Washington D.C.'s Secret Government Subway System Explained | The Senate Subway

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  • Опубліковано 25 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 423

  • @patrickmuhwheeney6518
    @patrickmuhwheeney6518 16 днів тому +279

    I actually toured this subway...Well, it was in Fallout 3, but still...

    • @roberthoople
      @roberthoople 15 днів тому +7

      Dammit! I really should try to finish that game, because I did not know this... But ugggghhh... Frickin Preston, and all his "tasks." Like, dude, go defend a settlement yourself once and awhile.

    • @static_bolt
      @static_bolt 15 днів тому +15

      @@roberthoople those are two different games lol

    • @roberthoople
      @roberthoople 15 днів тому +4

      @@static_bolt ha. I should stay off the internet when I'm tired.

    • @vmdpt
      @vmdpt 14 днів тому +1

      @@static_bolt These Fallout games are really confusing. I don't understand why the developers change the game genre to action-RPG in parts 3 and 4... The first two parts (and Fallout: Ultimate carnage) were my favorite racing games! I loved the explosions and destruction of cars. But what I loved most were the stunts where you had to launch the driver from the windshield into the target to earn points.

    • @higgsbosonman610
      @higgsbosonman610 14 днів тому

      @@vmdpt That's just flat out weird. Makes no sense.

  • @savage.4.24
    @savage.4.24 16 днів тому +196

    The only subway on the East Coast that is clean and comes on time I'll bet.

    • @joshuawilson7023
      @joshuawilson7023 16 днів тому +18

      Are you kidding, it's govt workers.... They're paid to be late 😂

    • @ccubsfan94
      @ccubsfan94 16 днів тому +20

      Still full of criminals though

    • @boatyboatyy
      @boatyboatyy 12 днів тому +2

      From personal experience it doesn't really have a schedule and moves extremely slow. I usually just walked the route. Its only like 250m or so.

    • @charleskavoukjian3441
      @charleskavoukjian3441 12 днів тому +1

      @@boatyboatyyI’ve been in the tunnels but never seen the subway system. Walking from building to building wasn’t hard at all.

    • @boatyboatyy
      @boatyboatyy 12 днів тому

      @@charleskavoukjian3441 only certain buildings have them and they are direct to the capitol building. The tunnels between office buildings don't usually have them but if i remember right the house office buildings had stops like a subway. Idk its been like 4 years and i only worked in the senate.

  • @zombieshoot4318
    @zombieshoot4318 16 днів тому +124

    hahaha I love the article headline at 5:23 "Lawmakers expect to easily avoid constituents..." Some things never change..

    • @JohnThomas-lq5qp
      @JohnThomas-lq5qp 16 днів тому +6

      They use it to get insider stock tips and numerous kickbacks.

    • @whereswaldo5740
      @whereswaldo5740 15 днів тому +7

      Small wonder they think they are above us when they are actually below us.

    • @michael-michaelmotorcycle
      @michael-michaelmotorcycle 14 днів тому

      These days they just call it interview avoidance…. cough cough kamala.

  • @noahguerra8847
    @noahguerra8847 16 днів тому +411

    Love how the government can have public transit for a few of their office buildings but cities of over a million in the us hardly have busses…

    • @joeb5316
      @joeb5316 16 днів тому

      The only thing US politicians are supremely adept at doing are giving themselves pay raises, perqs, and exempting themselves from laws.

    • @mattg8787
      @mattg8787 16 днів тому +39

      That's because they don't want to be out in public because of the things they vote for

    • @MarkGovern
      @MarkGovern 15 днів тому +23

      @@noahguerra8847 The senate subway is not really comparable to any cities public transport system. It would likely be the responsibility of the state government to provide public transport in their cities and not the federal government.

    • @dirtbike662
      @dirtbike662 15 днів тому +17

      It's because we send our tax dollars overseas to "nationbuild" infrastructure in other countries

    • @2838Steve
      @2838Steve 15 днів тому +5

      @@noahguerra8847 hardly anyplace that it’s feasible vastmajority of the country is rural

  • @BrassandPowder
    @BrassandPowder 16 днів тому +45

    I rode this tram with Senator Boozman of Arkansas in 2013, had a whole tour it was amazing! Thanks for this wonderful video!

