The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1864-12-21

small line, about three7feetin diameter,
for carrying mails and parcels, and that
bos,been in soPeration? frob!the Eostpn-
London and North. Westerly Railway
terminus to the Eorth.Westa District
Post Once, in the northwest :part' Of
Loind6lp, That has Been - successful
operation, carrying the mails twenty Or
tbirtyssines a aoy7f fox eyd5 q gearg@aa a
half. - ...
Next, line for goods and mails, about
Eve, feee4in, Hiameter,. ahas: ;becn buiit
under the .strcets;aiks 'thsfsmaller' oneI
to carry the mails to and from the Gene.
raj Post Office, St. Martins lie Grand, and
that is soo6lto beppeueH ItYwilt also
col meet the London and North. Western
Railwdy' with. Chaplin and Horne'ss'( the
great railway carriers,) premises, id
Gresham Street near the Bank Of; Eng.
land. That line, besides carrying the
London mails betweeui'thc post Office
ana the railway, will transport one
thousand tuns of goods day between
the heart of the city antlaf suburban
railway station (Camdeptowq), and ull
throus N d single cast iron tube and with
one stationary engine!.4r
The passenger ling opened this week
lis about coo yards-say third Of mile
in the Crystal Palace Park, .nndis be-
tween ten and eleven. feet in diameter
not nine feet BY ten, as enormously
stated by some Of tie newspapers-and
will take in n Great Western lbroad
guuge) train, and transport it from
one end to the other. Tho line
has been purposely, constructed with all
the disadvantages that any railway is
liable to-neither straight nor level, but
with very sharp curve, md up steep
or incline Zone foot in ffteen) than is
practicable for any locomotive to work.
The trains are blown through in one
direction, and then sucked back on their
return, the power working equally we'll
10 each direction. A great deal Of non.
sense is talked and written about the
pneumatic railways, like the trains be.
ing "shot through. or working in vac.
uum. Now. be it known once for all,
that n " vacuum" in working pncumat-
ic railway is both useless andimpossble.
Take the train when it is sucked through
and what is the process? Why precise.
| ly the same as that of q boy sucking a
pea or bullet through hollow reed.
The train starts at the further end of
the tunnel or tube. q quarter Of mile
from the pneumatic machine. Then the
air is sucked by a powerful apparatus
out of the tunnel. Ofeoursc, as the air
is gradually drawn out--the other end
of the tube being closed by the TRIM
atmosphere becomes rarifed, or atten.
uated, and this process goes on for a
second or two, till the air in the tunnel
is madethinncr-rari6cd about ono per
cent. and tho pressure Of the surround
ing atmosphere outside (eQual to four
teen pounds to the square inch, then
presses or drives the train into the tuu-
mel, and the sucking process going on
all the time, the train runs its third of Il
mile in somc forty eight or fifty seconds
eighteen to twenty miles an hour
On lines of any length, fifty miles an
hour will be attained with ease. go.
The carriage is lighted by lamps that
give brilliant light; and, having, none
Of the gases or smoke or the heavy jolt.
ing that attends the passage Of alocomo-
hive in a tunnel, the passengers glide
along with the most luxurious ease im'
aginable. /. s. II a.!
The ventilation, Of course, is perfect,
the whole train being swept BY q gale Of
pure atmospheric air every time: q. train
passes. IT,. OFT. ,a.,:... a...a lnr:,.. -.
This solves the problem Of under.
GROUND ;railwnyssfnlly, and Parliament is
to be applied to this winter for power to
build.sevcral lines under; London-one
to 20 under Oxford street to the Bank
fromithe West End. u -
, The invention gives you the way to
solve the great problem of city traffic in
New York. A pneumatic railway-under
Broadway. is entirely feasible, .and can; be
made at once the cheapest, most comfort
able and most rapid modeof transit from
one end Of New York Island to- the
other. I will give more Of the mechani.
cul details in another letter. ~
= .