The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-25
ST. PAUL FARES WELL
MANY IMPROVEMENTS RAPIDLY
MAKING UNION DEPOT A
MODEL ONE
HISTORY OF BETTERMENTS
The Company Is Constantly ImprOv-
ing the Terminal Facilities by
Il Series of EnIar9ements-
Railroad News.


amcrg railroad men all over the coun-
try. The many improvements that the
Germany has made in the past two years
has been the subject of an extensive ar
ticlc in the current issue of the Railway
Age.
To show how this work is regarded
away from home a few excerpts are tax
en- from the article and reproduced be-
low. 1t will be seen that the company
has pursued an unfinching line Of prog
ress ever since the business has demand
ed better facilities.
Only portions of the article are given
below:
Something over two years ago the d.
rectors of the st. Paul Union Depot COM
pany seeing that an extension OIL us
facilities would become in the near ~
tUre an absolute necessity, took under
cons Iteration the plan Of spreading out
their yards toward and INTO the Mlssis-
sjppl river. The property - completely
hedged in on the side toward the city
and by obstacles that cannot well be
overcome. With this plan in view appH-
cation was made to the city council 10
Vacate certain property on the leVee,
then occupied under lease by TIA chi
cago, Milwaukee & ST. Paul Railway
company. Application was at the same
time made for certain other concessions
The Chicago, Milwaukee & ST. Paul
Railway company was also approached
with a view to obtaining ali its holdings
alOnS the river bank for the use Of new
uacks for the union depot company. A
great length of time was consumed IN
obtaining the necessary concessions from
The city and in arranging mutually sat
iSfactOry terms with the railway conf
uany. This was finally accomplished,
AMI then the matter of changing the
laTbor line, in order to take in a portion
Of the river front, was taken up with
the war department at Washington. Sew
eraI months were devoted to inVestig2-
ZION and arguments for and against, and
L Was not until June. 1901, that the yari-
Gus interests were finally harmonized.
Actual work on the Improvements was
begun Immediately.
Nature of improvements.
In general terms, the work consists of
hlllng up the river to make new ground
sufficient to allow the Chicago. MiIwau-
zee q st. Paul the same number Of lineal
leet OF track and the same equipment
OF freight houses and other buildings
which formerly occupied the ground
yielded to the union depot company:
protecting with rip-rap the new work:
uuluIng q dock for steamboat landing
and boom above the Chicago Great
western bridge so as to divert the raft
-hs business to the west side of the
oraW bridge pier: widening Sibley street
Upon which the union station frontsl
lfty feet along the whole front of the
station; building five additional paseen-
49, - ans 1Cl lll6 use OIL the UGnOt
Paiiy ana Two freight transfer tracks.
ma erecting new train shed lis feet
"lde 70 cover the passenger tracks Tho
1Iea OF the old plant was approximately
~. acres, ana the new plant when com
Fleteu, VIII cover about 16 acres The
uackaSe belonging to the demon COM
pdhE VIII be increased from five and
one one nan miles to about eight and one
nalf miles. VIC
Prior to the actual commencement Of
MoIh' ana with a view to determine a
harmonious plan for carving ONT The
h@IlouS improvements under considera
$50 SlUii2 hlF Henry M. Sperry, of the Union
oWltch and Signal company. was caIIeI
~ as an expert to make a careful st11dSt
u TIE present conditions probable in
crease OF traffic and the plans in vin10
-, nieGung ITS requirements. Mr.. Sper- |
~. uuEihS April and Nav of 1901 ev
dHIIed the situation in detail and bic !
LSpcrL submitted by the president 70 |
ne directors of the union denot COM
I1e,S+' IN sept 10, confirmed their iude-
Il'eHI that the time had arrived for s,IoI
- pahSlon of trackage as woIId 1912
INC minimizing Of hazards at 81 ir1noD+ |
.oI1teet pO INT Inc directors had at the
III SseC d IuII comprehension of the neces-
Ely OF providing adequate faciIitiaS -
an important traffic center tn,ro1d'
MllnOul which they We're likely - n,
cCnITohted with a congestion tb,I
,Da OJIu materially reduce the benefits av
PeCIeu from doubling main linz ~ 60
"lu installing additional train seI,T+ioo use
=, Nj To- Sperry' IS report, under date Of IL,
~ ,1ro' - very complete cOnsideretion
pITsent conditions, probable fut1ra 90 Sn
4iaAuS ana suggestions for noaati1[r .G W.
