|
The plan of construction was to commence excavation at the
easterly, or Lexington Avenue side, and as fast as the work was carried down to grade, to
erect upon it the steel work for the two new levels, lay the tracks upon it, and transfer
the trains gradually from the old to the new levels. This plan has been followed with
great success; and a few months ago the last of the express trains, after it had cleared
the Park Avenue tunnel entrance, swung over on to the upper deck of the new steel
structure, and the demolition of the old station building was begun, followed by the
blasting out of the last section of the rock excavation. In a few weeks' time the
excavation will be completed and the last car load of the three million cubic yards of
rock will have been hauled through the Park Avenue tunnel and dumped on the river side of
the New York Central Railroad tracks, where they skirt the Hudson River far to the north
of the city.
New Station Excavation Looking South
To the left are the new office building
and the excavation for the tracks. To the right is the
old train shed, now removed, and a part of the express
traffic using the old high level.
|
Architecturally and esthetically, New York City will be greatly advantaged
by the construction of the new station. In the first place, all the crosstown streets,
from Forty-fifth to Fifty-sixth, inclusive, will be carried at grade entirely across the
station yard, intersecting Park Avenue, which will also be extended at grade from
Fifty-seventh Street down to Forty-fifth Street, on the south side of which will be the
north facade of the new station structure. From this point the traffic will pass around
the station on a broad elevated driveway to Forty-second Street, which it will cross on a
bridge of handsome design, continuing at grade till it joins the present high level of
Park Avenue at Fortieth Street. This broad, rectangular driveway, standing at a
considerable elevation above Forty-second Street, Vanderbilt Avenue and Depew Place, will
form, as it were, a broad, elevated base, from which the huge station building will rise
with a fine monumental effect.
By referring to our front page engraving it will be seen that, for the
present, the station yard tracks will be exposed to view in the area north of the station;
but ultimately these areas will be covered by buildings designed to present a monumental
effect, in which will be included museums, hotels, business blocks, and theaters. These
buildings will either be erected by the railroad company and leased, or they will be put
up by private enterprise. In the latter case the railroad company will reserve the right
to exercise a strict supervision over the architectural features of the buildings, which
probably will be classical or semi-classical in treatment. Ultimately, the whole space
will be covered in, and on the site of the old and unsightly yard, with its smoke and dirt
and noise, there will rise a new section of the city which, in the dignity and harmony of
its architecture, will be unequaled in any part of the greater city. It is interesting to
record that the rentals from these buildings will be sufficient to cover the interest on
the vast expenditure involved in the construction of the new station.
The new terminal will have four levels, where the old had but one at
street level. At the grade of Forty-second Street will be the gallery; below that will be
the great concourse on the level of the forty-two tracks that will handle the through
express trains. On the third level will be the twenty-five tracks for the suburban trains;
and below these, running east and west under Forty-third and Forty-fifth Streets, will be
subways for handling the inbound and outbound baggage.
|
View of Excavation Looking North
It has been necessary to remove
3,000,000 cubic yards of rock in sinking the tracks to
the new level, 45 feet below the streets. To the right is
the steel work for carrying the two levels of tracks for
express and local trains.
|
An important problem in building the terminal station is to separate the
inbound from the outbound traffic, so that passengers and their baggage may flow in an
unbroken stream from street to train or from train to street. To secure this unobstructed
flow has been the governing motive in designing this station, and an important element in
the plan has been the total elimination of stairways and the substitution therefor of
inclined passenger walks, or, as they are technically known, "ramps," which will
be constructed on a grade of eight feet rise to every hundred feet of length. With a view
to avoiding congestion, no less than twelve separate entrances to the station are
provided. The passenger purchases his ticket in the express concourse, and passing to the
next counter, turns over his ticket and baggage checks to the transfer company, who send
them by pneumatic tube to the baggage room, where the trunks are checked, and the trunk
checks sent back. Passing through the gates on the side of the concourse opposite the
ticket offices, the passenger walks down an easy incline to the express passenger
platforms, which are at the same level as the floor of the cars, and board his train.
The handling of baggage into and out of the trains is entirely separated
from the passengers, the incoming baggage being unloaded beyond where the passengers leave
the train, and the outgoing baggage being brought up to the baggage cars, at the front of
the trains, from the subways already referred to.
Following out the principle of segregation of classes of passengers, there
will be two large waiting rooms adjoining the Forty-second Street entrances, one for
through long-distance passengers, and another immediately below it for suburban service,
each being on the level of the tracks which it serves. Everything, ticket offices,
entrances and exits for the express and suburban service, will be entirely distinct and
separate, each having its own concourse, its own information bureau, baggage checking
places, parcel room, and other facilities for travel. The concourse for inbound trains can
comfortably hold 8,000 people, that for outbound trains, 15,000. The waiting rooms will
accommodate about 5,000 more, and altogether this great station can take care of nearly
30,000 people without subjecting them to uncomfortable crowding. It is estimated that
70,000 outbound passengers can pass through the terminal in an hour, which is double the
maximum carrying power of any passenger station existing today.
The great train capacity of the station, estimated at a maximum of 200
trains an hour, is due to the introduction of the loop system, both for express and
suburban service. Instead of trains coming out, they will continue on, when empty, around
a loop underneath the southerly front of the station, and then run over to the yard at one
side of the station yard, where they will be cleaned and made ready for the next trip. No
longer will trains be run out through the Park Avenue tunnel to Mott Haven for cleaning
and making up, and the four tracks through the tunnel will be left entirely free for the
service of the incoming and outgoing traffic.
Not only has electricity rendered possible this underground and
entirely-inclosed station, but it has cut out a large amount of switching and has been
called into service in the installation of an electric signal system, which is one of the
latest and most perfect to be devised. An interesting detail of the signal system is the
fact that, when the gate to the train platform is closed, its shutting gives an electrical
signal, not only to the trains, but to the signal towers clear up the main line - an
arrangement which will save minutes of time over the old system.
We doubt if, anywhere on earth, there can be found such a busy center of
city and railway traffic as that represented by Forty-second Street and Park Avenue, where
the entrance to the Grand Central station is located. Passengers arriving in New York will
find themselves in immediate touch with half a dozen or more separate lines of
transportation, either by elevated railway, surface car or subway, by which any section of
Greater New York may be reached, frequently without change of cars. Running past the
entrance at street level are the surface cars of several of the main lines of travel north
and south through the avenues and east and west by the streets. Above these is a branch of
the elevated system which puts the passenger in touch with the east side elevated roads
throughout the length of Manhattan and the Bronx. Immediately below the street is the
Interborough subway. Below that will be the new subway connecting with the Hudson and
Manhattan tubes, by which passengers and their baggage can proceed direct to the terminals
of the western railroad to Jersey City; and below that again is the Belmont tube leading
beneath the East River to Brooklyn. Passengers will be able to proceed by broad footways
direct from their trains to any one of these three subways, or to the surface cars and the
elevated trains.
We close our description with a few statistics which cannot fail to be of
interest. The total area of the old terminal was 23 acres; that of the new will be 70
acres. The old terminal had a capacity of 366 cars, the capacity of the new will be 1,149
cars. The station building proper will be 600 feet long on street level, 300 feet wide and
105 feet high. Below the street level it will be 745 feet long, 480 feet wide and 45 feet
deep. The main concourse will be 120 feet wide and 100 feet high. Eighty-five thousand
tons of steel will be used in the construction of the new terminal.
|
