232

The Broadway Underground Railway: Route and Plan of Construction, with Reports of Eminent Engineers.

New York: Beach Pneumatic Transit Company, 1872
8 folding hand-colored plates and one full-page engraved view. 15 pages. Folio, 17½ x 12 inches, later buckram, moderate wear; early text leaves brittle and worn with tape repairs, engraved view  detached and chipped, only minor wear to folding plans and later text leaves; early inked Bar Association stamp on page [3].

  • Notes: This prospectus documents New York's first underground rail line. Alfred Ely Beach built a short demonstration line in 1869 and 1870, running one car through a 300-foot pneumatic tube to generate support for his much larger proposal. An estimated 400,000 tickets were sold before the demonstration line closed for good in 1873. Practical subway service in Manhattan did not begin until 1904. 

    This prospectus describes the proposed route and its advantages, with an engraving of the "New Post Office & Proposed Underground Railway," and a set of 8 plans of the London underground which served as a model for the project. Testimonials and expert opinions fill the last 7 pages. 

    None traced at auction since 1926.
  • Condition:
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