Charlevoix county herald., 1905-10-21

NEW WASHINGTON STATION THE
FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Construction of Structure and Build
ing OF Adjacent Largest Of Freight
YarLs to Cost S22, 100000.

| With all the talk relative to Govern
ment control of railway rates, and the
probability of Congress giving the sub
| ject at least consideration, the busy
solOns of the Senate and House this
winter may not appreciate that within
radius of eight miles of the Capitol
building there is work Of railroad i'm
prOvement going on having a value Of
over $22,O00,000.
Just across the Potomac River, be-
tween Washington and the historic
but sleepy town of Alexandria, the
Pennsylvania railroad is well along in
constructing the largest freight yards
in the United States, at cost Of
SI,OOO,OOO, while the Pennsylvania and
Baltimore and Ohio railroads are ex-
pending $15,OO0,OO0 in the city itself in
eliminating grade crossings and erect
ing new Union station-a station
which, when completed, will be the
largest passenger station in the world,
even exceeding that at Hamburg, Ger
many.
Compares in Size with Capitol.
The new station, in itself but five
feet shorter than the Capitol building,
will face plaza 500 feet wide by about
1000 feet long, decorated with artistic
balustrades, terraces and fountains.
Nine streets will lead into the>plaza,
which itself will provide a space for
massing troops. and spectators for pub
lie ceremonies. To give the required
elevation to the station SO as to admit
the two passenger tunnels from the
South, it was necessary to fill in the
site of the station, some 100000
cubic yards of earth being required to
form the new plaza, the fill for con-
siderable area being over 80 feet In
depth.
Sanitary Train Sheds.
Unlike most railroad stations, the
architectural beauty Of the Washing
ton station will not be marred by the
usual gigantic semi-circular train shed,
but each pair of tracks will be covered
over with sort Of umbrella train shed,
which will protect alighting and de-
parting passengers from the elements,
but will also allow the smoke and gases
to rise into the atmosphere. The bag
gage trucks will pass to the cars
through tunnels to the end Of the
tracks, where the trunks and parcels
will be brought to the surface by ele-
vators, so that at no time will the pas
sengers be in danger of collision with
the baggagemen. The train concOurse
will be the largest single room in the
world, nearly 700 feet long, the entire
vista being unbroken by the usual
labyrinth Of pillars. The ceiling is to
be constructed in what is technically
known as of the self-supporting type.
There will be 33 passenger tracks, 27
on the main floor level and six on the
tunnel floor where trains from the
South will arrive through the double
tunnel under Capitol Hill. A feature
of the station will be the absence Of
stairs, so that even in a large crowd,
for which Washington is famous dur
ing inaugural or convention times,
there will be no danger of accident to
the passenger arriving or departing.
Presidential and Diplomatic
Entrance.
There will be special entrances and
also rooms for guests of the nation, the
corps and for the President
of the United States, who will thus be
enabled to quietly seek their train with
out hindrance.
In the original bill introduced in Con-