The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-12-13
GOTHAM'S HUGE
TERMINAL OPEN
Pennsylvania Trains Go In
der River to New York.
SIX YEARS. WORK REQUIRED.

Depot is Largest Building Ever Con
structed and With Train Yards Cow
ers Twenty three Acres-Eiectric Mo-
tors Three Times as Expensive as
Steam Locomotives Are Used.
One minute after midnight on Nov
~ the Pennsylvania railroad opened
its mammoth terminal on Manhattan
Island to all trains Those of the Long
Island system had used it. but never
the through trains to the west and
south.
Work on the Pennsylvania station
was started May l, 1904, so that prac-
tically six years and seven months
were consumed in making the excava-
lions for the foundation of the build
ing and in constructing it. To clear
the eight acres of ground occupied by
the station meant the razing Of some
800 buildings, among which were a
number of churches
The area of the station and yard is
twenty-eight acres, and in this there
are sixteen miles of track The stor-
age tracks alone will hold 1856 cars.
The length of the twenty-one standing
tracks at the station is 21,5O0 feet.
There are eleven passenger platforms,
with twenty-five baggage and express
elevators. The highest point of the
tracks in the station is nine feet below
sea level.
Dimensions Of Terminal.
The station building is 1874 feet long
and $50 feet wide. The average height
above the street is 60 feet, while the
maximum is 1913 feet To light the
building it takes about 500 electric arcs
and 10000 incandeseents.
More than 100000 cubic yards of
concrete were required for the retain
ing walls, foundations, street bridging
and the substructure. There are $50
columns supporting the station build
ing. and the greatest weight on any of
these is 1,65S tons.
The stonewor5 of the station was
completed on July 81, 1909. TO in
close this vast area necessitated the
building of exterior walls aggregating
2,45s feet, nearly half mile, in
length and has required 10000 cubic
feet of pink granite.
In addition to the granite the con-
struction Of this building has called
for the use OF. 2T000 tons of steel.
There have also been set in place
some 100000 bricks, weighing to-
tai of $4,000 tons. The first stone Of
the masonry work on the building was
laid June 10. 1908. The entire mason
ny was thus completed in approxi-
mately thirteen months after the work
was begun.
Description Of Tunnels.
The river tunnels leading to the sta
ton are, all told, 6.S miles long. and
the land tunnels have the same length.
From the Bergen hill portal in New
Jersey to the Long Island entrance of
the tunnels is SO miles. 1t is SCI
miles from Harrison, n j., to the sta
ton In New York, while from the lat
ter point to Jamaica the distance is
1885 miles.
The maximum capacity in trains per
nOuf OF all OF the HennSylVanla tuH-
nels is IA. The initial daily service
win consist of $50 Pennsylvania and
Long Island trains.
Protective devices abound in the
yards and tunnels.
Every so often through the long
length of the tube signal lights are
seen. If an engineer attempts to run
by one of these signals when 1t is set
his train is stopped automatically by
the shutting off of his current, Att
each signal is a telephone. to which
the conductor has the key. that con-
meets with the main signal station.
Only when the signal station has re-
leased the train may it proceed upon
its way. }
Forty powerful motors operate the
trains over the electrified system.
Each one is twice as strong as steam
locomotive and cost over three times
as much. They We're built at the AL
toona shops of the railroad and equip
ped with Westinghouse motors for the
sum of $4,000 apiece,