    • @boatyboatyy
      @boatyboatyy 12 днів тому +1

      yeah he says its secret and off limits but is usually in the tours you can schedule for free

    • @BrassandPowder
      @BrassandPowder 12 днів тому

      @boatyboatyy I'm unsure to be honest, I didn't go for the tour we were there on business. Didn't notice anyone but staff and our party, security was tight
      I know there's 3 underground lines, the public has as access to at least one of those lines.

    • @MrRyan-fd9rd
      @MrRyan-fd9rd 3 дні тому

      Boozman?
      What a name, I hope he lives up to it😂

    • @BrassandPowder
      @BrassandPowder 3 дні тому

      @@MrRyan-fd9rd I remember it as "bozeman" had to look it up, but fr 😂

    • @MrRyan-fd9rd
      @MrRyan-fd9rd 3 дні тому +1

      @@BrassandPowder I’m sure you’re correct, now that you pointed that out😆
      Good day to you brother.

  • @albertjones1386
    @albertjones1386 16 днів тому +33

    Sometime in the early to mid 1950s, my Dad took me on a tour of the Capitol. During the tour, my Dad knew where to go to find the subway and I rode over to the Senate building and back on the car. At the time we were alone on the car.

    • @dannydaw59
      @dannydaw59 14 днів тому +2

      Was your dad a senator?

  • @HoneycuttVintage
    @HoneycuttVintage 14 днів тому +18

    About 10 years ago one of my coworkers was neighbors with the head of the Capitol Police Department, and he was able to arrange a tour of the Capitol building for some colleagues. I brought my oldest son along, who was learning US History at the time in school. This wasn't a typical public tour, we were taken to a lot of areas that are usually off limits to the general public or normal tours. The subway was one of the things we were able to tour. The other interesting thing we got to see and sit in that isn't as well known are the marble Senate Bathtubs in boiler rooms.

    • @stevengill1736
      @stevengill1736 10 днів тому +2

      So if the Senators misbehave they're taken to the boiler room and steamed a little? 😮

    • @HoneycuttVintage
      @HoneycuttVintage 6 днів тому

      @@stevengill1736 sadly no haha.. these tubs date back to the mid 1800's. I believe there were six originally and would be used while Congress was in session since the boarding houses did not have indoor plumbing at that time. Eventually they fell out of use and four of the tubs were removed. The space that the last two are in was converted to a boiler room / mechanical room in the 1930's. There's actually a mechanical unite mounted on top of one of the tubs, but the other is fully accessible, although I don't think the plumbing works anymore. My son got to sit in the tub, and thought it was pretty cool to sit in a space where Presidents once bathed over 100 years ago.

  • @jimperry74
    @jimperry74 16 днів тому +39

    I rode on this back in the 80's when I was in the Boy Scouts.

    • @stevengill1736
      @stevengill1736 10 днів тому

      I didn't know that the Boy Scouts were an arm of the government. ;*[}

  • @EdwardHart
    @EdwardHart 16 днів тому +15

    This capital subway is also featured in a video game, called Fallout 3 which is where I learned of this subway, though I didn't realize it was real!

  • @prudencepineapple9448
    @prudencepineapple9448 16 днів тому +33

    London's underground also has a secret railway that runs in a loop around London. Its purpose was for moving mail and packages to various stops along the way. I don't think it's still in use, but you can ride on it a few times each year. There was a film produced in the 1930s that tells the mail trains history and the need for such a service.

    • @davidbutton3500
      @davidbutton3500 16 днів тому +9

      It is called Mail Rail. It still exists but is no longer used. It is now part of the national postal museum, and you can take rides on it in small purpose built passenger cars.

    • @prudencepineapple9448
      @prudencepineapple9448 16 днів тому +1

      @@davidbutton3500 I have a bit of a nerdish side that loves trains especially the London Underground and the Paris Metro. Moscow's stations are interesting too.

    • @MarkGovern
      @MarkGovern 15 днів тому +5

      It wasn’t a secret! It stopped being used to distribute mail in 2003.

    • @alecvowles8253
      @alecvowles8253 12 днів тому +1

      According to my English uncle (an electrical engineer it used LIMs for propulsion and braking just like Vancouver's SkyTrain.
      Linear Induction Motors.
      I wonder why it was taken out of service. Seems like an efficient way to move the mail in a busy metropolis like London.

