9520

    Жыл бұрын

    @@robertdragoff6909 The main problem is the demographics where i live, with that goes danger, always, but I do live near an incredibly murderous city that I try to never visit.

  • @Fireship1
    @Fireship1 Жыл бұрын

    Hahaha. I initially found out about this when it was mentioned in Ghostbusters II. I immediately did some research after seeing this in the movie as i was very intrigued by it. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was actually a real thing. Too bad it wasn’t preserved for people to see it in modern times.

  • @TheCimbrianBull

    @TheCimbrianBull

    Жыл бұрын

    Vigo the Carpathian wants to know your location!

  • @AshLilburne
    @AshLilburne Жыл бұрын

    The point of the omnibuses being rejected because they were "dirty", and filled with "ruffians" shows how often we've been able to solves some of the worlds biggest issues, but only if it suits our individual day-to-day lifestyle. If the buses are racing each other and grazing the side posts, the issue isnt with public transport its with your hiring of bus drivers.

  • @tygrkhat4087

    @tygrkhat4087

    Жыл бұрын

    Lack of control over private companies is also a culprit. The omnibus/bus companies were not subject to government control. If the government dictates where companies can operate, it eliminates the competition on the same routes.

  • @lancerevell5979

    @lancerevell5979

    Жыл бұрын

    The establishment of regulating agencies and enforcement of rules goes far to prevent such shennanigans.

  • @nickbrutanna9973

    @nickbrutanna9973

    Жыл бұрын

    Pretty sure the current DA of NYC is working on restoring the ruffian population in the NYC subways. He hopes to make it a safe haven for them.

  • @RCAvhstape

    @RCAvhstape

    Жыл бұрын

    Busses are still filthy and full of creeps, don't know what government control has to do with it.

  • @simonh6371

    @simonh6371

    Жыл бұрын

    London buses today are filthy and full of ''ruffians''.

  • @jonathanperry8331
    @jonathanperry8331 Жыл бұрын

    I thought you were going to talk about the president's (I think it was FDR at the time) personal train under Grand Central terminal. In fact that would be a good video.

  • @winterwatson6811

    @winterwatson6811

    Жыл бұрын

    i also came in with that expectation. i was pleasantly surprised to find a story i didn’t know!

  • @jonathanperry8331

    @jonathanperry8331

    Жыл бұрын

    @@NUTZJ98 well in that case a video is indeed in order. I think there's also a massive generator room way underground to power the train under Grand Central terminal. Also did you know on the Eastern base of the Brooklyn bridge there is a nuclear shelter under the base?

  • @goodun2974

    @goodun2974

    Жыл бұрын

    I read a book about the creation of the tunnels from New Jersey to Manhattan. That was quite an engineering effort; the story of the "sand hogs" and the machinery they worked with is extremely interesting. It would make a good subject for the history guy to cover.

  • @thomasrogers8239
    @thomasrogers8239 Жыл бұрын

    The first time I heard about these pneumatic tubes I was a kid, there was an animated movie that came out staring fivel and part of the show was then adventuring in the old tubes after they had been built and abandoned. It seemed like a novel idea so I did some googling which back in the day wasn't as easy as it was now and stumbled upon this story that you're telling me now.

  • @Trainfan1055Janathan

    @Trainfan1055Janathan

    Ай бұрын

    I used to think it was fake. Made up for the movie. I had no idea air was that powerful.

  • @daetslovactmandcarry6999
    @daetslovactmandcarry6999 Жыл бұрын

    I knew a little bit about this story, but a lot of what I thought I knew was apparently wrong. I was led to believe the pneumatic system failed outright, _"things that work at small scale don't always work at larger scale, and this was an example of that."_ I wasn't aware _Boss TWEED_ (that really should be a slur in its own right) had basically *EVERYTHING* to do with it.

  • @pauld6967
    @pauld6967 Жыл бұрын

    The Post Office Museum in Washington, D.C. (next to Union Station) has a good exhibit about the underground pneumatic mail system that was used in various cities. That is where I first learned about it. This video has added to that knowledge. Thank you.

