New-York tribune., 1911-11-29
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS,
W. @D Nh CENTpAI TERMINAL AND ITS DESlGNERS

! depended upon appropriations. th,, A..
will succeed because II has an earn,n, :,
pacity.
| The whole work is conducted bv a.
New York Central under a joint err..
ment with the New York. New Haven
Hartford. The presidents OF these two ran
roads. William G. Brown and CharI.. q
Mellen, are the court Of final resort ,o.
the approval OF plans. Another actiy. snd
important force In the carrying out Of o..
project Is William II. Newman, durr.
whose presidency OF tho New York Cen
trail the terminal was planned end .,s,,.d
and who now, as member Of the board a,
directors, is devoting much time and a.
ergy to II.
Each OF tho roads has a vice-prest.r,
who is more directly responsible 10, a..
design and conduct Of work, and vho :.
ports to the presidents. These yice-n-..
dents are assisted by a Joint comnit... =,
three representatives of each road MI
make recommendations on all plans s,a
specifications submitted by the assocls,.
architects.
The engineering department, which .,
building tho yards and superstructur. .,
headed by a chief engineer, Mr.. Gao,..
Kittridge, to whom the terminal nans,.r
the terminal engineer and the enginA.r :,
structures make reports. These head. =,
departments, each one OF which bs, .
large force under him. meet once a w.,
and discuss all details OF the work T.
this way close cooperation is obtainsA
and everybody knows what his colleague,
are doing.
As in the case Of the Panama Canal
| careful unit costs are kept. The prtnarv
purpose OF these is to keep the official,
, OF the companies Informed OF the progrss,
Of the project; another is the effect on ~,
efficiency OF the construction force. A.
result, excavation costs have been reduced
and the efficiency OF steam shovels N.
creased.
Perhaps the best idea Of the narn,.ud.
Of the terminal may be gained from a
comparison with the new PennSvlvs,Ia
Station, in New York This station occu.
pies twenty eight acres. and IS the larges,
terminal under one roof I'm the world Ru,
its acreage is smaller than the Grand Con.
trails which will have forty-six acres IN
I
on the suburban level, total Of alioy,
seventy acres.
The amount Of excavation IN the ,r.
terminals Is about the same. being approx.
| imately 100000 cubic yards. The Grant
Central will have twice the quantity o.
masonry and nearly twice the amount q,
steel as the Pennsylvania the tota
weight Of the steel employed being 5000
tons. There will be thirty-two miles o.
track in the Grand Central Station, n,
double the mileage i'm the Pennsylvania.
The car capacity Of the old Grand Central
terminal was 3s5 cars: the new one Is cal.
culated TO hold l,l49
The principal points Of difference he.
tween the two great stations Is that n,
Pennsylvania is a terminal station pur,
and simple, providing for the storage %,
cars elsewhere and using almost al Of 10
air rights for a monumental building al
its own, while the Grand Central will hsys
not only station, but also storage Yards
for cars and equipment Office buildings
and large area for revenue producing
structures.
The question naturally arises, when will
the Grand Central terminal be fnished7
Already part of the office buildings are
being occupied, the loft building Is unde,
roof, half of the train levels are being
used It is expected that the main station
building will be ready FOR use in 1912, ant
that the whole project, so far a. the rail
road end of 1t is concerned, will be com
pleted during 1915.
This terminal marks a new era In rail-
road construction. The old kind OF station
with high train shed IS doomed; modern
terminals must hereafter be below ths
street level. This is, Of course. made poss.
BILE by the superseding Of steam by cleo
trlcity for hauling trains into congeste1
centres.
When you come 10 sum up tho Grand
Central terminal as All accomplishment
you find that il is much moro than a rail-
way station. II will be a new city centre.
umph of constructive American architect-
ure.
In this respect the firm or Reed & Stem
have had a wide experience in railroad
touch with the needs of the railroad and
travelling public Having built and under
construction at the present time over i@
railroad stations, ranging I'm value from
$4,000 10 Sc0.O00CO0. shows the confidence
the railroad companies have In their abb
ity 10 construct practical and economically
planned railroad stations.