Remembering History: The Beach Pneumatic The IRT Line wasn't the first subway in New York. Inventor Alfred Beach, who was also the editor of Scientific American, developed (and secretly dug tunnels for) a pneumatic-powered subway. Beach’s subway ran only from 1870 to 1873, but it ferried 400,000 passengers in its first year of operation.

The Beach Pneumatic The IRT Line wasn't the first subway in New York. Inventor Alfred Beach, who was also the editor of Scientific American, developed (and secretly dug tunnels for) a pneumatic-powered subway. Beach’s subway ran only from 1870 to 1873, but it ferried 400,000 passengers in its first year of operation.

The Beach Pneumatic The IRT Line wasn't the first subway in New York. Inventor Alfred Beach, who was also the editor of Scientific American, developed (and secretly dug tunnels for) a pneumatic-powered subway. Beach’s subway ran only from 1870 to 1873, but it ferried 400,000 passengers in its first year of operation.