The Washington herald., 1907-07-28
B. &. q. May Abandon Old
Station in September.
PUSHING WORK WITH vIGOR
WnSbfngtOn's RIg Railroad Ter
ninni May Not be Completed Be-
fore Another Year, but Temporary
Arrangen. ents VIII Enable Its Use
In short TIme-Description.


the old station at New Jersey avenue
and c street viii be abandoned and
trains will be running into the new Union
Station by September 15 Work now be-
| ing pressed to completion along the via
duct north OF the station building, indi-
Gates that the company is making haste
toward this ond.
1t is said 10 be the intention of the rail-
road officials to occupy the station first
upon the upper grade only with the trains
OF the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad This
! is necessary. because the stone work on
the west end Of the station cannot be
completed until the tracks leading 10 the
New Jersey avenue station have been
removed and the space occupied by them
and the station filled in 10 the grade Of
the plaza. The stone work on the build
ing is now rapidly nearing completion,
and the Baltimore and Ohio Company
must move as soon as possible TO give
! the contractor opportunity to finish the
building
The roof upon the general lobby of the
station is nearly finished and workmen
have been engaged about three weeks
upon that over the general waiting room
which constitutes the higher Of the two
domes visible now from nearly all parts
OF the city. There remain the building
Of the west part og the wing. and the
driveway. which viii be in part over the
place where the tracks now run 10 the
old Baltimore and Ohio station.
Not Near Completion.
/ The new station win not be very near
completion when the first trains are run
over the viaduct 10 the west section Of
the building. Portions Of the great wait
ing room and the lobby will be ftted up
temporarily to accommodate passengers
coming in and going out. Even the train
sheds viii not al be finished. and prob
/ ably the workman's hammer will be ring
/ ing through the several corridors Of the
/ building for an entire year after the sta
/ ton has gone into use for the 3. & o.
! trains
What is known as the tunnel section.
though il was erected first. will be fin
| ished last. Several months VIII necessarily
4 clapsc before trains viii be running In
\ from South Washington and 0vsr the
I Pennsylvania tracks 70 the station.
/ Tracks 20 tho northward, from the sta
! ton 10 MagrudeF, Md have been laid for
more than year, and connections with
/ the Pennsylvania system have been long
/ in use.
The connections I'm South Washington
through the tunnels have not yet been
/ completed. and viii not be for several
]
4 of trains will not be I'm operation over
both sections of the viaduct before the
! spring Of 1905
y. q q. Holds Record.
/ II is interesting ia this connection to
note the fact that the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. the first 20 be operated
successfully in the United States was the
/ first 10 enter Washington. in 1885. II
was then a small affair, and the journey
/ from Baltimore in those primitive days
/ occupied about as long as it now does 10
make the trip In an automobile
/ II we are 70 believe some OF the history
and a remnant Of the traditions Of that
early period Of railroading. the auto
mobile trip would be vastly more com
( Portable and less dangerous than that by
/ rail IN 1885. II is significant that the
same company will enter the new Wash
/ ington station pretty nearly over the
same route as that over which the first
/ trains came with such excitement Of the
p0pulace in the days of long ago
/ one day In October, 1903. William Star
rett. one Of the members Of the Thomp-
son-SJaTett Company, Of New York. at
tracted much attention by "a series Of
/ measurements he was making near the
/ intersection Of what was then First and
/ California streets northeast With his
/ office staff of assistants he spent the
entire day locating a point where the
/ southeast corner OF the new station now
/ stands. The next day Italians were
throwing up the earth and sinking big
/ hole. where later the first concrete fOun-
1 dations of the tower were laid. In the
/ following weeks and months. these foun-
/ dationS spread from the original point
/ outward and upward, until they stood
/ forty feet in the air
Within a years time four acres Of
these foundations reared themselves sky
ward and then began the filling in.
/ Those foundations were buried out of
sight. and in the summer Of 1904 the first
/ courses Of stone were laid in the east
walls Of the station. BY slow degrees
the great building crept westward. until
1 last spring it began TO stand forth in
/ its big proportions.
Main Building of station.
The main building of the station is $40
/ feet long. It's two wings. east and west.
are s. feet high. and the central portion
/ is 125 feet high, over which spans the
mighty Roman arch or vault which forms
the roof, and from which finally will
come through Opaque glass the light
which viii make the interior Of the sta
ton like day while the sun is in the sky.
and from which at night thousands OF
electric bulbs will spread even a stronger
radiance over the seats, floors, and apart
ments below.
Immediately in front of the building.
/ looking south, along the line Of Delaware
avenue. are three entrances, each 90 feet
wide, and over each OF which rises an
arch 50 feet in height. On each side of
the main entrance are paviliOns Of seven
aTched doOrways, and at the extreme
encs of the building enc large arched car
! fidge way. The carriage way on the east
end leads to what is called the "Presi-
dents Suite series Of rooms arranged
for the special use Of the President when
he desires TO leave the city or come in
on train.
This suite will also be used at times by
noted visitors Of foreign countries and
by ambassadors and nigh officials Of the
United States government. This suite is
removed from the main part of the sta
ton, and those who make use Of Ii may
leave their trains or enter them without
crowds Of passengers seeing or knowing
of their presence.
Entrance for Public.
The corresponding carriage way on the
west end of the building is for the pub