    • @caroleast9636
      @caroleast9636 11 днів тому +1

      That’s not secret either, just that it wasn’t advertised and it doesn’t run now anyway. It served a number of mail depots and Paddington station in the west. Most of these places have closed so it now doesn’t have a reason to continue.
      There is a small part of the system that you can visit on specially built carriages. The rest is just “mothballed” and closed down

  • @AdventuresonTour
    @AdventuresonTour 14 днів тому +9

    This is very much open to the public if you know how to request access. Lots of other videos here on YT from transit Vloggers who have ridden and filmed it, it recent years.

  • @markleach116
    @markleach116 9 днів тому +3

    My parents came to visit me shortly after I moved to Virginia in the mid80's. Somehow we got passes for the Senate subway and sat with Se Bob Dole. My dad was in heaven!! It was a really cool experience!

  • @DB-thats-me
    @DB-thats-me 16 днів тому +29

    When carrying The President is the train designated TRAIN ONE?

    • @savage.4.24
      @savage.4.24 16 днів тому +3

      Not if it's only one train😂

    • @benjamindehr3179
      @benjamindehr3179 16 днів тому +7

      gravy is its call sign

    • @profligatepassages
      @profligatepassages 11 днів тому +2

      Trains are typically just designated as POTUS call sign, or CITY HALL.

    • @DB-thats-me
      @DB-thats-me 11 днів тому

      @ Doesn’t that include all passengers? Carrying the cream. Fat bloaty stuff. 😳😂

  • @richardperkins3460
    @richardperkins3460 5 днів тому +1

    I was in high school in 79 when I went on a Close Up trip to DC and we got to ride on the senate subway. 😊

  • @k.r.baylor8825
    @k.r.baylor8825 16 днів тому +28

    A video on the even more super-secret tunnel between the Pentagon and the White House would be fascinating. Built secretly in the late 2000s after 9/11 to link these two top national security areas, no known public photograph of it exists.

    • @MaryHarper-x6r
      @MaryHarper-x6r 15 днів тому +2

      How did you find out?

    • @colormedubious4747
      @colormedubious4747 14 днів тому

      It's a myth.

    • @christopherjohnson1803
      @christopherjohnson1803 14 днів тому

      @@k.r.baylor8825 Under the Potomac?

    • @JoeOvercoat
      @JoeOvercoat 13 днів тому +3

      I’m skeptical, at best.

    • @profligatepassages
      @profligatepassages 11 днів тому

      ​@christopherjohnson1803 this tunnel definitely exists. It is connected to the Blue line of the DC metro most likely though. Farragut West to Pentagon Station is primarily underground. Until you reach the Arlington cemetery portion. It doesn't attach to the pentagon, but is more of an escape route out of DC if needed from what I heard around the block. My parents worked for the government in DC and the pentagon, and even before 9/11 the farragut to cemetery escape route was known then.

  • @mikenixon2401
    @mikenixon2401 16 днів тому +10

    Sssh. I knew about this, but I appreciate your report. Thanks.

  • @Holgerdanske688
    @Holgerdanske688 16 днів тому +9

    My parents and I rode this train in summer '00 when I was 13 and we had special passes but walked in with no security checking us and hopped the train near the Holocaust Museum and took it to the capitol budling. We walked around the 2nd floor and back halls of the house and senate with no escort for hours. This was a year before 9/11

  • @-FALKOR
    @-FALKOR 16 днів тому +9

    I rode on it as a kid during a field trip in the 80's.

  • @ElSantiagoBonilla
    @ElSantiagoBonilla 12 днів тому +6

    Senate staffer here! After a Capitol tour, ask the office tour guide to escort you back to the office building through the subway. They might be able to show you! Just not the tour guides in red coats.

  • @gavinmoody8174
    @gavinmoody8174 3 дні тому

    I had the opportunity to ride along the Senate subway with Senator Lamar Alexander when I was 15. Awesome experience. Cleanest subway system I've ever been in. The open air cars was a strange feeling. Almost felt like we were riding the people mover at Disney World. The level of security was intense. We went through I think 4 different areas of metal detectors and, since we were members of the public, lots of pat downs. Still one of my favorite memories from our trip to DC

  • @nchistorytravelerandrelich801
    @nchistorytravelerandrelich801 6 днів тому

    I have been on that train several times. My first time was with then Senator Jesse Helms from the capital to his office. Great experience!

