There is nothing new Under the Sun ~ BH
Below: a contemporary plan of a tunnel boring machine from the 1880s on an idea by Colonel Frederick Beaumont and Thomas English. The tunnel boring machine was 9 meters (30 ft) long and was driven with compressed air.
I wanted to start by saying that if you know an Officer serving in the Military Corps of Engineers, ask that Officer to design a machine similar to the one above. If that Officer says that he cannot, let him know that Officer Beaumont, who died in 1899 could, and apparently did.
Frederick Beaumont
1833-1899
Beaumont's Education
1833-1899
Nothing in the above information suggested that Beaumont could design, and build the below. Unless in the mid-nineteenth century the British Royal Military was producing mechanical engineers of this caliber, there had to be an alternate explanation for such ingenuity. Where is the precursor to this invention? Of course we have this 1868 mining equipment, but it is essentially in the same boat with the machine below. But speaking of Beaumont, where did he gain the knowledge to design the machine of such complexity?
Up till this very moment I failed to google out any education related bio information, other than the above Wikipedia bullets. But what I did find, suggests that there is much more than just Beaumont's education, the official history chose to omit.
I honestly start thinking that the entire length of the Second Industrial Revolution (1850-1914) was the process of legitimizing the pre-existing technological achievements. I am opened for ideas on what the 1750-1850 period was used for.
Could the above theory be the reason why no information was ever located pertaining to the below 1908 Gary W. Va. mine machine? Or could it be that they were good to the point where they could go from a pickaxe to this "1908 machine" in one stride without any developmental evidence? We still don't have any info on this mining equipment, by the way.
1840s-80s Tunneling Machines
1846 Henri-Joseph Maus's Mountain Slicer
1853 Wilson's Tunneling Machine
Source
1860s Beach's Tunneling Machine
NYC’s first subway was luxurious, pneumatic and built illegally - NY Daily News
1867 Doering & Sachs
Drilling / Tunneling Machine
Source
1868 Low's Boring Machine
1868 boring machine, and some other equipment examples + link
1874 Brunton Machine
Source
The above machines are the ones I found fairly quickly. Pretty sure some extra digging could produce several additional ones. At the same time, I have a strong suspicion that many of those did not make it through time. Interestingly enough, but I have not seen a single photograph of any of the presented machines. What's new, right?
Obviously being able to google this stuff out suggests that none of this is some sort of secret information. Yet, this is definitely not something taught at school. I have hard time imagining that many people comprehend the level of the mid-19th century tech.
I think this technology was re-introduced into the world, which could suggest that we have no idea how old it truly is.
Below is one of the photographs, which I suspect, ended up slipping through the censorship cracks.
*****
KD: May be the existence of such machines in the past could explain those thousands of miles of underground tunnels located all over the world. Some of them are being called sewers, and some are being used as subways. The hidden meaning behind the existence of these machines in the past, reflected in the current existence of the old tunnels is within the entire infrastructure which had to surround this level of technology. I doubt this technology could materialize out of nothing, and existed by itself, detached from all the other segments of life. Yet, we appear to know nothing about the true state of things back in the day. Hopefully we will get there one day.
The Thames Tunnel was completed in 1843, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc. By the way, this is the same Brunel, who allegedly built - The impossible ship: SS Great Eastern a.k.a. Leviathan
The Thames Tunnel
In November 1827 a flamboyant Isambard Kingdom Brunel organised a public relations event under the River Thames. The Tunnel was draped in crimson and long tables were covered in white damask and set with silver and crystal. Fifty guests feasted, lit by decorative candelabra from the Portable Gas Company, and the band of the Coldstream Guards played the National Anthem, 'Rule Britannia', and – for the Duke of Wellington, seated right – 'See the Conquering Hero Comes'.
The Thames Tunnel was fitted out with lighting, roadways and spiral staircases during 1841–1842. An engine house on the Rotherhithe side, which now houses the Brunel Museum, was also constructed to house machinery for draining the tunnel.
The tunnel was finally opened to the public on 25 March 1843
KD: 1820s-1840s for us... just FYI
- Thames Tunnel - Wikipedia
- The 'Eighth Wonder Of The World' Is Reopening And It's Right Beneath Londoners' Feet
- Hyperloop pneumatic subway existed in the 19th century
Man... seriously I am by no means knowledgeable in engieering, machine construction or tunnelling, but come on:
First off, who names their kid "Isambard Kingdom" (sounds like a place in Middle Earth, not a person), but that's not what kills it for me. If you look at the drawing you showed right below the top hat fellow, and specifically the bottom middle panel that seems to show the ongoing construction of the tunnel, are we actually supposed to understand how this supposedly worked? I mean there's just a platform on wheels I guess and then some movable (?) support thing on which 3 or 4 guys just hew away at the hard rock I suppose? And 5 more guys or so carting off rubble and putting the stone/brick panelling in place? So they dug the tunnel completely manually?
Question: The top two drawings do depict the same tunnel as the rest of the old images, right KD? If so, they can't even keep some basic consistency in their supposedly contemporary drawings. I mean first the tunnel is about the height of three men, then look at the lower images where they're dining and marvelling.
Well, forgive my ranting - the million dollar question is "what to make of all of this" besides just pointing out inconsistencies and going nuts over it?
