Beach Pneumatic Transit

Common card · No. 210293

The Beach Pneumatic Transit was an early technology demonstrator for underground public transit in New York City. Running on pneumatic power, it was built by Alfred Ely Beach between 1869 and early 1870. The original terminus resided in the basement of the Rogers Peet Building in Lower Manhattan, near the old City Hall station. A one-car shuttle carried riders between the building and a dead end approximately 300 feet (91 m) away. Despite ambitious plans to construct stations along a five-mile route to Central Park, the project never expanded beyond the short demonstration track and closed in 1873.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Unknown photographer, Public domain