The evening times., 1911-03-15

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3ios b oas of ths most important thinsl
b the world. especially in great railway
passsnssf terminal which ID the ssteway
for millions Of travellers every year. The
station has to be 20 arranged that the vast
army Of people who use It day after day car
pass to and from their trains with the
utmost ease and In the least possible time
This problem has been solved by the New
York Central Lines. Their New Grand Cen.
trail Terminal in New York City will be q
station without stairways.
That 10 why, when passengers debark "a
the new Grand Central station, they will
dnd that the landing platforms begin to rise
gently before they get up to the head Of
the train they have arrived on. They will
not Gee the locomotive that pulled them, nor
will they $50 the baggage cars. because the
platform will have risen above the level Of
the cars before they have walked that far.
railway terminal In the woEld-more than
that 10 even planned 40 get. The dem.
clifton Of the old terminal and the
construction Of tho new one have been car.
ried on without intsrrupting or delay.
Ing the movement Of 10000 passengers and
400 trains a day. At no time since the
operations began have the facilities for han.
ding passengers been reduced. Even now
the waiting room Of the temporary terminal
on Lexington Avenue u larger than It was
in the old station. and there II greater con-
course space and larger number Of tracks
In use than at any time since the station
mas opened in 1871.
Instead OF single structure, this new
gateway to New York City will be group
of magnificent buildings. But oil the ma.
ehinery Of this vast terminal-the signals,
the tracks and the hundreds Of trains-wtll
never be seen from the street. They will be
: no moresin evidences than the elevators inla
great once building are.
This terminal marks new era In the YER
tical building Of railroads Modern termi-
nals IN great cities must be below the street
level hereafter. This has been made possible
BY the supplanting Of steam with electricity.
1t has been made necessary By the high
price Of New York City real estate. The cost
Of producing the space for one car exclusive
Of the cost Of the station) 10 about $50. 1000.
Tho new terminal will have four levels
where the old had one. The gallery on the
grade Of 42d Street will be the top level.
The next will b the concourse, which 10 on
the level OF the a. tracks that will handle
the through trains. This will connect with
the subway lines. On the third level will
be the IS tracks for the suburban trains.
and underneath these. running east and
west, under 43d and 45th Streets. will be
subways for handling the inbound and out.
bound baggage.
THE STAINLESS STATION.
The new Grand Central. which will bs
finished about two years from now. will be
the greatest city gate on earth. One Of its
unique features 10 that 1t will be station
without stairways. the only one Of the kind
in the world. In place Of the stairways
there will be "ramps''-broad, gently slop-
ing ways along which the rivers Of human
trafnc will dow quickly and safely.
Z This was decided upon only after months
Of study and the most severely practical
tests. In the planning and building Of q
great railway passenger terminal 1t 10 not 30
much question Of constructing place for
trains to run In and out Of easily as It 10
Of getting the people to and from these
trains with the least possible friction. The
"human element" 10 the biggest problem Of
al. About 25.000,000 passengers use the
Grand Central every year. The new station
will be able to handle four times that many
comfortably. From the streets or subways
they can reach the trains on even the lowest
level beneath the surface without using 4
single stairway.
The ramp idea was drst used By the
Romans In their fortified camps 80 that
eharlots could be driven In and out. Only
os late years has 1t been employed at all
In buildings, and never before in q great
railway terminal on such an extensive
scale. The Grand Central associated archi-
tects, when they drew their preliminary
plans. used the idea to q limited extent
The plans Of this great work are scrutinised
and passed upon By several committees
composed Of men who have made. q life
study Of getting great crowds from the place
where they are 70 the place where they wish
% 60. They are all specialists In the
"humsn element side Of railroading, which
% the big element when millions Of passen-
ssrs year have to be moved. They realized
the possibilities Of the ramp idea at once
and seised upon It. They studied ramps
watched people By the hour passing up ana
down them. They ascended ana descended
samps themselves over and over again. Then
these intensely practical men. realizing that
they had hold Of the biggest application Of
the ramp idea that had ever been attempted,
in handling vast crowds in the greatest rail.
way passenger station In the world. went
to work and had one ramp after another
built and torn down. These experimental
ramps we're made on different grades-dif-
fArAnf sareAntaSaa NJ lnclinsfinn no~a
slopsd upward at the rate Of 8 feet In every
Hundreds others ct the rate Of II or ~.