The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-27
TRUNK Line TUBES ARE OPEN
4 600 PEOPLE SEE THE FIRST
wESrBOg'ND TRAIN 60 OFT.

Under water start for Florida. San Fran
cisco OF Perth Ambey begins with the
New Jersey Specimen anal . v ashing-
ton Express Delivers First lncsnaers.
The first train TO leave the new Penn
sylvania station westbound for the
journey under the Hudson River started
at 1900 O'Clock this morning. II was the
Perth Amboy local. made up Of five cars.
Two thousand men and women were in
the station. u soodly part Of them clamor-
ing for places on the train. Only SOD
persons could be accommodated in the
Ave cars.
secure place on the first train were many
and curious Sick relatives whose con-
dition demanded immediate attendance
were one One woman told Station
Master ". W. Egan that she had talked
with the late President Cassstt over the
telephone in the afternoon and he had
promised To make provision for her.
She was greatly surprised to learn that
the train included vice. President W. W.
Atterbury. Supt c. s. Frick and Chief
Engineer George Gibbs
In the opposite direction the first train
to enter the terminal from the West was
the Washington Express. arriving at 1880
o'clock. This brought other officials OF
the road from Philadelphia. including
Samuel Res second vice-president; J. r.
Wood. passenger traffic manager; A. J.
County. assistant to Mr. Rea: r. J. Gilling
ham. F. NJ. BarkesdAle and T. DeWitt
Cuyler There was no f,iss and feathers
about the Official opening Of the tubes
to get something moving il the lines idea
Of celebration
Work on the North River tubes was
begun on June 10. 1903. and the borinss
were finished On October O. 1903 The
actual work Of constructing tho tubes and
the big station was finished except for
details last summer. but the operation OF
trains has been DELAYED for the instAlla-
ton 81 signal and switch interiocs ing
systems which could not be put in plac.
until everything else WA finished. The
interval was used in training the small
army OF employees who have IN charge
the safety and comfort % pAsssnssrs at
the station.
The new schedule. which went into effect
at midnight. provides for the operation
Of ii8 trains in and out Of the station ON
weekdays and 30 on Sunday- The most
important feature of the new schedule
will he - express trains between the
Pennsylv MAS station here and the
Broad street station in Philadelphia
There will he corresponding service
between Philad-lphts and New York.
The southern Railroads. through aud
limited trains will come directly into S-~
York through the ne~ tubss. There " III
be- six outbound and ak incoming through
trains on his line day
The PsnnsylV ania's entrance into NeS
York which becomes A reality with the
new tube service had been the dream OF
that roads managers for many years
In 1884 plans were made for bridge
on er IN. North River. but u Was found Ia
be impossible TO obtain a charter for this
enterprise and when in l9OO the Prnnsyl-
wanna came into control of the Long Island
Railroad and the necessity for "A direct
connection betw .-n the roads b.cam.
pressing IL was decided to tunnel IN.
East River tubes were completed first
and trains from the new station have
been running Ia Long island CITY since
September y. The opening of the North
River tubss tn. extension Ia Harrison
y J and the bringing into action uf tina
part Of the station used by IN. n.S -.f
vic. marks the complexion ~ the -niir"
project
The under water part Of tho North River
tubes ~ 9 100 feet in length. and the entire
North River division Of rhe tunnel mas
length Of Is. 40 feet At the beginning at
tn. work n new road was built across IN.
meadows from point just east OF Newark
connecting rhe PennsylvanIa' y main line
AT that point with Harrison. y. j. The
embanknsnr which carries tbs. lin. across
tn. meadows IL built Of the earth "Nca-
waited from the tubes A. intervals along
this line large stations available for pass-
sengers and fret ght were constructed with
the idea Of developing a new industrial
centr. in the great marsh " il near Har-
rison that the tracks run into tn. tunnel
through Bergen Hill They emery. for
a short dist ana. into daylight. and then
dip down into tunn-! which divides al
the rivers edg. into n. two tubes A.
,his end Of rhs line the tracks run in II sub
way beneath the CITY until Ninth avenue
is reached and the trains com. into the
daylight again in tn. P.unsyiv ania yards
For the ,Iss ~ this service twenty one
parallel tracks line the yard b-' w.sn
Thirty first and Thir'v-third streets. all
connected by switches. 80 that train may
be- ed from on. 20 any Of the others.
The tunnel operations beneath the river
were carried on in the manner which the
Fast River tubes have made familiar The
great shield with its cutting edge that
WAS pushed ahead. weighed 10, tons
The deepest point reached by the tubes
IL eighty seven feet below mean low water
mark The tubes themselves are con-
str,icted OF a series Of iron rings. each
weighing fifteen tons The installation
Of each ring marked an adj vance Of two
and half feet The record for both
tubes was five rings put in place IN an
eight hour day
The Manhattan station. which - now
acticaIly in service IN every part, IN
said 20 he the largest and best equipped
sub-surfare railroad station in 'he world
The passenger station IL 7ss feet long and