The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-03
RELIEF AT GRAND CENTRAL.
ID. B. M'COY PICKED TO TACKLE
CONGESTION PROBLEM.

I ONUNhNNN Hu0DN " WHIT N4ghup ~ AA@AAA-
and Plenty OF TrackAGo e Year
PAIR Running Yesterday. but Hugo
Jam OF Arrivals al the Depot.
D. b. Mccoy. former superintendent Of
the Hudson and Putnam division OF the
New York Central Railroad. has been ap-
pointed a. assistant TO General Manager
A.. H. Smith for the purpose OF trying to
effect improvements in local trafic. Mr..
Mccoy will work with a special view toward
relieving the congestion OF the road caused
by the heavy trafic and the extensive con-
struotion work going on. The reduction
Of the lateness Of trains, both through and
suburban and outgoing as well as incoming,
will be his object.
Incoming through trains from a half to
an hour and a half late and suburban trains
from fifteen to thirty minutes late have
been a chronic disease at the Grand Central
Station for some time. The ateness Of
incoming trains necessarily reacts on the
outgoing, as all the through trains must
be sent out to Mott Haven, cleaned, made
up. and shunted back to the Grand Central.
Yesterday was a comparatively good day.
after the big block OF the day previous.
All the outgoing trains we're practically on
NAtttC wiz WIG OANObSACh " ONeA
about $50 p. NJ, at the end OF the evening
rush. and the Buffalo and Cleveland special
at 8 4 O'Clock, which were five or six minutes
behind time. OF the incoming trains, most
Of tho locals were from five to ten minutes
late. or the through trains, the South
western Limited and the Lake shore Limited
were each forty minutes late.
The day express ran in four sections TO
----- - III - --a~,,s~Na 10
came down from northern New York o
a cheap rate. Its first section was twenty
minutes. and the other three from an hour
to an hour and twenty minutes behind time.
Not only are trains late, hut there has
been no reliable souroe OF information az
to how late they are. The blackboard
bulletin receives reports Of trains only
once every hour. Consequently a train
marked Ave minutes late generally rolls m
from fifteen to twenty minutes later. This
trouble will be relieved by more frequent
reports from late rains.
X. u. Slater. superintendent Of the Grand
Central Station and electric divisions, said
yesterday that the ~lateness OF trains was
due to the unusually heavy traffic Of return
ing vacationists and to the construction
work being done,
For instance, here Is hut one Of our
problems" said he. Two or three trains
Of the $50 to 1925 trains that we handle a
day will start out at the same time. On
account OF construction work all the out
going tracks converge into one. on which
all the outgoing trains must travel, though
only for a hort distance. Here the second
train will be delayed a minute or two and
the third another minute, while the tirst II
passing. Tit time lost in this way. eepe-
cially during rush h ours. piles up very easily
and a sh ort block II felt for hours after by
all the trains in the station. This is only
one Of many troubles,
Lack Of trackage for storage il another
drawback. But the most formidable diff
f1culty Is the rush Of specials and extras
with the h~omecomers. This rush is now
pretty we'll over and in a short time we will
be handling a normal crowd with better
results. When the new construction work
is finished we will have plenty OF room
in which to handle all our trains easily.
In the tremendous rush Of the last month all
we could do was keep our heads above
water and keep hammering at the problem. "
Forty or fifty carloads Of home folks
ten day excursion to the city arrived last
ev ening. The station was thron9ed with
friends and relatives Of the up-country
people and reunions OF long separated
neighbour were being celebrated with
kisses and hugs n handshakes all over
the platforms and waiting rooms. The
crowd at the station was larger h ever
before. Not a single policeman or station
attendant was there to handle the mass,
with the result that the arrivals were forced
to wind their way through the crowd in
single file all the way from the platform
gates.
The visitors hailed from Ogdensburg;
Massena Springs, Prescott, WATERFOWL,
Kingston, Ontario, and other towns OF
the northern counties and the Dominion.
Seven trains bearing more OF the up-Staters
will arrive to-day. Many New Workers.
who hail from these places will be on hand
to meet their relatives and old friends
and the station will be jammed all day.