The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-03-25

UNION STATION
At WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT
BUlLDlNGNOW BENG ERECTED
sDALrIMoREf March 25.-Great In.
terest continues to center around the
magnificent Union station now being
built ir Washington, d. G. To the
daily v.sitor to the Nations capital
the GROWTH, no doubt, seems slow, but
ITO the occasional visitor great chang.
es are apparent. The close of 1907
should see practically ali Of the re.
mainiag work completed. Most Of the
walls and piers. which for time stood
with thsir SUBMITS soto IS feet above
the sarrotsading ground and which
were SO confusing to the public, are
are surmounted by partially comptet.
ed building, which from an architec,
tural standpoint. gives promise Of riy.
aling in beauty when completed the
4 : ~ ~ =
best modern examples of classic, ar.
chitecture in this or other counties.
This mammoth work is being done
by the Washington Terminal Com.
pany, Which is Jointly owned by the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
and tn. Pennsylvania Railroad Com.
pany. Mr.. James McCrea is Presi.
don't of the Terminal Company and
Mr.. Hugh L. Bond. Jr., is vice presi.
dent Mr. George w Martin is super.
intendest and will lave charge Of the
station and terminal. He Is a well
known railroad man of ability. Mr..
Robert Farnhan IL the engineering
representing the Pennsylvania rail.
road ana Mr.. W. F. strouse is the as.
sistant engineer representing the Bal.
timore and Ohio railroad. This de.
scriptica Of the work up to the pres.
ent time was carefully prepared by
Mr. strouse, and 10 would be impossi.
BILE to make 1t more complete or ac.
curate. Mr.. stronse Is an expert in
railroad engineering and from the
start fss given close attention to ey.
cry detail of the Improvement.
Tc avoid confusion and controversy
with the operating departments Of
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and
Pennsylvania railroad, upon whose "a.
spectlve territories much of the work
had to be done. the construction of the
north approach and the depot build
ing was assigned to the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad, while the south ap.
preach and portion of the Magraaer
Connection was assigned to the Penn.
syfyanta railroad. The north approach
embraces the train yard Of SO tracks.
power plant. express building, coach
yard having capacity for about $50
cars, engine and repair yards with the
necessary engine house and shop IA
.cilities together with the metropoll-
tan ara Washington branch connec.
tions for the Baltimore and Ohio rail.
road and a portion OF the Magrader
connection OF the Philadelphia, Balti-
more and Washington railroad.
The south approach embraces the
'girdereovered work under the plaza,
the tunnel under Capitol Hill and the
connection with the Philadelphia. Bal
timore and Washington railroad on
Virginia avenue.
Most Of the material necessary to
provide the plaza aud raise the radiat-
ing streets to the new grade has been
delivered, and to all who will take tho
trouble to go to tho site, fair idea
of the ground scale upon which the
scheme is being carried out will be
obtained. They will, however, see
but little of the 10000 cubic yards Of
masonry which entered into the foun-
dalton of the head house; nor Is 1t
likely that they fill appreciate that
over 100000 cubic yarcs OF clay,
sand and gravel have been deposited
on the site, and that over 2,5OO, 900
cubic yards OF material have been
excavated to bring about the changes
that have taken place in the past
three years. The Station site. which
at the beginning of this improvement
consisted of low. undesirable land less
than 25 feet above tide, has now been
transformed into an eminence nearly
GO feet above tide with gently slop.
ing approaches tnsuring perfect drain.
afe. a decided improvement in this
class of buildings that are likely to re.
place the old structures removed to