THE PNEUMATIC RAILWAY.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 206, 28 March 1868, Page 3

THE PNEUMATIC RAILWAY.

(From the Scientific American). It is an interesting sight to stand at the mouth of the great tub and observe the arrival and departure of the car with its loads of passengers. The car fits the tub like a piston, and travels both ways with the utmost regularity and steadiness. Nothing can be more gentle and pleasant than the start and stoppage;_ no jerking or wrenching of any kind is observable, and although the car is not provided with, springs, it rides along very easily. The tube is 107 feet in length, 6 feet in diameter, and is composed of fifteen layers of veneers, laid and cemented in alternate spirals, forming a total thickness of an inch and a quarter" This peculiar construction gives great strength and rigidity. The car carries twelve passengers, and its body is rounded on the same curve as the tube. Indeed, the body was made of a section of the tub cut in halves and the ends united, forming a long open cradle without roof, with seats on each side, presenting the appearance of an omnibus sleigh. The wheels project three inches through the shell of the body, turn in boxes arranged under the seats, and run on a disk or head which fits the tube and forms a travelling piston. Thero is a door in the disk, also ventilating valves • the lights and water gauges are also arranged upon the disk. The dial prcseuts a superficial area of 28 feet against which the atmospheric measure acts to propel the car." or blowing a heel in the form of a screw pr

10 feet in diameter, made of wood, has eight hlades, and revolves at the mouth of the tuhe opposite to that at which the car enters. "When the screw turns in one direction it sucks air through the tube and the car is drawn in. The ear, as it passes along, moves a lover which gives a signal,.and by the time the car arrives near the screw the latter is reversed, which forces a blast of air into the tubo and drives the car back. The iEolor is capable of producing a far greater pressure than can bo safely used upon the car in so short a length of tube.

There are two of tho Colors at the Exhibition. One of them works the Pneumatic Railway, the other, of smaller size, the Postal Pneumatic Dispatch. Both are driven by one of Root's little trunk engines, diminutive in size, but exceedingly compact, runs beautifully, and gives out abundant power.

The visitors at the Exhibition manifest a lively interest in the Pneumatic Railway, and all seek for the ride. To be carried along by the air pressure is an entirely new sensation. More tnan twenty-five thousand persons have already been safely carried, much to their enjoyment and satisfaction. Mr John D. Gilbert is the conductor, and accompanies every train. It is probable that a Pneumatic Railway of considerable length for regular traffic will soon be laid down near New York under the auspices of the Pneumatic Dispatch Company of New Jersey of which Mr Beach has lately been elected President. Great credit is due to the Holake Machine Company, who were the builders of the Pneumatic Railway and the Pneumatic Postal Dispatch, as presented at the Exhibition. The whole work, tubes, cars, blowing screws and all, were constructed by therein the short space of six weeks. Considering that every thing was of a novel and experimental character, this was making good time. The work was conducted under the immediate personal superintendence of Mr W". P. Holake, who is one of our most reliable, experienced, and energetic mechanical constructors. It has been his business for many years to build experimental machinery. He is quick to appreciate e new idea, and prompt in putting it into bodily form. Many of the best patent models that come to our office are from the establishment of the Holake Machine Company, 528 Water street, New York city.