Kearney Tube part 1

I was recently reminded via the Shields Gazette of a very interesting engineer, Elfric Wells Chalmers Kearney (1881-1966).   Kearney was Australian but spent nearly all of his life in Britain, during which he designed & promoted the Kearney Tube.   This was an electric & gravity underground monorail which I think would have had excellent prospects in specific applications, such as a crossing of the Tyne between South & North Shields.

Many people now think that that the first Tyne Tunnel opened in 1967, forgetting that the pedestrian & cycle tunnels opened in 1951, and that these had their roots in earlier work, including that involving Kearney.

Colin Fish recently pointed me to a 1939 LNER promotional leaflet, sections of which are reproduced below:

The fare would be the same as the cost
of this leaflet - 2d, ie less than 1p
(Cover of 1939 LNER leaflet)

The tube would have reduced the insularity of South Shields, surrounded on 3 sides by water
(Diagram from 1939 NER leaflet)

(History including South to North Shields crossings, from LNER 1939 leaflet)

At the time, a fast crossing near the river mouth would have been very useful & well used.   Ferries provided good service, but many workers crossed the Tyne for multiple shifts, and there was a coastal route bypassing Newcastle - the A19 was carried on a vehicular ferry between South & North Shields.

It seems that local & political matters had a great bearing on the acceptance, promotion & implementation of river crossings.   The leaflet is from early 1939 - what could prevent Kearney's Tube crossing if it gained support on both sides & up & down the Tyne?

Model of a Kearney tube car at the National Railway Museum
(photo NRM)

For more, see part 2 next year .....