  • @chadhauze1683
    @chadhauze1683 16 днів тому +3

    I had a chance to ride on this years ago when my grandparents took me to DC on a trip.

  • @ScottysAir
    @ScottysAir 8 днів тому

    I never knew that they had senate subway in Washington, DC. That’s very interesting to see it all. Thanks so much for sharing this! You have a great day today.

  • @TheRuben_music
    @TheRuben_music 16 днів тому +8

    I always had this feeling they had something like this. Good luck over there

    • @mgratk
      @mgratk 14 днів тому +2

      Fortunately we've just voted and our republic trumps their oligarchy for at least 4 years.

    • @TheRuben_music
      @TheRuben_music 14 днів тому

      @@mgratk Well, good luck with that! Four years can pass faster than you think. Really hope it’s the republic, not the oligarchy, running things the show this time around aswell ;)

  • @cobra02411
    @cobra02411 15 днів тому +2

    This is cool! I knew about the walking tunnels and actually have used them, but I didn't know about the subway.

  • @1979RoadFan
    @1979RoadFan 16 днів тому +5

    I have rode on the Senate Subway. Nothing fancy and it is quick.

  • @georgesenda1952
    @georgesenda1952 12 днів тому +1

    In the early 1960's my Mother was dealing with a Congressman and US Senator from Pennsylvania on an issue about my Father's military service & she and I got to ride the Senators only elevator and on the subway. I was around 8 at the time. I was always a big rail & streetcar fan so I was very happy to get the special ride.

  • @mikebritton8798
    @mikebritton8798 14 днів тому +1

    I rode this subway in 1998 when my best friend was giving a week-long seminar to the FAA. He paid for my plane tickets and hotel. I was a bus driver and he knew I couldn't afford it. Senate minority leader Tom Daschle was a friend of his, so he told us to go to his office. From there, we rode the subway to the Capitol and met Daschle there. Then, got a special tour. I was feeling pretty special that day. Of course, this probably couldn't happen now. A few years later, my buddy told me that Daschle asked how I was doing. I was blown away that he remembered.

  • @tjadams8
    @tjadams8 12 днів тому +6

    "Not for the Public to ride" Just to fund. Sounds about right.

    • @fortythreenorth2518
      @fortythreenorth2518 3 дні тому +1

      Not much has changed over the centuries. We're still tax chattel for our rulers.

    • @tjadams8
      @tjadams8 3 дні тому

      @ yep & the golden grease that keeps the machine running.

  • @wogfun
    @wogfun 2 дні тому

    I love their logic. The challenges of getting to and from their offices, traffic, and weather. You mean like the challenges literally everyone else has commuting to work?

  • @SimerCCC
    @SimerCCC 15 днів тому +2

    I’ve ridden the Capital subway. I think it’s just as cool as the Capital itself.

  • @SKYREAPER30
    @SKYREAPER30 7 днів тому

    Holy crap I got a private tour with some connections I have in Washington, didn’t know you would find out about this. But it’s not big of a secret and it was awesome to ride on one of these.

  • @DemocracyDiesInDarkness
    @DemocracyDiesInDarkness 16 днів тому +2

    I got to ride it a few times when I was a kid. I tried to tell people about it and so many folks thought I was lying

  • @dkf435
    @dkf435 4 дні тому

    At one time the public had access, in the early 80s while on a Closeup trip to Washington DC we went to the Senate office buildings to get the passes to sit in the galleries while in session.

  • @OscarVaughn
    @OscarVaughn 16 днів тому +1

    We was there this past summer we was allowed to ride down there it's really neat as hell

  • @arthurhammeke8296
    @arthurhammeke8296 16 днів тому +3

    One of the only infrastructures in the US that's well maintained.

    • @mgratk
      @mgratk 14 днів тому

      Hey we usually have to pay for both sides of half a dozen wars.

  • @94steadman
    @94steadman 2 дні тому

    I may be one of the very few people who’ve ridden this and never served in politics 😅 Definitely a one of a kind experience

  • @CapStar362
    @CapStar362 13 днів тому +1

    There is a video game that also features part of this system - Tom Clancy's 'The Division 2' a specific mission in the looter-shooter genre game.
    The mission is the NSA Bunker, that starts right where the Subway station is, and part of it has collapsed, the first portion of the mission has you walking down the subway itself.