  • @ronmaximilian6953
    @ronmaximilian6953 Жыл бұрын

    It hasn't exactly been forgotten. There have been numerous articles since the anniversary of the New York City subway system in 2004. But I doubt people from outside of the city have heard of it

  • @vaikkajoku

    @vaikkajoku

    Жыл бұрын

    Anyone who has seen Ghostbusters 2 has heard of it.

  • @ronmaximilian6953

    @ronmaximilian6953

    Жыл бұрын

    @@vaikkajoku I completely forgot about that scene.

  • @vaikkajoku

    @vaikkajoku

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ronmaximilian6953 Indeed you did. 😛

  • @pras12100
    @pras12100 Жыл бұрын

    No mention of the "Crystal Palace Pneumatic Railway" of 1864? Although very short-lived (only 3 months) it predates Beach's exhibit at the American Institute by about 3 years. The CPPR was much longer than the Beach Pneumatic Transit (600yds vs 100yds) and the tunnels were slightly larger (10ft x 9ft vs 8ft x 8ft). Both railways have Wikipedia pages: --> Crystal Palace pneumatic railway --> Beach Pneumatic Transit

  • @rhuephus

    @rhuephus

    Жыл бұрын

    Well . cuz this was about NYC .. not London #DUH

  • @chiconian49
    @chiconian49 Жыл бұрын

    As a child I used to love watching the sales staff in big department stores take your money and receipt and send it by Numatec tube to the billing department and watch the copy of your receipt and change come back down the tube.

  • @MightyMezzo
    @MightyMezzo Жыл бұрын

    A downtown dress shop in Williamsport PA was still using a pneumatic tube system in the late 1970s when I was attending college there. The old Kaiser medical center in Santa Clara (built in the 1950s) sent medical samples etc. through a tube system hither and yon, until the facility closed about ten years ago. And I’ve seen photos of Beech’s little rail car in the tunnel where it was found in the 1980s by (you guessed it) another construction crew.

  • @gabrielbennett5162

    @gabrielbennett5162

    Жыл бұрын

    The Southern Pacific railroad yard in Klamath Falls, OR had an elaborate pneumatic tube system at one time too. I only know about it, because it was in the background of a photo shown to me by an old man I used to know who was a steam engineer there in the 50s and 60s. I asked about it and he told me what it was.

  • @nancyM1313
    @nancyM1313 Жыл бұрын

    Thought this was about Grand Central Station. 😃Enjoyed your video. Today you can still see traces of the trolley tracks. Cheers.

  • @BrassLock
    @BrassLock Жыл бұрын

    Goodness Gracious! How absolutely extraordinary! This thoroughly captivating story kept me enthralled throughout my dinner, such that I hardly remember eating it, and searched the table for more sustenance. The History Guy is now causing me to put on weight 😳

  • @joegee2815
    @joegee2815 Жыл бұрын

    HYPERLOOP! What's old is new again, even if it's impractical.

  • @ianfitzpatrick2230
    @ianfitzpatrick2230 Жыл бұрын

    Bedlam on wheels you quoted, I only know that term for the video you made! Learning used to be such a chore but I’m so grateful that I wake up with a fire to learn

  • @John-ru5ud
    @John-ru5ud Жыл бұрын

    Bit of a correction: The London "Tube" is the deep trains that have always been electrified. Although "Underground" covers both the Tube and non-Tube lines, it is properly used for the original cut and cover steam powered lines.

  • @Hannah_Em

    @Hannah_Em

    Жыл бұрын

    Whilst technically correct, it should also be noted that in common colloquial usage "the tube" usually refers to everything in a blanket sense, sometimes even the above-ground light rail infrastructure like the overground.

  • @highpath4776

    @highpath4776

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Hannah_Em The Tube was a marketing term (introduced by London Transport - or was it UERL ?) on the Face of the Map. The Metropolitan Railway always considered itself a form on main line company that happened to run sub surface. I think the first usage was the Central Line that referred to itself as the Tuppenny Tube (flat fare of 2d). I am note sure if the City and South London Railway ever was know as the Tube officially. The second 'Tube' Line was the Waterloo and City Railway, know to its friends as The Drain.

  • @TheCimbrianBull

    @TheCimbrianBull

    Жыл бұрын

    @@highpath4776 and now we also have KZread and RedTube!

