The Calumet news., 1910-09-08
Fine New Station of the Pennsyl-
vania Road is Thrown Open
to Public Traffic
Today
WORK BEGAN SIX YEARS AGO
Most Magnificent Structure of Its
Kind in World Built to Accomo-
date Thousand Trains Daily
Cost $15e, 100000

New York, Sept. S.-The new Penn
sylvania station In this city, the larg-
est and most magnificent structure
of its kind I'm the world, together with
the tunnels. which connect II with
New Jersey on the one side, with
Long Island on the other. were OPEN
ed to public traffic today. The form
al dedication of the station and tun-
nels took place about one month ago,
but actual traffic through the tubes
and IN the terminal was not inaugur-
ated. until today. The event which
marks the beginning of a new and
important epoch I'm the development
of New Yorks transportation facil-
ties. was duly celebrated In Manhat-
tan, In Brooklyn, in Long Island City
and other Long Island towns by en-
thusiastic popular demonstrations to-
day,
Great Engineering Feat
The work on this gigantic under
taking, which was originally planned
by the late Alexander j. Cassatt, then
Il
road company. and which will consti-
tute a lasting memorial to his name,
was begun about six years ago. The
construction of the tunnels under the
Hudson and the East River was a re-
markable engineering feat. The tun-
nels are continuous tubes of steel,
nearly seven miles long, are lined
but n single track.
Tunnel Figures at Glance
Area of station and yards at Sew
enth Ave. and 33rd Street. 2S acres.
Length of trackage 16 miles
Proposed initial daily service OF
Pennsylvania Railroad trains, 400.
Proposed initial daily service OF
Long Island Railroad trains, 6OO
Length of river tubes. (single
track, 6.S miles.
Length of land tunnels, (single
track,) 6.S miles.
Total cost OF all improvements,
s159, 900, 900.
The erection of the terminal sta
tion itself was tremendous under
taking Before the first stone of the
masonry work of the building could
be laid, which was on June Is. 1908.
an enormous amount of work had TO
be done. About five hundred build
ings, occupying the area bounded by
9TH and Sth Avenues, 31st and 33rd
Streets, had TO be torn down, the en-
tire area excavated to n greath depth |
and not until then could the actual |
erection of the magnificent structure |
be begun.
Covers Twenty eight Acres
The New York station of the Penn
sylvania Railroad is the lai est build !
ing ever constructed at oi''i time, I'm |
the history of the world. IL covers an |
area of 2S acres, of which eight acres |
are taken up by the terminal building
itself, the rest by the yards. The sta i
tion is a beautiful structure built af
ter the Roman-Doric style of archi-
lecture. 1t is constructed of pink
granite, quarred at Milford. Mass.
steel and brick and is divided into
three levels. The lowest part con-
tains the tracks which are fully for
ty feet under the street level and are
reached by numerous stairways con-
Meeting the tracks with the waiting
rooms and corridors, etc. on the
ground floor.
The main entrance is In the center
of the 7th Avenue facade, which ex-
tends 430 feet, but all four of the
fronts are practically of the same de-
sign, those on 31st and 33rd streets
being 740 feet long, nearly twenty
feet longer than the Capitol in Wash
ington. The maximum height OF the
building, above the street level Is 153
feet. From the street level the out
side walls rise to n height of sixty
feet. except n the center, approached
by a concoursc $40 feet long and 210
feet wide.
Very Monumental Structure.
At the corner of Sth Ave. and 33rd
street there is an elevation of four
stories accommodating the offices OF
the railroad company. The interior
structure is n skeleton framework OF
steel resting upon $50 concrete piers
each capable of carrying a load OF l.
GOO tons. There are entrances on All
sides. giving ample access to the mon
umcntad structure.
The main waiting room on the con-
course is the largest in the world IL
has windows of semi-curcular shape'
nearly 81 feet wide at the base In
addition to the general waiting room
there as smaller waiting rooms ior
men and women. which open into re- <
tirng rooms. The main waiting room
contains the ticket offices, baggage
checking windows telegraph ana ,ei-
ephone offices. etc. and everything ~
so perfectly arranged that all contu- "