Phantom carriages: Reconstructing Hale's Tours and the virtual travel experience

Hale's Tours were early cinemas designed as train carriages where phantom rides were projected onto a 'window' and motion was simulated, recreating the physical and visual experience of rail travel. Hale's Tours were very popular during their brief existence between 1905 and 1910. 'Phantom carriages' documents how Hale's Tours functioned and explores the virtual travel experience that Hale's Tours offered. It first focuses on how the carriages were designed by looking at the original patents by William Keefe and George C. Hale as well as original photographic and ephemeral evidence. It then looks at the emergence of Hale's Tours in Britain, focusing in particular on the Hale's Tours in London's Oxford Street. The article finally connects Hale's Tours to a tradition of virtual travel experiences.