  • @shawnr771
    @shawnr771 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for the lesson. Several years ago I worked on the replacement for Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. They installed three separate pnematic systems from the main hospital to a facilities building across the street. One carried trash, the second used medical garmets and third medical waste.

  • @josephcouture2838
    @josephcouture2838 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for sharing your efforts and love of history. You have fascinated me many times, I hope my children will someday listen to history narrated by your voice.

  • @humphet
    @humphet Жыл бұрын

    instantly thought of ghostbusters 2

  • @markallen2984
    @markallen2984 Жыл бұрын

    Alfred Beach's subway was immortalized in a song by Canadian "Prog Rock" band Klaatu in the song "Sub Rosa Subway". When Klaatu's debut album was released, there was a widespread rumour that Klaatu was actually *The Beatles* reunited and working together anonymously.

  • @HM2SGT

    @HM2SGT

    Жыл бұрын

    It is so wicked shiny that there are actually two other fans here today! I became a fan thanks to Paul Gross CBS series from the mid-90s due South. He was really good about including Canadian artists, and their song Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft who was featured in an episode

  • @dougp6664

    @dougp6664

    Жыл бұрын

    I thought I'd be the first, or only, mentioner of Klaatu. Happy to see that's not true.

  • @markallen2984

    @markallen2984

    Жыл бұрын

    @@HM2SGT Nice "Waitresses" reference in your username, fellow Browncoat.

  • @glenchapman3899

    @glenchapman3899

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dougp6664 I thought I was going to be the same lol It helps it is a pretty good song as well.

  • @HM2SGT

    @HM2SGT

    Жыл бұрын

    @@markallen2984 😳🙀😹👍 Nigh on 20 years, so I’m mildly surprised somebody picked up on firefly. Nearer half a century than not, I’m flabbergasted and gobsmacked anybody picked up on the waitresses!

  • @QuasiTraction
    @QuasiTraction Жыл бұрын

    I'm glad you finally got around to the Alfred Ely Beech pneumatic subway.

  • @JonathanEzor
    @JonathanEzor Жыл бұрын

    I've loved this story since I first read it in a book my father had, and wrote a research paper on it for a "History of New York City" course in 1989 at Brandeis U. Beach's subway and the role of Tammany really sparked my love of New York City history in the decades since.

  • @vansongs
    @vansongs Жыл бұрын

    5 am pst and all is good this Monday. Thanks THG!

  • @hamentaschen
    @hamentaschen Жыл бұрын

    Happy History Monday!!!!! Thank you THG!

  • @iMadrid11
    @iMadrid11 Жыл бұрын

    Pneumatic railway sounds exactly like the Hyperloop. It was a just novelty fairground ride, same as it was today.

  • @fonesrphunny7242

    @fonesrphunny7242

    Жыл бұрын

    Back then it was a novel idea worth exploring. It didn't work out as intended, but we only learned that from actually building the thing and testing it. Do we need to build the hyperloop to figure out that it's just a pipe dream? THIS is the difference.

  • @rhuephus

    @rhuephus

    Жыл бұрын

    most "hyperloops" use magnetic "propulsion", not pnuematic method

  • @Sailor376also
    @Sailor376also Жыл бұрын

    The wallpaper that decorates Subway Sandwich shops is of the pneumatic tube subways proposed for New York. History, that deserves to be consumed.

  • @stvdagger8074

    @stvdagger8074

    Жыл бұрын

    Just don't let Jared lure you down any secluded tunnels. You might get a different type of boring.

  • @Sailor376also

    @Sailor376also

    Жыл бұрын

    @@stvdagger8074 You made me laugh,, Thanks !! I HAVE always marveled that the drawn plans are of a Subway that both did not work,, and still exists hidden beneath the streets.

  • @Paladin1873
    @Paladin1873 Жыл бұрын

    And thus was born the expression "going down the tubes".

  • @bonifaceawa
    @bonifaceawa Жыл бұрын

    Jennifer Snow Wolff loves your channel, so do I. We prefer reality over reality television.

  • @darrenleaguecity
    @darrenleaguecity Жыл бұрын

    A visionary before his time !