    • @CapStar362
      @CapStar362 13 днів тому

      @IT'S HISTORY I will email you screenshots of this

  • @markwrichards
    @markwrichards 10 днів тому

    Was a boy scout on my way to fort A P Hill for a national jamboree back in 1980.
    A bunch of us were roaming around the capital building unsupervised. We found our way down to this subway and scared the crap out of the security guard who could not figure out how we managed to get down there. All good. We were wearing our scout uniforms and were as harmless as we looked. Good times and great memories

  • @StrangeSilverware
    @StrangeSilverware День тому +1

    What’s that? Security Cameras every ten feet?

  • @danieljustdaniel9550
    @danieljustdaniel9550 9 днів тому

    Been on that subway many times during my 20 years on the Hill.

  • @sparkey1021
    @sparkey1021 10 днів тому

    My self ,wife, and kids rode this when we visited the capital for a tour. When the tour was done, we had lunch in the cafeteria that is also on that same line underground. And we're Canadians.

  • @JohnMcGing1
    @JohnMcGing1 16 днів тому +5

    It used to be open to the public, I've ridden on it many times without an escort. But increasing security concerns placed these limitations on it.

  • @Madwonk
    @Madwonk 16 днів тому +5

    But it is accessible to the public... you can reach out to you representative and they give tours from someone in their office (usually an intern)
    I've literally been on it twice

    • @dieseldragon6756
      @dieseldragon6756 16 днів тому

      I highly doubt that's something my local M.P. (Labour) is likely to be able to arrange... 🗳🇬🇧😋

    • @JeffDeWitt
      @JeffDeWitt 15 днів тому +2

      @@dieseldragon6756 Likely not, but who knows, maybe he's a friend with a Congresscritter and can work something out.

    • @dieseldragon6756
      @dieseldragon6756 15 днів тому +1

      @@JeffDeWitt Admittedly, the flight to Washington DC would be a bit of a challenge for me as well. Not just because I don't have much cash, but the only company I've ever felt comfortable „flying“ with is Eurostar, who don't serve the USA yet. 🚄🇪🇺💨😇
      (And knowing how terrible my airport navigation is, I'd probably wind up in the other Washington - The one close to the Canadian border - If I attempted the journey. 🙃)

    • @mgratk
      @mgratk 14 днів тому +1

      I'm on it right now, figuratively.

  • @Techno-Universal
    @Techno-Universal 15 днів тому +1

    Even the vehicles on one of the lines was designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering during the brief period Disney tried producing transit systems for third parties in the late 1970s and early 1980s! :)

  • @snicketysnickerdoodle8484
    @snicketysnickerdoodle8484 9 днів тому

    Buiiding subway systems provides perfect cover for the construction of secret underground bunkers.

  • @bearprower
    @bearprower 16 днів тому

    I have rode this subway while on a tour of DC back in the late 80s

  • @mattpellico5255
    @mattpellico5255 8 днів тому

    I rode the subway from the Hart building to the capitol in mid 2001 as the guest of a senator. Just three months prior to 9/11.

  • @victorgallardo4399
    @victorgallardo4399 3 дні тому

    I was on that a few times when I was an intern!

  • @perfgeek
    @perfgeek 15 днів тому +4

    Circa 6:50 "This new system featured enclosed cars..." - so what then is being shown at that point in the video??

    • @niri2506
      @niri2506 10 днів тому

      @@perfgeek makes me think this is just AI generated content. Some other indicators as well IMHO 😅

    • @gcycaas
      @gcycaas 10 днів тому

      At 6:10 it obviously an automobile, he called it a tram running on track...

  • @dake4629
    @dake4629 13 днів тому

    In the late 90s, I did a contract with the capitol police, and for several days got to ride the subway several times. Its odd though, it only ran about 300 ft end to end. The train I rode, was open topped, and had to be driven by a woman who moved the train back and forth when you ran a bell at the other end.

  • @johnfarr2738
    @johnfarr2738 15 днів тому

    I was born and raised in the DMV and for many from the DC metro area many know about the senate subway system.

