{"id":22036,"date":"2013-11-03T22:27:02","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T22:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomasjpitts.co.uk\/wp\/?p=22036"},"modified":"2013-11-03T22:27:02","modified_gmt":"2013-11-03T22:27:02","slug":"day-307-postal-tubes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasjpitts.co.uk\/wordpress\/2013\/11\/03\/day-307-postal-tubes\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 307: Postal Tubes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today was filled with work and a race. The race was terribly dull with the only action being a battle for 8th and Alonso suffering a 25G impact by going over a kerb at speed… Vettel’s dominance is good to watch, and it’s good to see a car romp home 30 seconds ahead of second place every now and then. Seven races in a row is boring. I love motor racing and I’ll always watch F1 for the intrigue and politics (it is a business as well as a sport) and I love all the behind the scene stuff. I do wish sometimes that the racing was better. Only two more races this year then changes to the formula (literally) might spice things up a bit.<\/p>\n

Grange Moor’s rehearsal was all about Christmas with their first performance a mere two weeks away – just like Morley And District Concert Band’s is. It’s quite frustrating being a percussionist at Christmas – it’s basically bashing sleigh bells for 8 weeks…<\/p>\n

Back to work tomorrow, with a routine going back to normal for seven weeks. Lots to organise in that time though, with Christmas to think about there as well.<\/p>\n

One final thing. I learned about a fabulous thing earlier today: the New York underground pneumatic postal tube system.<\/p>\n

The first pneumatic tube mail<\/a> system was installed in Philadelphia (sorry New York) in 1893. New York City\u2019s<\/a> came in 1897, first only between the General Post Office<\/a> at Herald Square<\/a>) and the Produce Exchange on Bowling Green (now demolished). Each tube could carry between 400 and 600 letters and traveled at 30-35 miles per hour.\u00a0In its full glory, the pneumatic tubes covered a 27-mile route, connecting 23 post offices. This network stretched up Manhattan\u2019s east and west sides, from Bowling Green and Wall Street, all the way north toManhattanville<\/a>\u00a0and East Harlem<\/a>.\u00a0Anecdotal stories<\/a>\u00a0indicate that the system may have extended into the Bronx<\/a>, with sandwich subs reportedly being delivered via pneumatic tubes from a renown subway shop in the Bronx to downtown postal stations. The system even crossed boroughs into Brooklyn (using the Brooklyn Bridge<\/a>), taking four minutes to take letters from Church Street near City Hall to the General Post Office in Brooklyn (now Cadman Plaza<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The system, which was located 4 to 6 feet below the city streets, was\u00a0created and owned by private companies, to which the city paid rent and labor. According to Kate Ascher<\/a>,\u00a0author of\u00a0The Works<\/a><\/em>, \u201cThe high operating costs of the pneumatic system ultimately proved its downfall. By 1918, the federal government considered the annual rental payments ($17,000 per mile per annum) made by the post office to be \u2018exorbitant\u2019 and endorsed a new alternative with greater capacity\u2013the automobile\u2013as the delivery method of choice.\u201d In New York City, a successful lobby by contractors led to the reinstatement of pneumatic mail service in 1922. A complete stop didn\u2019t happen until 1953. Paris\u2019 system, which covered 269 miles, continued for an additional 34 years (but was more limited in what it could carry\u2013the pipes were only 2 inches diameter).<\/p>\n

\"(Click<\/a>
(Click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And what\u2019s left of the pneumatic tubes? Not much, if at all. The location of the tubes within a city\u2019s underbelly basically guaranteed its destruction once no longer in use. \u00a0According to\u00a0The Smithsonian National Postal Museum<\/a>, \u201cInstallation of the tubes was problematic, with previously laid pipes for sewage and gas limiting the size and thus the amount and kind of mail a pneumatic tube could carry. Water table levels also presented difficulties.\u201d Kate Ascher also notes that\u00a0there was a time when remnants of the pneumatic tubes were still being found, but not often any longer.<\/p>\n

Some additional fun facts about the pneumatic tube mail system:<\/p>\n