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Elon Musk’s Hyperloop, circa 1869 NYC

In the category of nothing’s new:  When I heard about the pneumatic tube, the Hyperloop, that Elon Musk (the energy and cash behind Tesla Motors and SpaceX) is proposing to speed people between LA and San Francisco, it sounded strangely familiar. And, for a good reason. Alfred Ely Beach built a pneumatic subway under Broadway in 1869. In fact, Beach’s 320-foot, single-track tube was the first subway in The City.

Alfred Beach's pneumatic transit 1869.

Alfred Beach’s pneumatic transit 1869.

 

 

There are several interesting comparisons:

  • Beach showed his technology in 1867. Musk publicized his “alpha” design this month.
  • Beach built an actual moving pneumatic train with stations and riders two years later in 1869. It’s early days for Musk. I’ll add a post in 2015 after I take a ride on the  Hyperloop.
  • Beach put $350,000 into his demonstration tube. Musk is saying his will cost $6 billion; others are saying it would be more like $25 billion or more.
  • Beach’s tickets were 25 cents each and 10s of thousands of New Yorkers took rides (it wasn’t really transportation yet, just a novelty, but still). Musk is saying the Hyperloop will be $20, but $200+ is probably more likely.
  • Beach’s tube was only one block, but he did plan to make it a much larger system. Musk’s plan is much, much bigger.
  • I don’t have data on speed. But from the media coverage, I imagine that Musk’s will go zillions of times faster than Beach’s. On the other hand, women didn’t loose their hats and hoop skirts on Beach’s ride. But, by some reports, the Hyperloop will go so fast that you will look like a chimp in a NASA centrifuge.
  • Beach  told the city government he was building: a mail tube, not a train. Today’s media is explaining pneumatic technology by comparing it to office mail tubes that sucked memos up and down stairs.

Now, go ride a train!

Elon Musk's Hyperloop
Elon Musk’s Hyperloop 2013.