Talk:Pneumatic tube

EB 1911
EB 1911 has a decent article on the subject which someone may want to use to further expand this article. It is available here.--nixie 05:12, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The German Rohrpost article also looks very detailed and could be used for expansion, if someone wants to translate. Femto 11:53, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Untitled
I removed the line stating that some people believe it still exists. I'm sure they do, but there needs to be better sources than Ghostbusters 2 and a straight-to-DVD comedy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.112.160.43 (talk • contribs)

Terminology
Capsule Pipelines are nor necessarily Pneumatic Tubes, there are several notable examples, so the re-direct should be reconsidered. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/94316/capsule-pipeline Says: "Capsule pipelines transport freight in capsules propelled by a fluid moving through a pipeline. When the fluid is air or another gas, the technology is called pneumatic capsule pipeline (PCP), and, when water or another liquid is used, it is termed hydraulic capsule pipeline (HCP). ..." I suggest that the more generic term be used as a disambiguation, with a couple of different sections that deserve their own pages. How does one tag the page for this?? Daryl Oster (talk) 19:52, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

2003 use by British government:
I hope this is helpful. The following quote comes from Peter Stothard's "Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War," paperback edition, ISBN-0-06-058261-8, page 119, describing "underground Foreign Office rooms" (perhaps, e.g., like the White House Situation Room):

Six small offices are connected by low corridors, stained white walls and scuffed blue floors that need the attentions of Ecovert and Hetty. The mood is more military than diplomatic. A young team of shift-workers, operating both encrypted computers and antique compressed-air communication tubes,  gathers intelligence, turns it into memoranda and tries to make sure that the right people read it. Emphasis supplied. So - assuming Stothard is accurate - they were in use in the 10 Downing Street Complex as late as the first half of 2003. Jon Soroko Jon Soroko (talk) 21:57, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Actual workings
A section describing how the thing works would be a great addition! --Cyhawk 02:27, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

The October 10, 1865 inauguration of the new Holborn Station was marked by having the Duke of Buckingham, the chairman, and some of the directors of the company blown through the tube to Euston (a five minute trip).

Which Holborn Station was this? Holborn tube station was only opened in 1906.Drutt 16:41, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm almost disappointed that nowhere does it say "series of tubes", even though it gets pretty close to it... Xmoogle (talk) 10:59, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Request photograph
Could any of the American Wikipedians please take a photo for this article of a drive-up bank are which would clearly show how the Pneumatic tube invention is used in order to make deposits? I believe such a photo is important for all the non-American users whom are reading this article and aren’t aware of how this invention could simplify life by eliminating the long bank queues for depositing money. Acidburn24m (talk) 20:37, 26 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Got it. Hustvedt (talk) 04:06, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Only semi-related, but I found a freely licensed video on flickr that shows the pneumatic action at a McDonald's. Opencooper (talk) 12:40, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Phineas Balk
I can't find out anything about Phineas Balk; if he existed at all, he just seems to have refined William Murdock's invention; I will substitute William Murdock presently, unless someone can come up with a bio of Balk. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.108.37.224 (talk) 01:33, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Decline
I've never fully understood why this system disappeared in so many places--it seems like it would still be pretty effective for moving mail around. It would be good if the article could address this.Sylvain1972 (talk) 13:50, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Practicality
From the introduction:

However, these never gained as much popularity as practical systems.

What is 'practical' in this context? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.32.249.133 (talk) 10:12, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Petits Bleux
In the "In Fiction" section there's mention of Umberto Eco using the phrase "petit blue message by pneumatic post" in his novel "The Prague Cemetery". In Tom Standage's non-fiction book "The Victorian Internet" the author describes how the Paris pneumatic tube system was used to deliver messages, and that pre-paid forms could be purchased for the Paris system and that "for many years messages were affectionately known as petits bleux, after the blue color of the message forms". I'm not exactly sure how you would want this incorporated into the article, or if this could be used to clarify the bit about Umberto Eco's novel. Phil (talk) 21:14, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

"In fiction" section
This section needs some attention from a copy editor. I think everything in it is worthwhile, but it does not conform to wikistyle; and the end of it seems to just turn into a laundry list of additions. Would be great for someone to organize and properly format (italicize film titles, for example) this section.

Incidental - in films
In the film 'Sink the Bismarck!' a rank of Lamson tubes is shown in the Admiralty plotting room. - Rod57 (talk) 15:13, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Albert W Pearsall- Patent Holder from 1901
Albert W Pearsall of Lowell seems to hold some US patents for pneumatic tubing starting in 1898-ish according to Google's patent search. Anyone know of any other sources that discuss his involvement in their development in the US? --LibraryGurl (talk) 16:24, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Angry Beavers (fiction section)
In this animated TV series there is major use of this element as mail delivery system. There, with the mix of cartoon physics, large packages can be delivered using it. Galzigler (talk) 21:07, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

This tubes played an important role in Logan Lucky 2017 film.
Please mention in Section In fiction that this tubes played an important role in Logan Lucky 2017 a heist film. Ram nareshji (talk) 08:57, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100111070801/http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html to http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html
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In fiction
I have just removed the "In fiction" section in it entirety. It was been tagged as indiscriminate since October 2014, and needing verification since September 2013. Since then, all that has happened is more items have been added to the laundry list of works pneumatic tubes have appeared in. Sure, some of the items had cites, but only to the primary source; ie, the work itself. What is needed for such a section to exist is some (cited) discussion of the significance of pneumatic tubes in fiction. That would be encyclopaedic. A raw list isn't. We don't list every Mills and Boon novel that mentions dresses in the dress article, and we don't list every Hollywood movie that has ever featured cars in the car article, so why do something like that here? SpinningSpark 22:27, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

I am new to Wikipedia so please excuse any deviations from the Wiki rules, I am mostly interested in contributing as best as I can on something I know a little about. I did not realise that the "in fiction" list had been removed when I added something back in. Of course, if the editors feel irrelevant, please remove. However, I do not think that the same argument RE Mills and Boon and dresses applies here. The list is relatively short to begin with. Also, the mentions and uses in each piece of fiction is so varied, that it does not make sense to do an analytical discussion of everything. I would suggest a sentence after each mention, which explains the use of pneumatic tubes in the text. Happy to work on that if deemed appropriate. Pneumaticpost (talk) 10:06, 5 August 2020 (UTC) Pneumaticpost, 05 august 2020


 * Hi Pneumaticpost. I've removed the "In popular culture" section that you added.  In my view, such a section is only justified if at least one reliable source discussing the popular culture of the topic can be found.  Citing the works themselves is not good enough, and the section was nearly entirely uncited in any case.  You said it yourself, "the mentions and uses in each piece of fiction is so varied, that it does not make sense to do an analytical discussion".  That's pretty much a claim that sources aren't going to exist and the list is cruft.  Sorry to do this to a new user, especially as it looks like a lot of work went into it. SpinningSpark 12:04, 5 August 2020 (UTC)

Pentagon, Washington, DC USA
Until it was renovated (in stages, beginning in 1993), the Pentagon had a network of pneumatic tubes. By 1993 it was inoperative, but the network began when the Pentagon was opened in 1941. The building originally also had a central vacuum waste collection system. I am unaware if the two systems shared any facilities or infrastructure. Bsirvine (talk) 15:22, 12 February 2021 (UTC)