Palisadian., 1924-08-15

completed, as a part of the Chicago Union
station project a railway mail terminal building
which is unique among such structures. 1t is not
only the largest existing building OF Its Sort being
800 feet long by rs feet in width, with height of
stories above basement, track level and sub
basement, but contains mechanical conveyors and
transportation equipment without an equal In the
world This equipment is capable of handling
5000 tons Of mail each "a hours A further idea
Of the magnitude of the operations carried on In
this terminal will be gained from the fact that
more than 1000 clerks and porters are employed
In the railway mail terminal department alone
Robert H. Moulton, Chicago writer, thus de-
scribes the workings Of the new plant, which was
visited by mail men from all the world who
are in search of efficiency and speed:
The mail terminal building extends from van
Buren to Harrison street. between Canal street on
the west and the Chicago river on the east, Win
private driveway along the full length on the east
side. The building Is Of the latest freproor design
Of steel and concrete and is furnished throughout
with factory-type steel sash to provide the maxi
mum light and ventilation. Its floor capacity Is
100000 square feet. 1t is Of the two-level type
and is served by platform tracks on the lower
level and teamway on the street level the private
driveway referred to affording $50 feet OF clear
tailboard space, or enough for go street vehicles
at one time. The track level has platform lengths
adequate to 81 cars. while the basement az
fords communication, by means of tunnels, with
cars at Union station platforms remote from the
mail terminal.
Perhaps the most notable feature of this ter
minal is the system of belt conveyors employed In
the building. According to the resident engineer
who has been in charge Of the installation of the
mail handling equipment, this system Is the arg
est installation of Its kind in the world. 1t con-
ssts Of II belt conveyors, requiring the use of ap
proxmately eight miles Of beltng 400 fitting
trucks of a special design; 1000 balanced type
trucks Of standard type; and sufficient num-
ber of tractors to handle the trucks effectively
throughout the building. In addition to these ia
ciIies there are Is freight elevators approximate
ly by IS feet each.
The terminal has a variety of functions. One
Of the most important is the handling Of mail
ceived from and delivered to trains at the Union
station. This consists primarily of the transfer
Of mail sacks from street vehicles to mail cars
and vice versa. great part of the operations
of the terminal however consists in the receipt
classification and dispatch of all papers, cata
logues and parcel post mail originating In Chi
cago as well mail of these three classes pass
Ing through the city. While the bulk of the ma
terial is received in the terminal already weighed
and with the postage Cancelled, portion of 1t has
not undergone these operations, and to take care
of the latter post Office has been provided in the
building
Unclassifed mail reaching the terminal from
the street is received along the middle portion of
the private driveway space; that from trains, on
the basement or track Level. From these two
points of receipt 1t is delivered to the upper floors
of the building for the necessary work of class
fcation.
Formerly parcel post mail originating in Chicago
was sacked and loaded into trucks at business
houses and transported to the mail station. From
25 to 80 minutes were required to load truck
and similar length Of time needed to unload It,
Under the system the same work is done in
from three to five minutes at each end of the line
thus effectng saving of close to an hour on each
motor truck load.
The first step in the system begins at the large
business houses mail order concerns. The mail
is loaded into six eight of the small fitting
trucks and the latter are conveyed by large
motor truck to the mail terminal building
Arrived there the fitting trucks are pulled out Of
the motor truck, coupled together in trains and
attached to an electric tractor, which hauls them
to a trough or pitt 90 feet long and 45 inches
wide, in the floor. A bumper at one side of the
pit marks the for the train of fitting trucks
and prevents 1t from slipping into the pit
AS the train passes along, employees tilt each
truck and the contents slide to the feed belt
there being three feet of space each for 40 men