Atmospheric railway

An atmospheric railway is a railway in which air pressure or vacuum is used to drive trains. The best known attempt was that by Brunel in the 19th century on a 52-mile section of the South Devon Railway between Exeter and Plymouth, England. It was also tried on the London & Croydon Railway in 1845, but was soon abolished.

Related Topics:
Railway - Pressure - Vacuum - Train - Brunel - 19th century - South Devon Railway - Exeter - Plymouth - England - London & Croydon Railway

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The supposed advantage of the atmospheric system was its hillclimbing ability; however Brunel chose to test the system on a relatively flat section. Brunel did however assume that the system would work, because the mainline to Cornwall was designed to contain some very challenging gradients of up to 1 in 38.

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The atmospheric system proved to be a complete disaster, for reasons such as:

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• the seals on the tube failed - amongst other reasons, rats liked to eat the sealing grease.
• shunting the trains into atmospheric formation was a nuisance.
• the pump stations every few kilometres has to be run continuously and were expensive.
• as mentioned above the hillclimbing abilities of the system were not put to the test.
• it is not clear how atmospheric railway tubes could be compatible with railway points.
• telegraphy may not have been advanced enough to co-ordinate the pump stations and trains properly.
 
Atmospheric railway: See Also ►