Evening star., 1909-06-20
WILL COVER 28 ACRES
New Pennsylvania Railroad
Terminal in New York.
TUNNELS ARE FINISHED
COST of the Entire Undertaking Will
Be $s0,0O0,Ooo.
NEW 100000 POST OFFICE
Eleven Million Dollar Building to Be
Erected for the Gimbels Of
Philadelphia.
NEW $5,ooo,ooO POST OFFICE
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

Chicago Record-Herald.
NEW YORK, June 10, 1909
The new Pennsylvania station in New
York city is approaching completion, and
the tunnels which connect it with New
Jersey and Long Island under the Hud-
and the East rivers are now ready
for the rails. The architects and en-
Eineers tell me that everything will he
ready for the active operation of trains
shortly after the first of January. In
the meantime more than two thousand
men. chiefly skilled mechanics, are at
work completing the dome Of the station
and putting the finishing touches to the
tunnel. The tunnels. which are continu-
Gus tubes of steel, six miles long, lined
with concrete, have been finished and
the contractors, the Messrs. Pierson of
London. now tearing down their
plant and shipping their machinery. 1t
is expected that the last stone the
building will be placed in position by the
first of August. The last piece of struc-
1ural steel is all ready in place; the last
rivet has been driven, and the work OF
finishing the woodwork and fitting out
the interior of the StupendouS building
remains to be done.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
will have expended SW,o0OooO when the
job is completed as MIR. Alexander j.
Z I, y
poration. planned it six years ago. This
represents the cost of six blocks of prop
erty In the heart of New York city, the
construction of two tunnels under the
Hudson river to New Jersey and two
under the East river to Long
Island. the electrfication of the terminals
and the erection of building larger
than the Capitol at Washington.
Terminal Covers 80 Acres.
The area of the new terminal Is twenty
eight acres The. station covers the
ground bounded by 9TH and Sth avenues,
:;1st and S3d streets, an area of eight
acres The main entrance is in the GEN.
ter of the eth avenue facade. which ex-
tends 43O feet, but all four of the fronts
are practically of the same design, those
31st and SD streets being 74O feet
long while the Capitol at Washington is
722 feet long.
The maximum height above the street
Is 153 feet, and the tracks upon which
the trains will come and go are forty
feet below the surface. The station Is
thus divided into three levels. From the
street level the outside walls rise to
height of sixty feet. except in the CEN
ter. where lofty dome covers the gen.
eral waiting room. which will be 277 by
103 feet and will be approached by a con-
course $40 feet long and 30 feet wide.
At the corner of Sth avenue and 33d
street there is an elevation of four sto-
ries. dividing into offices for the officials
of. the railway company.
The architectural ornament of the four
outside walls is Doric colonnade.
thirty-five feet high, surmounted by a
low attic. The material of the exterior
is pink Milford granite. similar to that
of which the University Club in New
York is built. and many other conspicu-
Gus buildings throughout the country. The
STRUCTURE within is a skeleton framework
of steel, supported by columns resting upon
$50 concrete piers. each of which will
carry load of sixteen hundred tons.
There are entrances on all sides, which
lead into pavilions, with divisions for car
riages. foot passengers, baggage in and
out. all classified so as to avoid con-
fusion. Suburban passengers will have
entrances and accommodations separate
from those of the long-distance trains,
and the scheme has been worked out so
completely and with such ingenuity that
one is at a loss to see how any person
could go to the wrong tPin # he has
the eyes to read the signboards or
tongue to ask question.
Comparison With Washington.
The station is nearly twice as large
as that in Washington. There will be
twenty-one tracks. capable of handling
1.45O trains a day, and half a million
passengers. The aggregate length of the
tracks in the station Is sixteen miles
The total length of the platforms from
which the passengers enter or leave the
trains is 21.JOO feet-nearly four miles.
The main entrance is fixed in the CEN
ter of the structure on 1th avenue. This
is for foot passengers only, and from
the street entrance TO the stairway lead
ing to the main waiting room there ex-
tends a corridor 2ao feet long and forty
five feet wide flanked by merchants
shops On either side OF the 7th avenue
entrance there are also series of stores
AT the farther end Of the arcade the
restaurant. lunchrooms and the cafe will
I,a tN1t t,x.1 fnhn nd
service connections. Beyond is the gen.
eral waiting room and the concourse.
all easy of access by convenient stair
ways AT the corners OF 31st and 3Sd
streets and eth avenue are open pavilions
which furnish carriage entrances
Apart from the main entrance are many
other convenient entrances for foot
passengers Wide bridges. leading into
the street floor of the station. span the
carriage subway. The general waiting
room is the largest OF it's kind in the
world-:S20 feet long, 10 feet wide and
80 feet high. Within it will be located
the ticket offices. parcel rooms. telegraph
and telephone offices and baggage check
ing windows. Adjoining on the west side
two subsidiary waiting rooms, hS by
iOo feet, for men and women. respect
lively.
TO the east of the general waiting room
the main baggage room, with 4JO feet
of frontage. for the use of transfer
wagons. covers the full area occupied by
above. Baggage will be delivered and
taker away through a special subway
thirty feet wide. extending under and
along the entire length of 31st street and
9TH and Sth avenues. From the baggage
room trunks will be delivered to the
tracks below by motor trucks and ele-
vators. The cab stands will also occupy
this level.
Parallel to and connecting with the
main waiting room by wide thorough
fare and west of the subsidiary wait
ing rooms, is the concOurSe covered
assembling place 100 feet wide, extend
ing the entire width of the station and
under the adjoining streets. This con-
course and adjacent area open on to
the tracks, forming a courtyard 340 feet
wide and 210 feet broad rooted by a
lofty train shed of iron and glass.
New Post Office Building.
The federal government will erect a
sJUooOOO post Office on the adjoining block
to the west. between Sth and 9th avenues
and 3lst and SD streets, which will be ar
ranged that postal cars from all the
tunnels that concentrate in the Pennsyl-
yania terminal can be run into the base
ment and there discharge and receive the
mails at an economy of two hours time
over the present system. Arrangements
will he made within the local subways for
handling all the malls from the many sub
stations and branch post offices In the
same way. The designs for the new post
office are now being made, and it Is ex-
pected that work of construction will be-
rim fall.