(only in a figurative sense of course
)
Anyways, collecting puzzle pieces like this to come ever so slightly closer to the real picture is the best that can be done at this point I guess! And thanks to your (and others) unceasing research, we will, I am convinced. Sure as heck is a fascinating endeavour, both to watch and to contribute to!
First off, who names their kid "Isambard Kingdom" (sounds like a place in Middle Earth, not a person), but that's not what kills it for me. If you look at the drawing you showed right below the top hat fellow, and specifically the bottom middle panel that seems to show the ongoing construction of the tunnel, are we actually supposed to understand how this supposedly worked? I mean there's just a platform on wheels I guess and then some movable (?) support thing on which 3 or 4 guys just hew away at the hard rock I suppose? And 5 more guys or so carting off rubble and putting the stone/brick panelling in place? So they dug the tunnel completely manually?
Question: The top two drawings do depict the same tunnel as the rest of the old images, right KD? If so, they can't even keep some basic consistency in their supposedly contemporary drawings. I mean first the tunnel is about the height of three men, then look at the lower images where they're dining and marvelling.
Well, forgive my ranting - the million dollar question is "what to make of all of this" besides just pointing out inconsistencies and going nuts over it?
(only in a figurative sense of course
)Anyways, collecting puzzle pieces like this to come ever so slightly closer to the real picture is the best that can be done at this point I guess! And thanks to your (and others) unceasing research, we will, I am convinced.
Sure as heck is a fascinating endeavour, both to watch and to contribute to!
today
back then
Another proof that there were technologies far superior to the time when they were introduced is the pneumatic tube saga of the 19th century. What we know today as the Hyperloop was used in New York (Beach Pneumatic Transit) in 1867, and in London (Crystal Palace pneumatic railway) in 1864. This information is not a secret, though not too many people are aware of this "ahead of its time" achievement. And here we are, 150 years later, and still not smart enough to implement this technology in the 21st century. Both projects were shut down for various financial reasons, and lack of political backing at the time. But was it really the financial profitability reason, or the brightest minds of the 19th century were simply unable to re-launch a technology which survived the collapse of the previous civilization? The same previous civilization I have been talking about for a while now. The civilization comparable to our level of technical development and in many instances far superior to ours. The civilization which was wiped out, and the one I will attempt to elaborate on in my later posts.
And of course there were some publications and other materials confirming the existence of this technology in the mid-eighteenth century.
The New York City Subway (conventional, what we have today) was introduced in 1904. That is some 37 years after the Beach Pneumatic Transit. And what a contrast it was. Look at the first subway train to carry passengers. It looks exactly the way, one would expect from the 1900s. A little reference for the below images - Riding the NYC Subway
Now let us take a look at what those 1867 pneumatic train cars looked like. Unfortunately not too many photographs made it through time, but a few did. Supplemented by some 19th century wood engravings, it might give you an idea of what a huge step back we took in 1904.
And here is what Crystal Palace pneumatic railway train looked like in 1864. Take a note of the similar engravings being different in reality. It does look like different moments in time.
Some of the images representing early days of the London Underground in 1863, show a very sharp contrast between the quality of the tunnel and the trains running through them. Judge for yourselves what you see.
By the way, comparing 1863 London cars to 1904 New York cars demonstrates, in my opinion, so called chronological shift. I firmly believe that NYC and London photos represent the same time. They are separated by 40 years on the traditional chronological scale, yet look the same. Just like I think that all those Urban Fires, and Earthquakes, separated by years, and decades happened at the same time.
Below are some additional photos from the London Underground system. They demonstrate an obvious technological mismatch between the general knowledge we have about the 19th century, and the supposed achievements and luxuries they actually had. The first engraving represents the portion under the Thames embankment which has been finished.
Additionally about the city of London in the 1860s: on the first image above you can see two tubes above the tunnel. They run parallel to each other. Those are the pneumatic mail delivery tubes. Today we run delivery trucks, vans and other postal service vehicles. In 1860s they ran a hyperloop to deliver mail.
Judging by the image below, there could have been a similar system in the United States.
And, of course, this is how all these tunnels were built. Of course after 6 years of digging with $80,000,000 Bertha tunnel-boring machine, Seattle is still not done with its downtown tunnel. But in 1860s they did it with... what exactly, a wheelbarrow and a shovel?
The below photo is very indicative of the way the vast majority of the so called 19th century "building process" photographs look like. To me it looks like they found a tunnel and trying to dig it out with whatever tools they have. There is no building process. The "new" construction looks like and old iron and brick structure. Yet it is described as:
The New York City Subway (conventional, what we have today) was introduced in 1904. That is some 37 years after the Beach Pneumatic Transit. And what a contrast it was. Look at the first subway train to carry passengers. It looks exactly the way, one would expect from the 1900s. A little reference for the below images - Riding the NYC Subway
Below are some additional photos from the London Underground system. They demonstrate an obvious technological mismatch between the general knowledge we have about the 19th century, and the supposed achievements and luxuries they actually had. The first engraving represents the portion under the Thames embankment which has been finished.
And, of course, this is how all these tunnels were built. Of course after 6 years of digging with $80,000,000 Bertha tunnel-boring machine, Seattle is still not done with its downtown tunnel. But in 1860s they did it with... what exactly, a wheelbarrow and a shovel?
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