OT: Unusual railroad

[dp]

Several here are railroad fans and today I discovered a really odd one - Brunel's atmospheric railroad was a failure, but a very interesting one. Here is a link to dozens of images and other links:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=atmospheric+railway&qpvt=atmospheric+railway&FORM=IGRE

And here is the requisite Wikitedia link for a complete litany of sketchy and possibly wrong information (but I repeat myself):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_railway

[boslab]

Was living/working in london when i was told they had discovered a bricked up section of the railroad, the carriges still in there, faild because of the rats love of the leather and tallow lubricant on the seal!, a fact i can attest to as i had a box of tallow saw lube sticks under a bench, the buggers broke in an eat the lot!, box an all!
Mark

[Guido]

U.S. Navy building new carriers equipped with maglev A/C launchers. Maybe the ship rats became too much for the steam powered launchers????? Always fascinated me, the design of the zipper seal and it's simplicity/efficiency.

--G

[loose nut]

Steam power launchers require a lot of maintenance and alignment adjusting to keep them working properly without breaking down at the worst time. They are hoping that the new versions will eliminate that

[jlevie]

The time may have come to revisit low pressure "tube" transport. In the original scheme the goal was to power the transport by something other than steam power, which doesn't lend itself to underground operation. But now we have other, electrical, means of propulsion. If you could operate a train in a low pressure tunnel the power required would be less and speeds could be higher. I have seen something that is proposed that could take advantage of that for intra urban transport.

[oil mac]

Beneath the streets of London, the General Post Office , had a very interesting & old system for transporting the mail underneath the Metropolis in a very fast & efficient manner, This was a network of tiny tube tunnels through which sped fast driverless mail carrying trains, these were tiny electrically driven machines As they sped into the various stopping points under the relevant post offices or sorting offices, they were stopped by the station staff who loaded /unloaded the mail, closed the carrying "Box" , pushed over the starting power lever & let it speed onwards to its next destination.
I believe these tunnels may have been at a lower level than the main passenger carrying underground tube system

This intriguing layout was scrapped when the government privatised the Royal Mail, One of these tiny locomotives is now in York Railway Museum

[John Stevenson]

They weren't that small mac.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25145632

[Paul Alciatore]

If they had added some rat poison to that tallow lube they would have solved two problems in one.

Was living/working in london when i was told they had discovered a bricked up section of the railroad, the carriges still in there, faild because of the rats love of the leather and tallow lubricant on the seal!, a fact i can attest to as i had a box of tallow saw lube sticks under a bench, the buggers broke in an eat the lot!, box an all!
Mark

[KJ1I]

Bet the grade crossings were a b****.

[Abner]

Bet the grade crossings were a b****.

No kidding - push you up the hill and throw you down the other side.

[A.K. Boomer]

It's interesting but was bordering on insanity for back in the day and what they had to rely on for sealing,,, every mile of track probably added a ton of leaks and therefore lost power and efficiency,,,
the engineering structure of the tube is about what you would expect with the support fins getting drastically wider at the base and such,

it's just amazing to me what they tried to do back then, and most likely off of one mans idea,,,

the vehicle inside a tube makes so much more sense for sealing purposes - as long as your internal cabin does not spring a leak and push everyones eyeballs back into their cranium area... still would be an archaic undertaking for back in the day, although as far as materials go times have changed and that's half the battle...

[DFMiller]

John,
Thanks for that link. That was a cool video.
Dave

[The Artful Bodger]

On the subject of 'tube' railways did you know the tracks of the London tube lines are not level? There is a slow downgrade leaving the station and a steep upgrade entering the next station.

If I recall correctly, the trains have only one power setting.

[A.K. Boomer]

I wonder how many times they had to "hand select" a group of passengers and drop them off somewhere so that everyone else could get back home on time,,,

"im sorry Mrs. Henderson but we will send a horse and buggy in three days to pick you up" -------- " But why?, the train took me here and it can bring me back?"

"yes Mam but it was a slight grade downhill and now we are traveling back up and further away from the pumping station, there are lots of losses in a system like this and we did not anticipate carrying a woman along of your "stature" ---
again please except our apologies and here's your complimentary tent and duffel bag..."

"why I never ------- My husband is going to hear about this"

"Again Mam we apologize - but the other customers have also been complaining about a sever underboob odor - please give our regards to your husband if and when you ever find him again... you might just check the cushions of your couch or other "places" that may have also gobbled up your remote "

All aboard ----- Whoooooooooooot - whoooooooooooooooooot --- chug -chug - chug ----------------- oops - skip that last part...

[krutch]

They are hoping that the new versions will eliminate that

Not to mention the danger of steam explosions, leaks, and such accidents!