  • @macjonte
    @macjonte Жыл бұрын

    Bigger hospitals here in Sweden used pneumatic tubes for journals past new millennia. Now it’s of course computerized systems, but still not connected between all hospitals due to legislation.

  • @HM2SGT
    @HM2SGT Жыл бұрын

    And happily many decades later we would enjoy a chain of sandwich restaurants

  • @lbindert

    @lbindert

    Жыл бұрын

    🤣🤣🤣

  • @goodun2974

    @goodun2974

    Жыл бұрын

    That particular Subway line has been contracting in recent years, verging on a tunnel collapse. Having a spokesperson convicted of child porn, plus some fudging of facts around measured sandwich length and actual tuna content didn't help.

  • @stuartriefe1740

    @stuartriefe1740

    Жыл бұрын

    @@goodun2974 And let’s not forget the “Rotisserie Chicken” that had a disclaimer that it wasn’t 100% chicken… That was too bad, I actually enjoyed that until I wondered what the rest of the percentage was.

  • @jamesengland7461

    @jamesengland7461

    Жыл бұрын

    @@stuartriefe1740 half rotisserie, half chicken

  • @mozzarella-king
    @mozzarella-king Жыл бұрын

    As someone who actually works in the pneumatic tube industry (yes, folks, it's an "industry"), I find it interesting that "some" hospitals use them. Actually "many" if not "most" larger hospitals, especially in the US, couldn't function without them. They don't send paper, but rather send lab specimens, blood products, and medication throughout their buildings.

  • @thisisbeyondajoke6748
    @thisisbeyondajoke6748 Жыл бұрын

    There is nothing new under the sun.

  • @JavierCR25
    @JavierCR25 Жыл бұрын

    Wow! This is a mass version of the air tubes in Futurama

  • @BlueBaron3339
    @BlueBaron3339 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks! I do love character-based history tales and find the tech visionaries of the past more interesting than the often juvenile and puerile examples we too often have today 😉

  • @oldsguy354

    @oldsguy354

    Жыл бұрын

    All of human history is character based. :)

  • @BlueBaron3339

    @BlueBaron3339

    Жыл бұрын

    @@oldsguy354 Fair point but too often history is told as a collection of facts and event sequences, alas. Or, as one person bluntly put it, "History is just one damned thing after another." 😂

  • @v.e.7236

    @v.e.7236

    Жыл бұрын

    @BlueBaron3339 Not to be too pedantic, but I believe the word you were looking for was "puerile" vs "purile," but could also be a type-o. Its the old teacher in me - old habits die hard. Be well.

  • @BlueBaron3339

    @BlueBaron3339

    Жыл бұрын

    @@v.e.7236 Yep, you're right but at least it didn't come out as purell...as it might well have given the past couple of years.

  • @v.e.7236

    @v.e.7236

    Жыл бұрын

    @@BlueBaron3339 LOL

  • @trj1442
    @trj1442 Жыл бұрын

    Another excellent episode. Thankyou for your awesome content THC.

  • @jaxsun72
    @jaxsun72 Жыл бұрын

    Great piece.

  • @boobah5643
    @boobah5643 Жыл бұрын

    I'm not sure how comparable vac-trains and hyperloops are to Beech's folly. The only thing the modern systems do with air is make it go away; they don't use it as a motive force. Vactrains are just maglev trains in a vaccuum tunnel while hyperloops shoot trains on a ballistic trajectory through a vaccuum tunnel. In both cases, the proprosed propulsion is magnetic rather than pneumatic.

  • @kathryndaniels6372
    @kathryndaniels6372 Жыл бұрын

    Well done. I really enjoyed this.

  • @garrettmineo
    @garrettmineo Жыл бұрын

    The hyperloop!

  • @johnkaminsky1657
    @johnkaminsky1657 Жыл бұрын

    Awesome video. I remember being quite fascinated by this as a teenager and having very little information about it available at that time. It is really sad that nothing of Beach's pneumatic people-mover was preserved for history's sake. I believe the tunneling shield was rescued and later sent to Cornell but that has long since gone missing. Just a few photographs and concept drawings are all that remain of what was a truly innovative idea.