  • @G_Machine_Joe
    @G_Machine_Joe 16 днів тому +1

    I've ridden that train when visiting DC. It's not restricted to government officials. Tourists can ride it

  • @dmac716
    @dmac716 16 днів тому +7

    If they have this railway that no one can see or use; it is guaranteed they have more lines for use in emergencies

    • @dieseldragon6756
      @dieseldragon6756 16 днів тому +3

      But can we be _sure_ there are additional lines (Though aye, probably. This *is* the United States government... 😉) if we cannot see them? Do those lines exist, or do they not? 🙃
      Oh dear...I fear the U.S. Senate might have inadvertently created _Schrödingers' Railway..._ 🚆❓😋

  • @andross8026
    @andross8026 9 годин тому

    You can access them via a divergent line on the opposite side of the river, its an emergency route.

  • @corneliuswowbagger
    @corneliuswowbagger 15 днів тому +1

    Back when the public was welcome in the Capital I rode this little subway every month from the Capital to the Rayburn Building and back. I remember being in a car with Teddy Kennedy once. There wasn’t even a metal detector at the Capital door until the Reagan assassination attempt.

  • @slick4922
    @slick4922 5 днів тому

    well it is kinda open to public they do have tours and they were taking people into that from across the street from the capitol . when we went there security was very lax and we were surprised there wasnt more security. the medal dectors werent even on

  • @haywoodyoudome
    @haywoodyoudome 16 днів тому

    Now do a video on the tunnel system from DC to Raven Rock.

  • @cornpowa
    @cornpowa 16 днів тому

    While vacationing in DC, I almost got to ride it. After asking some rando staffer the quickest way out of the offices to the capital building, he told me to just take this. I spotted a sign saying something along the lines of "not for public use," but I figured since someone told me to take it, I'd have that and ignorance as an excuse. If I had just walked more confidently and not made eye contact with a guard, I could have got on. He was really cool about it though and didn't question my story about a staffer telling me it was ok to use. It actually really surprised me that I didn't get grilled about it since I was just some guy trying to get on the "special" government employee only train. Of course, this may have also been the same building that had an open unguarded loading dock that anyone could have walked in through. I can't remember if it was a different building or not. It was definitely a different building I went by that had a sleeping cop by himself in the guard shack.

  • @PolyesterMoustache
    @PolyesterMoustache 14 днів тому

    I actually rode on this train on a school field trip tour in 2004. Definitely not supposed to normally, but Senator Mark Pryor chanced it and let us on to get to the other wing quickly. He was a chaperone on the field trip because his son was in my class

  • @brithgob1620
    @brithgob1620 15 днів тому

    The Senate subway also appeared in the 1962 film Advise and Consent, directed by Otto Preminger.

  • @SMichaelDeHart
    @SMichaelDeHart 16 днів тому +13

    Sounds like a great place for a sewer line!! 😂😂

    • @ethanwalters4420
      @ethanwalters4420 16 днів тому +2

      I don't think that's a good idea. People are using it, People that are much more important than yourself so you see where your idea becomes a problem? It's alright, at least you are thinking and that's something.

    • @SMichaelDeHart
      @SMichaelDeHart 16 днів тому +6

      @ethanwalters4420 it's called sarcasm. 🙄
      Obviously, it went WAY over your head!!

    • @akshonclip
      @akshonclip 16 днів тому +2

      @@ethanwalters4420”People that are much more important than yourself”
      Sociopath much?

    • @shanesmith890
      @shanesmith890 16 днів тому +2

      To much human waste already there

    • @SMichaelDeHart
      @SMichaelDeHart 16 днів тому

      @shanesmith890 indeed!!

  • @brianv1988
    @brianv1988 7 днів тому

    They are not as secretive and restricted as I thought from what I heard you can actually get a tour and even ride on these shuttles you have to book a tour with your representative and set it up there's a couple of streamers that actually done it and documented everything one good UA-camr is. trains are awesome. he has a really good high-definition video on it from last year

  • @funkyandcoolmoves
    @funkyandcoolmoves 12 днів тому

    Something to note: there is a very loose connection between this and Disney's People Mover. Walt Disney originally had the ride created as a demonstration of how the technology could efficiently move people around in contrast to cars or a traditional subway.

