The New York Pneumatic Transit System

In 1869, Alfred Ely Beach built his now famous pneumatic subway line beneath Broadway. It never remained more than a curiosity, however, as Beach ran out of money and the tunnel was closed by 1873.

But what if it it hadn't been? WI Beach had been able to turn his subway into a going concern, starting a revolution in mass public transit in American cities during the late nineteenth century? What might the New York subway system look like today?
 

Sachyriel

Banned
I really want to put a picture of the Futurama tubeways here. But since this is pre-1900 I'm going to say that allowing people faster movements in an age with less than hygienic standards for hygiene unleashes a hyper-genie of disease vectors.

If the subway becomes a successful norm for some peoples transportation then every time one person catches a cold the rest of them get it and pass it on much quicker.

Now I'm not saying everyone's going to be dead in a week, no no no, this butterfly isn't that powerful with its wings. This butterfly flaps its wings and one night someone's too sick to get it up to make love and make someone important in OTL (Bow-chicka-COUGH COUGH), or someone misses work and leads to a delay in the construction of an important building (Empire State the Obvious), or someone's sick and they miss their own death (cheaters!?!) these options alone has more powerful butterfly wings than the original tickle in the back of the throat.

But I would see this POD as having far-ranging consequences depending on who gets on it and what happens. Say Hitler takes a tour of the USA, sees the subway, takes a ride and catches something that develops complications, kills him hooray (Or in the ATL where we need him: NOOOOO!?).

But who did you have in mind for your new-fangled roller coaster there?
 
I wouldn't kill Hitler in this ATL, btw. I'd just have him take a ride and get sick, then later decide that maybe he should shut the German trains down, to keep his ubermenschen safe from the common cold.
 
But since this is pre-1900 I'm going to say that allowing people faster movements in an age with less than hygienic standards for hygiene unleashes a hyper-genie of disease vectors.
I disagree. Success of such a railway would more likely increase hygeinic standards by putting hundreds of horses out to pasture, keeping their crap off the streets, and leaving millions of flies without nurseries for their babies. Poor homeless flies. :(

Further, i would argue that speeding up transportation in a city won't cause significant spread of disease because there won't be very much difference between new and old, thus not requiring people's immune systems to have to do as much adjustment to counter. What would cause problems is that masses of people will be jammed together in poorly ventilated cars and we all know that won't be good.

I would argue that all of that would result in a net improvement of disease rates.
 

FDW

Banned
Thing is New York was already building the Elevated lines at this time, the addition of the pneumatic line wouldn't have changed things as much as people are saying here.
 
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