  • @kyleshores432
    @kyleshores432 Жыл бұрын

    Still really wish you'd do one on Harry Ferguson and the Ferguson system...it revolutionized agriculture, and is still pretty much still in use today with modern 3 point hitches on the majority of tractors....

  • @darkadmiral106
    @darkadmiral10616 күн бұрын

    They destroyed the Tunnel when they expanded the New York Subway. What a wonderful piece of history, almost poetically.

  • @Mattthewanderer
    @Mattthewanderer Жыл бұрын

    This one was particularly fascinating. It is no surprise to see a good idea blocked by politics and money grabbing among leaders but this one truly hurt the people. Luckily the value was seen later.

  • @RatelLaw
    @RatelLaw Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for sharing your research

  • @yo.mama100
    @yo.mama100 Жыл бұрын

    Believe it or not the first time I ever saw a picture of Beach in his rail car was on Subway sandwiches wallpaper in the early 90s

  • @davidpeters6536
    @davidpeters6536 Жыл бұрын

    Great story I had never heard before, thanks.

  • @robertphillips6296
    @robertphillips6296 Жыл бұрын

    A Pneumatic Subway was constructed at the Crystal Palace in London. It only lasted a few months and didn't catch on. Also there is speculation that the waiting area for the NYC pneumatic still exists and could possibly be accessed through a ventilation shaft located near City Hall, but do to concerns about Terrorism no one has been allowed to search for it or what might be left of it.

  • @highpath4776

    @highpath4776

    Жыл бұрын

    Was that before or after Brunel's pneumatic experiments at Brixham ?

  • @patricksanders858

    @patricksanders858

    Жыл бұрын

    Please excuse my unwarranted help... "allowed."

  • @highpath4776

    @highpath4776

    Жыл бұрын

    @@patricksanders858 Well a Hue and Cry search would be noisy

  • @punditgi
    @punditgi Жыл бұрын

    The History Guy does it again! Excellent video!

  • @jonmccormick6805
    @jonmccormick6805 Жыл бұрын

    Pirate Boss Tweed, obviously no open seas, but certainly some plank walking of some sort. Thank you, Lance!

  • @BackyardSpaceProgram
    @BackyardSpaceProgram Жыл бұрын

    One of my absolute favourite KZread channels. Keep up the good work!

  • @EndoftheBlock7224
    @EndoftheBlock7224 Жыл бұрын

    The hyperloop is here now. Love your videos

  • @larrybomber83
    @larrybomber83 Жыл бұрын

    Wow, i cannot believe that he thought of such things that far in the past. Thank You for an outstanding History Lesson.

  • @AsbestosMuffins

    @AsbestosMuffins

    Жыл бұрын

    check out the atmospheric railway, it was immensely wasteful and inefficient yet was a pneumatically driven train before even steam engines were that good

  • @mkendallpk4321
    @mkendallpk4321 Жыл бұрын

    That has to be the best video I have ever seem on Beach's Pneumatic Subway. Great work History Guy!

  • @txnetcop
    @txnetcop Жыл бұрын

    Great info I was unaware of! Thank you

  • @GTA6VIGameguy
    @GTA6VIGameguy Жыл бұрын

    Others: Well technically... Me: Thank you THG for more great content!

  • @brianb2886
    @brianb2886 Жыл бұрын

    I continue to enjoy all your episodes.

  • @rogersledz6793
    @rogersledz6793 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!

  • @1oldskoolluvr
    @1oldskoolluvr Жыл бұрын

    Always a pleasure watching these forgotten tid-bits of forgotten history with you. Thank for another interesting story of our past!

  • @frankmueller2781
    @frankmueller2781 Жыл бұрын

    I have a few original 1870s issues of "Scientic American" magazine. Each comes with one or more home blueprints, sans restroom, of course.

  • @deborahbarry8458

    @deborahbarry8458

    Жыл бұрын

    Oh that’s so cool 😎

  • @evensgrey
    @evensgrey Жыл бұрын

    While in the real world the pneumatic subway was destroyed, it still managed to play an important role in Ghostbusters II.

  • @constipatedinsincity4424
    @constipatedinsincity4424 Жыл бұрын

    Back in the Saddle Again

  • @RealShamanX
    @RealShamanX Жыл бұрын

    Thanks History Guy!