cHuef TOUR heads viz. Prae,ot9 eiteIu'
I'm "a PIopaple increase in traffic pronas
60 i up oN e4nentS, and ENLARGEMENT 20
lion j punuIHg. every phase of the oI,ae-
1Iou Is treated at length What foIIoG u02-
d CONDENSATION of the reDOrt ana ~ vs. -
SI%NInss, showing proposed rea,, r.S ~, I'll
aiGlIS OF tracks ETC. are from The Is
STirDIilIIled by Mr.. Sperry. Wv Pi''i-S
Inc present station consist. ~
racks, nine of which are cnVeraI Ten
t, ,otL Sneu 2JG by go feet The +eyo+I
feTs F RuISide is used for freight trans trans
OF the train shed, to Wins S+ eaSI eEd
I0eI3 the Union Depot companV's riGr = f o9
Ny IS Wide enough for only +Eroo' $50 AZ u
IoI't, ilo ,lt III track IS used for trains east
,oLt{ over the Great Northern: tbn + eStS-
uoIIh is the property of the Creo otiG 1- Track
Ill ana IS used for trains west M VI In In
oIdt road; the Union Dnnot co,;l 80 oNer
p3sSa,, olack IS used for trains east b9t5
teaI ger and freight, and the Tot SGIn
rack Ior trains west Tenant III, iilIuIIe
CLuue the Northern Pacific Great ~ n
c5ao hI B;i Milwaukee & st. Paul On
Great western western 'o1 rbi d Quincy, Chicago
- 5pG KS Omaha, Wisconsin Co..,
% Iu AlhneapOlis, st. Paul e Sill i e44
x T. IN addition, the Minnea noI;S o
- L-ouls and Burlington CeGar DIS Pn4 @
az Northern expect to use +,o 60 h!|dtidS
" teIillHal as soon as the in1nroI,a,,a a.
fo'. e SILeclGd The station is a ternnjno1
l,isioTe d a. o. me roads, for certain III
-9IOi2 OF some, and a thr0uob $500 u
Lor others The movement i7 !! 4l SId elon
Sngaily complicated by the nececSitII
t rltlIIiIs engines ar0tI3d trains ana 49,
and If =, idInlaples and round b0nseS
- q taxing coaches to ana frnTo t7 49,
DUdch yarns at distances IN - III Lns
tiLiieS from the station. A passenoe, 49
for ' +bo IaoIe selected as a fair averao o.,
~ We year shows a total of 9o9 + ~ ase
arriving and departing daiIv ~ trains
COuIt OF the shOrtness of tracks 49,, "a az
- SSulclons, 80 Fer cent of +bac ~ a otIt-
of bn seoIli,lep on SIX tracks. At the hos
IHe average number of no0,,eD,oy4a d. M
PSi - tiach, or 9t for the hour II is $3.50 Is ~
n M - I5iS record is exceeded eIse1.bonno t-
fact maj 10y Is made greater by tha
+Toirr7' tlie9 ~ one track is also used Fa S
ttIs!Sll, 1r2ck No. 10 being know "a ~ ~
80 as III tSi, IN The date when the recor9
m9 S 'a rs IOo transfer movements 1teIe
Haue IN tWenty-fOur hours roY'c,, We
siA hours and ten minu+es 1- LIS lining
III od%iS5 make q full stop at Third strea+
tjI,9a lequIfed to flag If off sched1,f,,
10th diTe 9f mack 6r is used for trains in
rs JOINT uce by freight ana n.s5so rom
F9lns are unavoidable --N passenger
p, ne ne capacity Of the station iS +os
Thar The o'6fII n owing also to the FACT
Ia tIle depot company has Ii++I Iact
n the makeup of time tables q re ne, voice
he same time NEE IS sho wv, six trains having
SnlIea to move on the same track @tS ne re-
- npetEy sums up the present con cn1d;ti nr.
outgro grove T t5e iao; Fhe traffic has now
snort, only six can be satisfa cfo,.,i are TOO
Sno se ne delays are frequent and pS nG
eZ As to probable increase in traffic the
70 per cent in ten years. -0' iess than
TracLage to BE 1890 Feet