New Britain herald., 1927-11-17
\ HUGE NEW ENGLAND RlHROtD IN'Ii,Hpk!Si,,

RAILROAD ENTERPRISE.
 Ones breath is nearly taken away by the announcement from the Eos ton G Maine railroad that its North Station in Boston is to be changed into a combination station, coliseum and sports arena, office building and hotel. That this is not merely a dream is indicated by the fact that work has already started on the ] $1o.Go0.Qo0 enterprise.
 A sports arena and coliseum seat ing $500 people is not only con i tcmplatcd but actually will he built, announces the railroad; and to prove if, the names of widcly-known sport officials have been taken in as advisers and these will operate the arena when it is completed. It will equal if not surpass anything in New York, and when it is completed Boston as a sports center ought to be rather prominent in the public eye.
 The now North Station will have a waiting room with tWo-thirdS more seats in it than the Grand Central terminal in New York. The office building will be as large a skyscrap- CT as the laws of Boston allow, and the hotel one of those modern hos telries of which every city thinks it never can get an ample suhicicncy.
 This means that New England 1 railroad is getting out of the dumps and putting things over on a big scale. The project is quite western in it's magnitude. It means the E. 6; M. is taking it's head out of the sand and is willing to do things on a scale hitherto thought foreign to ->'" I-llS lciIli- Nlltill lIlCiIi IlOlIl'I Loring of the railroad points with pride to the fact that it is clear evil dence that the railroad is rehabili- tating itself and that it is setting the pace for all Of New England. It is not to be overlooked that the railroad expended $5,000,0 GOO for i improved freight terminals in Bos- ton. The additional s1o,o0o.0 .000 ex- penditure will mean an outlay of l $15,00O, ,o00, with lot of new equip mont and new rails not added.
 We are accustomed to regard the Boston X Maine as just q New Eng land railroad" This is because we for some reason are habituated into regarding native products with a de- of human beings, of which we all agree New EnglanderS never suffer ed from the inforiority complex
 Yet the Boston & Maine is a railroad which does as much bus mess as the entire Union Pacific ir the great west" and in that scctior of the country the Union Pacific i, ! regarded as the ne plus ultra ir railroad refinement, efficiency anG . success.
 The project in Boston is one fl line with modern railroad develop
 mont. Instead of constructing { mere new station. devoted exclusive ly to travel requirements, there ha! developed q sterling notion that tn, land can well be occupied witt other productive features at tn, same time. This heretofore has becl
 brought to its best fruition at in, Grand Central terminal, where ofic,
 buildings have been erected in pro
 fusion on railroad property. But no
 where has railroad gone to tn lengths Of the E. X NI in providin;
 supplementary productive enter
 prisos in connection with a station
 Improvement. It means that q Ney
 England railroad is providing a pre- . cndent that all others will be please,
 10 note with interest, and one f.
 which New England itself can wei
 feel q justified pride.