Elementary canal

[hirez]

(From a conversation last night)

Here's an idea to play with (If somewhat China Mieville):

For whatever reason, underground railways never took off, so London's underground is canal based. Phrases like 'the distant glint of the Crouch End aqueduct' and 'locking up to the Camden interchange' spring instantly to mind.

Marvellous.

Comments

[steer.livejournal.com]

Complete grid-lock on the underground again.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Inspiring concept.
All you'd need is to have it so that railways never overtook canals (or we never managed the long pieces of straight metal required ...)

[samoth.livejournal.com]

Having trundled narrowboats through some very long tunnels, and also pootled around some of the mine tours that are boat based, that sounds like a rather wonderful mental image.

I'd like to see some overenthusiastic victorian engineering applied to it too, although boat lifts and the like are pretty bloody overenthusiastic on aboveground canals...

[squiddity.livejournal.com]

In Berlin many young men each year would die when 'train surfing', this being the practice of standing on top of a moving underground train singin along to beachboy's hits while making exaggerated balancing stances.

All these deaths would be saved by this innovation and the name would be substantially more fitting.

water

[sheridanwilde.livejournal.com]

...though the amount of deaths on the water would increase greatly - in the days where the natural choice of crossing the thames was by boat, rather than bridge, similarly stupid men would run the rapids around old london bridge and die in the attempt.

[goth-twiglet.livejournal.com]

When I'm in charge.........

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

High-speed boat chases! Michael Caine in a dinghy ! Fishing on the way to work !

[(Anonymous)]

a|state's "The City"

http://www.contestedground.co.uk/

[zenmonkeykstop.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the Deep One commuters complaining about the lack of a fishy smell in the carriages.

[wehmuth.livejournal.com]

Ooh. I like that idea.

I can just see all the commuters 'legging it'.

[mog-warbeast.livejournal.com]

I, like the feller somewhere above, have also trundled narrowboats through some very long tunnels, and found it rather spooky. It would also take for-bloody-ever, as you're not allowed to go more than four miles an hour.

[maluse.livejournal.com]

The 4mph limit is just to avoid creating a wake which can damage typical above-ground canal walls (rammed earth?). Underground you'll need concrete/brick+portland cement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazalgette) walls and so this won't be an issue.

Since you've got to dig the tunnels anyway rather than relying on the natural lie of the land then what you really want is for each line to be made up of two separate canals, each running downhill for the length of the line (the circle line may prove a tad Escher here...) with giant steam pumping engines and boat lifts at each end. That way the boats only need anchors and no engines since the stream will carry them along.