El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-05
BOSTON'S BIG RAILROAD STATION.

One of the Most Complete In the
World.
Boston, Mass now has one of the
largest and most complete railway sta
tions in the world. 1t was dedicated
few days ago in the presence of large
number of persons, by Mavor Quincy
and Pr -sident Clsrks OF the coosOlidat-
ed road. Work has been going on on
this structure for the past two years
and it 10 not yet completed but it is
sufficiently advanced to accom- modate
trains.
The following account of this great
structure is found in New York Tri-
bune, and will prove very Interesting
reading:
One of the principal features of this
station is it's subway, to be used in
handling suburban business. No other
railroad terminal in the world is simil-
arly equipped. The gradients begin
some distance from the throat out In
the yard, and ultimately dip un der the
stub tracks and form q loop below the
was deemed advisable from the fact
that. owing to the constantly increasing
traffic on account of the populous sui
urbs, it was seen that the station
would be overtaxed in the near future
if the methods ordinarily employed in
the erection of railroad stations were
followed. With the addition OF the
subway, it is estimated that the facili-
ties for the handling of trains are more
than doubled It's capacity in this
direction can hardly be measured. as
it admits of receiving trains and dis
patching them without the labor and
time required by the ordinary switch
ing movements.
The lines that are to come into the
station have daily passenger service
of ITO trains, and in the year handle
25, 600, 900 people. The fact that the
station is more convenient to the shop
ping district than those heretofore u.s.
ed leads to the belief that there will be
q big increase in suburban travel, and
the stasion's subway WAS built to meet
this extra demand.
The maximum length of the main
station is $50 feet and the maximum
width 725 feet, giving structure
unequalled in size by any similar build
ing IN the world. The great st. Louis
Union Station comes next to the South
Station in the matter of dimensions.
and while the sweep of its handsome
steel arches is some what greater and
the mum Der of tracks under the train
shed more numerous, as compared with
the Boston terminal, yet the building
in it's entirety is considerably SIN aller
than the one that the Hub boasts of.
In the latter sc, OGO,O 900 pounds of steel
were used and 500 carloads of cut gran
tie from the Stony Creek quarries of
Connecticut. The contracts for enam
elled brick, copper sheathing aud
wired glass were the largest ever
placed in this country.
The main waiting-room, in dimen-
sions, is without an equal. It is 225
feet long and so feet wide, with q
heavy psnelled ceiling and wsinscot-
ing of high enamelled brick and
polished granite. Above the wains-
cotlng runs line of incandescent
lamps of unique design, and from the
ceiling a half-hundred bunch lamps
flood the great room with light aP,,
prosching that of the MONDAY. In all
there are'1 200 electric lights distribut-
ed about the waiting-room. The mosaic
floor is worked tut in an appropriate
pattern, while the settees of polished
oak are a wide departure from those
usually found in railroad station.
The main entrance ia breezy and
beautiful Above are arches of white
enamelled brick, set off with lines of
polished marble. Four massive colum q 8
of polished granite, with pilasters of
the same material, lend an impre ssive
grandeur to the whole.
In the train shed front OF the Head
house is au emergency room, feature
known to this station alone. 1t has a
complete outfit of surgical instruments
and Appliances, and, in case OF acct
dent, the patients will receive as care
full atten ton here as they would at any
of the hospitals. Invalid chairs are
kept in store in little room off the
Midway, ready for immediate use in
case of accident. Off the main waiting
room is q special lavatory for ladies',
for the use of which small fee is
charged 1t has q complete outfit of
articles for the toilet, private retiring
rooms, etc.
The track layout in the yard shows
the highest attachments in this phase
of roadway construction. The metal
weight 100 pounds to the ward, and in
all there are fifteen miles OF it, while
under the trainshed there are four
miles. There are eight tracks in the
"throat" for the main floor and four for
the lower floor. With ITO trains in
and out per day there will be over
five thousand train movements
through this contracted part OF the
yard. The switch and semaphore
mechanism is worked by compressed
OH no IF ho II,