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Before steam engines became / turned out to be practical to place in a moving vehicle, there were railroads powered by pneumatic tubes so the heavy machinery co
by Gravityloss 13y ago
Before steam engines became / turned out to be practical to place in a moving vehicle, there were railroads powered by pneumatic tubes so the heavy machinery could be stationary. The pneumatic tube was between the rails and it had a leather seam sealed slit all the way. The "locomotive" was attached to the piston in the tube with a vane going through the slit.
The magnet cleverly eliminates that.
- DougWebb 13y agoThat's basically how aircraft carrier launchers work too. There's a long pneumatic tube with a piston running the length of the runway, and huge boilers that build up a lot of steam pressure behind the piston. The piston is attached to a little block on the deck, and the airplane is hooked into the block. Release the piston, and the piston and block shoot down the runway dragging the airplane with it.