  • @michaelmiller641
    @michaelmiller641 Жыл бұрын

    thanks for that, very interesting!

  • @MisatoBestWoman
    @MisatoBestWoman Жыл бұрын

    I forgot I was subbed to this absolutely amazing channel quality content!

  • @shelbybrown8312
    @shelbybrown8312 Жыл бұрын

    Good morning from Chicago heights Illinois

  • @russwoodward8251
    @russwoodward8251 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks again!

  • @PaulFlude
    @PaulFlude Жыл бұрын

    A distantly related topic you may want to look into doing is Guastavino Tile. I think it's right up your alley.

  • @sschmidtevalue
    @sschmidtevalue Жыл бұрын

    Alfred Beach and his efforts are mentioned in the song "Sub-rosa Subway" by Klaatu.

  • @boathousejoed9005
    @boathousejoed9005 Жыл бұрын

    Fascinating!

  • @spockboy
    @spockboy Жыл бұрын

    Great channel! A 19th Century Hyperloop. I'm so glad someone took Tweed down, he was so corrupt. (His story would make a great episode however)

  • @edwardblair4096
    @edwardblair4096 Жыл бұрын

    When I was a kid, the Capwells in downtown Oakland, CA still had the pneumatic tunes for making change at the various cashier stations around the large 3 story building. They were not in operation, as far as I know, but they were still there.

  • @PeterOkeefe54
    @PeterOkeefe54 Жыл бұрын

    Its amazing that this man was famous enough to have sandy areas near the ocean named after him!!lol

  • @rhuephus

    @rhuephus

    Жыл бұрын

    yes ... and one of his son's name was Sunny !!!!

  • @PeterOkeefe54

    @PeterOkeefe54

    Жыл бұрын

    @@rhuephus gets your facts straight!!it was his daughter named sunny

  • @dontgettoknowm9864
    @dontgettoknowm9864 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you history Guy

  • @MondoProducer
    @MondoProducer Жыл бұрын

    Loved it. Driven visionary with some distasteful qualities . A package

  • @ExploringFate
    @ExploringFate Жыл бұрын

    3:12 Good to see NYC hasn't changed much.😅

  • @paulgracey4697
    @paulgracey4697 Жыл бұрын

    Once more an incorrect comparison is made between this form of atmospheric vacuum transport and the proposed hyperloop. Hyperloop does not use the partial vacuum as propulsion and braking as Beach's invention, and pneumatic messaging/money tubes do. Instead the lower pressure in the hyperloop reduces the air friction to a minor level. Then an even lower friction support, now generally using magnetic levitation is used in place of wheels. The efficiency of electric propulsion is, and was far superior to pneumatic at the larger scale, and though I imagine Beach wanted the surface blower to ensure good ventilation, when deep tube subways were made using electric motors, the cars themselves moved enough air through the system as if they were pistons. Beach's system is actually inverted. The one car was driven more by the 14 lbs per square inch of air pressure coming in behind the slight pressure reduction produced by that gigantic steam driven fan. Reversing it not only would stop it, it made the same car go the other way at a higher than atmospheric pressure. The system was not likely to be able to use more than one car vehicles, i.e. trains. Andrew Hallidie's San Francisco cable cars were able to do both short trains, Chicago and NYC both had them, and might have been used for tube/subways, had not the electric tram technology been invented just a while later that was simpler to build and also doesn't foul underground air while using combustion steam power plants at the surface back then because those had to.

  • @bryantsteury8910
    @bryantsteury8910 Жыл бұрын

    DUDE! That new intro is killer!!!!

  • @stevenverhaegen8729
    @stevenverhaegen8729 Жыл бұрын

    Nice to hear this Scientific American history! 🤓👍

  • @HG_well
    @HG_well Жыл бұрын

    Amazing!

  • @rogersheddy6414
    @rogersheddy6414 Жыл бұрын

    Many years ago I saw an article accompanied by some fascinating photos taken at the time that they discovered the tunnel. The rail car was still in place, and they took pictures inside of it.

  • @lewiswestfall2687
    @lewiswestfall2687 Жыл бұрын

    great video