The Crystal Palace Pneumatic Railway was an experimental

atmospheric railway An atmospheric railway uses differential air pressure to provide power for propulsion of a railway vehicle. A static power source can transmit motive power to the vehicle in this way, avoiding the necessity of carrying mobile power generating e ...

that ran in

Crystal Palace Park Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian pleasure ground In English gardening history, the pleasure ground or pleasure garden was the parts of a large garden designed for the use of the owners, as opposed to the kitchen garden and the wider park ...

in south London in 1864.

History

The railway was designed by Thomas Webster Rammell, who had previously built a

pneumatic railway An atmospheric railway uses differential air pressure to provide power for propulsion of a railway vehicle. A static power source can transmit motive power to the vehicle in this way, avoiding the necessity of carrying mobile power generating eq ...

for the

London Pneumatic Despatch Company The London Pneumatic Despatch Company (also known as the London Pneumatic Dispatch Company) was formed on 30 June 1859, to design, build and operate an underground railway system for the carrying of mail, parcels and light freight between locati ...

to convey letters along tunnels in large vacuum-driven wagons. A similar principle was applied to this railway, where a carriage fitted with a large collar of bristles was sucked along an airtight tunnel that measured .Hadfield, C. (1967) ''Atmospheric Railways: A Victorian Venture in Silent Speed'' Newton Abbot: David & Charles The bristle collar served to keep the tunnel "partially airtight". It operated for just over two months, and may have been a demonstration line for a more substantial atmospheric railway planned between Waterloo and Whitehall, construction of which was started under the Thames but never completed. The tunnel was built in a shallow trench of in depth; the contemporary illustration (right) showing the line disappearing beneath the landscape seems to be no more than artistic licence although, as built, earth may have been drawn up around the structure. In the tunnel the bridge-profile rails were on longitudinal sleepers whereas in the platform sections conventional cross sleepers were used. Rammell included a curve of radius and a gradient of 1 in 15 (7 per cent) to demonstrate the capabilities of his design. The power was provided by a large fan, some in diameter, like a paddle-wheel in an iron case (see image) that was powered at 300

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

by a former steam locomotive, mounted on a plinth, acting through leather belts. An arched brick tunnel high led from a below-ground chamber in the engine house to the side of the running tunnel. The carriage at the upper terminus was allowed to enter the tunnel under its own weight, when "a pair of iron doors, hinged like lock gates" was closed behind it. Air at a pressure of " ounces per square inch" (about 0.16 psi or 11 mbar) was then admitted through a grating, propelling the vehicle to the other terminus. As the vehicle approached the lower terminus it was slowed by a short, uphill section of track and the release of the propelling air pressure as it passed a grating open to the atmosphere; the only intervention required from the operator was the application of the brake. On return journeys, the fan was reversed to create a vacuum to suck the carriage backwards, whilst the carriage used its brakes to come to a stop. A contemporary newspaper account called for steps to prevent any mechanical failure subjecting to passengers to effects of vacuum like "frogs under a vacuum pump". Although not positively known, it is possible that the GWR broad gauge () was used. The single coach might have also been a conversion of a GWR coach, and the steam engine that powered the fan from an old GWR locomotive.

Operations

The tunnel ran for between the

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

and

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. History Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Pence ...

entrances to the park, and had to negotiate a difficult bend along the line. Tickets cost sixpence each. Trains ran between 1pm and 6pm and the journey time was 50 seconds. The line operated from 27 August 1864 to October 1864.

Legacy

It is unclear what became of the line, as records do not state what happened after it ceased to operate, although it has been suggested that Rammell had originally constructed the small line as a test for a larger atmospheric railway that was to run between Waterloo and Whitehall. A formal excavation was conducted at the site of the upper station in August 1975. A brick tunnel, too small to be the running tunnel, and what is thought to be a retaining wall were found. The running tunnel was not found, and some believed that it may have been destroyed by construction work for the

Festival of Empire The 1911 Festival of Empire was the biggest single event held at The Crystal Palace in London since its opening. It opened on 12 May and was one of the events to celebrate the coronation of King George V. The original intention had been that Edw ...

celebrations in 1911. It has been rumoured that the site of the railway is haunted, a popular

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

of the 1930s partially connected with stories surrounding

Crystal Palace railway station Crystal Palace railway station is a Network Rail and London Overground station in the London Borough of Bromley in south London. It is located in the Anerley area between the town centres of Crystal Palace and Penge, from . It is one of two st ...

. In 1978, a woman claimed to have found the tunnel and to have seen within it an old railway carriage filled with skeletons in Victorian outfits. This legend has been developed into the novel ''Strange Air'' by

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

writer Tom Brown.

References

{{reflist Closed railway lines in London Crystal Palace, London Railway lines opened in 1864 Pneumatics

History

Operations

Legacy

See also

References