  • @jammingj8187
    @jammingj8187 День тому

    There is a underground railway system that runs all across the country in the United States its top secret, very few people know of it . From the east coast to the west coast and north Dakota to Colorado and New Mexico and Nevada, i know someone who worked on It for years he told me about it just before he passed away from cancer. A very close friend. So i know that he was telling me details before he passed away because he wanted to share his thoughts before he passed, we had been friends for over 45 years.. rip Ed,

  • @Pop-GodFamilyCountry
    @Pop-GodFamilyCountry 16 днів тому

    In August 1978 my family visited Congressman Conte, and one of his staff took us on an underground subway like you showed in this video. I was 11 years old. As I recall, we went to either the White House or the Capitol Building, but it's been too long for me to remember. We were given a private tour though.
    Was this the same subway or did the Congressmen have their own?
    I still have my Visitor Pass from 8/22/78.

  • @bobgomez9481
    @bobgomez9481 8 днів тому +1

    Also used for child trafficking. Film at 11...

  • @warhawkjah
    @warhawkjah 16 днів тому +5

    In the 1990s I was 12 years old when my parents took us to DC, this would have been summer 1995. We were one of the uncommon cases when the general public is permitted to use it. We were going to see the senate in session and to get tickets we had to go to the office of one of the Ohio Senators (I think it was DeWine at the time) to get tickets from his staff. I don't remember the specific circumstances beyond that; it might have been us just being allowed to ride as a courtesy. In this case it was the open top tram that we rode, though I do remember seeing the closed one as well at the capitol station.

    • @WonkNRoll
      @WonkNRoll 16 днів тому +2

      Prior to 9/11 it was generally pretty easy for the public to ride it. If you had tickets to view the House or Senate galleries, you could ride it. Obtaining tickets was as simple as asking for them in any senators’ or reps’ office. As long as you said you were a constituent, you would be handed them no questions asked. Some offices just left stacks of gallery tickets in the office reception areas.

  • @zwerdlingdribble6041
    @zwerdlingdribble6041 14 днів тому

    I've ridden it, it was very nice

  • @grantromriell4970
    @grantromriell4970 16 днів тому +2

    I’ve been in this subway.

  • @elrobo3568
    @elrobo3568 6 днів тому

    I rode this many times when I lived in DC, Barry Goldwater gave me a pass.

  • @JeffDeWitt
    @JeffDeWitt 15 днів тому

    The first "tram" (I'm not sure that's the correct term), was what we would now call a BEV, a Battery Electric Vehicle, made by Studebaker. At least one of them survives and I believe it is currently at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.

  • @Terinije
    @Terinije 10 днів тому

    The only thing surprising about the Senate subway is that the House hasn't insisted on their own subway, too.

  • @karstenschoenberg9736
    @karstenschoenberg9736 14 днів тому

    We got to ride on it on our visit to the capital

  • @allenm5443
    @allenm5443 16 днів тому +1

    Not exactly secret - just little known. My dad took me on it in 1958, and in those days, anyone could ride it.

  • @johnmelton8181
    @johnmelton8181 5 годин тому

    As a child my Aunt worked for the Navy Department and later for the President. Looking back, She must have had some clout. A special private tour was arranged that included the Capitol bulding, subway and we had lunch in the Senate Dining Room.

  • @sasharich9763
    @sasharich9763 10 днів тому

    There's an identical system at the Houston international airport. Both of them are based on the same magnetic drive system that is used by the people mover in Walt Disney World.

  • @ssimon84
    @ssimon84 16 днів тому

    12:25 What episodes mentioned the subway? I binged the show a while ago and kinda wanna watch it again

  • @belindaknox5007
    @belindaknox5007 16 днів тому

    I noticed that you didn’t mention Benjamin Banneker the surveyor who carried out L’Enfant’s plans after he died

  • @john316godlovesyou5
    @john316godlovesyou5 13 днів тому

    Thanks for the great video! Great job and God bless you (John 3:16)!

  • @badgerpa9
    @badgerpa9 16 днів тому +2

    In the 1980s we got to ride one of the lines I do not remember which.

  • @rexoliver7780
    @rexoliver7780 12 днів тому

    As a govt employee I was allowed to ride this system for govt business to take me to places where I had to do my govt jobs. If the people on the car gave you permission I could ride. Was very handy! The time I rode this was more than 25 yrs ago. I am no longer in Washington DC my new job still in govt involved a move to another area.

