December 01, 2006

London Mail Rail: 75 years of underground letters.

Something Koko said in a thread about pneumatic tubes made me think of the Post Office Railway! It ran from 1927 (it carried the 1927 Christmas parcels) to 2003, from Paddington to Whitechapel, carrying mailbags between the sorting offices in driverless trains. Inspired by the Chicago Freight Tunnel, and preceded by an experimental pneumatic tube in 1853, it is crying out to be put to use again. And soon perhaps it may be... *wink*

posted by muteboy 17 years ago
  • Interesting. Thanks.
  • Oedipa Maas approves.
  • Excellent post!
  • Underground esoterica at its finest!
  • I spent about ten minutes on this project, and it just wasn't as fun in the end as I had hoped.
  • I like it!
  • MolĂ©! Moley-moley-moley.
  • Holy mole, eh?
  • There was an experimental (one station) pneumatic subway in Manhattan that predated the existing system by many years. Article. Actually carried people, but not far.
  • Good post, muteboy. I likes me a mole, Glamma. MonkeyFilter: Underground esoterica at its finest! *Bows in the general direction of AC
  • That's cool, but if it were to be an accurate rendition of the London Underground, 'twould be a rat saying "IM IN UR TOOBZ GIVVIN U LEPTOSPIROSIS"
  • Excellent, muteboy! Might take some of the traffic from congested raodways if these were put back in service, I suppose, but is there any real prospect of this?
  • Depends what it's used for... *winks again*