South Devon Railway Company
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The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Dawlish in the 1870s with the station and atmospheric pumping in the background
Atmospheric railway
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An atmospheric railway uses differential air pressure to provide power for propulsion of a railway vehicle. A static power source can transmit motive power to the vehicle in this way, avoiding the necessity of carrying mobile power generating equipment. The air pressure, or partial vacuum can be conveyed to the vehicle in a continuous pipe, where the vehicle carries a piston running in the tube. Some form of re-sealable slot is required to enable the piston to be attached to the vehicle. Alternatively the entire vehicle may act as the piston in a large tube or be coupled electromagnetically to the piston.
An Aeromovel train in Porto Alegre. The girder under the train forms an air duct. The vehicle is connected to a propulsion plate in the duct which is then driven by air pressure.
Arriving at Kingstown on the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway in 1844
Saint Germain piston carriage
Jolly-sailor station on the London and Croydon Railway in 1845, showing the pumping station, and the locomotive-less train