El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-08
OPENING GREATEST
RAILWAY STATION
IN WORLD

people will pass through the corridors
daily.
The terminal itself is a monument
70 the ingenuity Of the present day
architects and engineers. 1t Is pro
vided with every known CONVENIENCE
for the passenger.
p,,iIt after the Roman Doric style
of architecture the building covers the
area bounded by Seventh and Elghth
avenues and 31st and S3rd streets The
depth of the property on both streets
Is 7e9 feet. 111-4 inches, and the
length of the building is 7SS feet, nine
inches, thus allowing for extra -wloe
sidewalks on both avenues Inc walls
extend for 430 feet, six inches Iroi"
31st street to 32nd street The main
hodv of the building rises IS feet above
the street level.
In designing the building, the archi-
t4cts. Messrs. McKim, Head & White,
sought to express, so far as was prac-
ticabIe. with tracks far below the
street surface and in the absence OF
tho conventional train shed. the eX'
terror of a great railway station IN
generally accepted form, and the CHAR
acter of a monumental gateway TO
great metropolis
ADaTt from these IWO lOSoS- liz 80
tion was designed to give the greater
number of lines of circulation. The
structure is really a monumental
bridge over the tracks, with entrances
TO the streets on the main axes and on
all four sides. In this respect TINS
building is unique among railway sta
tons of the world.
The Seventh avenue facade, where Is
the main entrance, was conceived
especially to carry out the idea OF the
monumental gateway. 1t is composed
of a colonnade, which is double at the
carriage entrances at the street ends
and at the main front entrance for
pedestrians, in the center Above the
central colonnade is an entablature,
surmountcd by a clock with seven
foot dial, the center of which is on
the axial line of 32nd street. Each OF
the columns is ID feet in diameter
and 50 feet high.
Wide Carriage Drives.
The carriage drives at the 31st and
33rd street corners are each about 63
feet wide. or the width of standard
New York city street.
On passing through the entrance for
foot passengers one comes to an ar
cade, 225 feet long and As feet wide.
thanked by shops and booths on both
sides. At the further end of the ar
cade are the restaurant, lunch rooms
and cafe.
From the arcade one enters the gen.
eraI waiting room, the floor OF which
is on the first level below the street.
This room, the largest in any railroad
station in the world. extends from 31st
to 33rd street, its walls parallel to
Seventh and Eighth avenues, for
distance Of 277 feet The height of this
room is $50 feet and its width 1O3
feet.
The walls of the waiting room above
the main body of the building contain
on each side three semi-circular win
dows of 2 radius Of 33 feet, four inch
es and SO feet, two inches wide at the
base There is also a window OF like
size at each end of the waiting room
Like Ancient Rome.
In its general aspect this huge wait
ing room was modelled after the struc-
lures of ancient Rome, such as the
baths of Caracalla, Titus and Clocle-
tian and the basilica Of Constantine,
which are perhaps the greatest ex-
anples in history Of large roofed-in
areas treated in monumental man
ner.
Within the waiting room are located
ticket offices and baggage checking
windows. Adjoining it on the west are
feet for men and women. These open
into retiring rooms.
On the same level with these waiting
rooms the main baggage room, with
$50 feet of frontage, is located This
is for the use of transfer wagons and
covers the full area occupied by the
arcade and restaurants on the plane
above. Baggage is delivered and taken
away through a special subway
From the baggage room trunks are
delivered TO the railroad tracks below
by motor trucks and elevators.
VestibuIe to Tracks.
Parallel to and connecting with the
main waiting room by a wide thor
oughfare is the cOncourse. extending
to the width of the station and under
the adjoining streets.
This is the yestibule to the tracks;
stairs descend from it to each of the
train platforms on the track level The
concourse and adjacent areas are open
TO the tracks, forming a courtyard $40
feet wide by 90 feet broad, rooted by
2 lofty train shed of iron and glass.
In addition to the entrances to the