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"Science fiction represents the modern heresy and the cutting edge of speculative imagination as it grapples with Mysterious Time---linear or non-linear time."
- Frank Herbert
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| Vacutubes | ||
| A system of public transportation that used partially evacuated tubes and capsules big enough for passengers. |
This is a very futuristic scenario - or it was in the 1950's. Some thought has been given to underground trains that would make use of partially evacuated tunnels to reduce air resistance.
| We hit the sub-basement and went at once to the express tubes. A two passenger capsule was just emptying; Dak shoved me in so quickly that I did not see him set the door combination… The few minutes we had been crammed in the vacutube had been long enough for me to devise a plan… |
| From Double Star,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Doubleday in 1956 Additional resources -
|
However, I once worked in the "tube room" of a large hospital that used pneumatic tubes to deliver paperwork throughout the large building. What Heinlein has created here is effectively a tube system for people.
In 1870, Alfred Ely Beach, tried to construct a prototype pneumatic train subway in New York City. The city fathers were not impressed and decided on the elevated train concept instead.
If you want to check out what a factory conveyor belt system for a country would look like, see the entry for rolling roads, from The Roads Must Roll, also by Heinlein.
Also, take a look at a "vacutube" that operates in the vertical dimension for one passenger at a time; see bounce tube, also by Robert Heinlein.
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