  • @7horsefan970
    @7horsefan970 4 дні тому

    In the 90s, the public could use it only if the Senate was not in session or voting on bills. And maybe only when accompanied by Senate staff. I was there in 1997 and we were going to ride it but then members got called for a vote and it was off limits.

  • @tomjohnson5700
    @tomjohnson5700 15 днів тому

    It was open to the public in 1987 when I rode if from my Reps office to the capitol building. Al you had to do was ask.

  • @jbar4ranch
    @jbar4ranch 9 днів тому

    Aren't the Russell and Hart buildings right across the street? Like 200-300 yards? I guess the paper article was correct, an easy way to avoid their constituents.

  • @user-ut8yp6lx5b
    @user-ut8yp6lx5b 11 днів тому

    Secret? My friends and I use to play all around and in the Capitol all the time. We'd ride the subway over to the Senate building to go to the cafeteria. There are a lot of tunnels all around Capitol Hill and we knew them all. One time we were playing hide and seek and I hid in the cambers of the Supreme Court. I had no idea what it was, only that it was dark and my friend would never find me. Years later while visiting the Supreme Court I saw the court room and it was identical to what I remembered.

  • @DOUBLEDEFENSE
    @DOUBLEDEFENSE 15 днів тому +1

    Now we know why half of them waddle around

  • @FranklinDelanoDonut
    @FranklinDelanoDonut 16 днів тому

    The subway was also a location in a Fallout 3 DLC although it was called the presidential subway and it went to the airport during the final moments of the game.

  • @Bob-cx4ze
    @Bob-cx4ze 14 днів тому

    Seeing how much we end up paying for public transportation when they are charging, I can't imagine how much this is ACTUALLY costing us.

  • @MySavageDynasty
    @MySavageDynasty 14 днів тому

    I would like to see Benjamin Banneker being added to the video due to his contributions to designing along with LeFant.

  • @danquigg8311
    @danquigg8311 13 днів тому

    Secret???? NOT HARDLY!!! Back in the early to mid '60's, and then in 1971, it was open to tourists visiting the capitol building & the senate & house office buildings. I've ridden it a few times.

  • @chrisk7626
    @chrisk7626 14 днів тому

    I wonder if they had to use the public streets were they actually improve them so traffic congestion would ease up I think so😮

  • @pburgvenom
    @pburgvenom 14 днів тому

    I am suprised the TV show 24 did not have this in an episode

  • @mrcmoes
    @mrcmoes 16 днів тому +3

    0:33 is that Don Rickles?

    • @rickradix7464
      @rickradix7464 16 днів тому +1

      Is that you're wife sir? Jesus...what was it a train?
      Don Rickles

    • @---bs8dp
      @---bs8dp 12 днів тому

      @@rickradix7464 Gerald Ford me thinks

  • @EB-73-
    @EB-73- 12 годин тому +1

    So I'm supposed to see this, and I'm still not supposed to think there are vacuum tubes crisscrossing the world? Uh huh.

  • @timshowalter4076
    @timshowalter4076 15 днів тому

    There are 3 operating subways. The Rayburn/Capitol subway is on the House side. The Russell/Capitol and the Hart/Dirksen/Capitol subways are on the Senate side. I've used them many times, and the Cannon tunnel.
    I've had to laugh when they have recorded interviews on the automated Dirksen/Hart subway. They would have a camera crew, interviewer and interviewee in a subway car that holds 4. They go back and forth, opening and closing doors all automatically. The interview may take 10 to 30 minutes. The trip from the Hart building to the Capitol takes about 8 minutes. Watching an interview on TV one could have thought there was a huge subway system. Riding for 30 minutes and still not arriving at a destination....?

  • @BigGuy10Points
    @BigGuy10Points 16 днів тому

    This may very well be the most efficient thing about our government.

  • @OnlyTheEd
    @OnlyTheEd 15 днів тому +1

    This subway is mentioned in one of Tom Clancy's books "Debt Of Honor"....I've read that book twice....I need to re-purchase it....I think.

  • @lenna629
    @lenna629 14 днів тому

    Fascinating 🤔🤔

  • @williamscoggin1509
    @williamscoggin1509 13 днів тому

    I've seen a little bit on this before on another video a few years back but there isn't much around on it to be seen.