The following summary description of the various divisions of the line
is intended to give a comprehensive idea of the general features of the
project. Full details will be given in succeeding papers. The line and
its respective divisions are shown on Plate I.
_Meadows Division._--Chief Engineer until March 1st, 1906, Mr. William
H. Brown, Chief Engineer, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, when he retired
from active service with the latter Company; since March 1st, 1906, Mr.
Alexander C. Shand, Chief Engineer, Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
This Division consists of an "interchange yard" at Harrison, near
Newark, N. J., adjoining the tracks of the present New York Division of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, and a double-track railroad across the
Hackensack Meadows to the west side of Bergen Hill, a distance of 6.04
miles. The construction is embankment and bridge work, including bridges
across the Pennsylvania, Erie, and Lackawanna Railroads, and the
Hackensack River.
_North River Division._--Chief Engineer, Mr. Charles M. Jacobs.
This Division commences at the west side of Bergen Hill and passes
through the hill in two single-track rock tunnels to a large permanent
shaft at Weehawken, near the west shore of the North River, and thence
eastward a distance of 224 ft. to the Weehawken shield-chamber. It then
passes under the river through two cast-iron, concrete-lined,
single-track tunnels, with outside diameters of 23 ft., to a point under
32d Street, near Eleventh Avenue, in New York City, and thence through
two single-track tunnels of varying cross-section, partly constructed in
cut-and-cover, to the east side of Tenth Avenue. It then passes into the
Station Yard and terminates at the east building line of Ninth Avenue.
The work included the Station Yard excavation and walls from Tenth
Avenue to Ninth Avenue, and the retaining walls and temporary
underpinning of Ninth Avenue. The aggregate length of the line in this
Division is 2.76 miles.
_New York Station and Approaches._--Mr. George Gibbs, Chief Engineer of
Electric Traction and Station Construction.
The Station and its approaches extend from the east line of Tenth Avenue
eastward to points in 32d Street and 33d Street, respectively, 292 ft.
and 502 ft. east of the west line of Seventh Avenue. This Division
included the construction of subways and bridges for the support of 31st
and 33d Streets and Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Avenues, the Station
building between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the foundations for the
post office to be erected west of Eighth Avenue, the service power-house
in 31st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the power-house in
Long Island City, the traction system, tracks, signals, and
miscellaneous facilities required in the physical construction of the
entire terminal railroad ready for operation. Messrs. McKim, Mead, and
White were the architects for the Station and Messrs. Westinghouse,
Church, Kerr and Company executed the structural engineering work, both
in the station and for the support of the streets, as well as the
construction of the subways.
The station is of steel skeleton construction with masonry curtain
walls, all supported by a system of columns extending to a rock
foundation. This building covers two city blocks and one intersecting
street, and has an area of about 8 acres. It is 774 ft. long, 433 ft.
wide, with an average height above the street of 69 ft., and a maximum
of 153 ft. The main waiting-room is 277 ft. long, 103 ft. wide and 150
ft. high. The Concourse is 340 ft. long and 210 ft. wide.
The level of the track system below the street surface varies from 39 to
58 ft., and is from 7 to 10 ft. below mean high water in the harbor,
thereby necessitating the establishment of an elaborate system of
drainage over the entire station yard area. Access to the street is
gained by elevators and stairways.
To accelerate the loading and unloading of the trains, high platforms
will be constructed in the station on a level with the floors of the
cars, in order to avoid the use of car steps and increase the traffic
capacity of the station.
There will be 21 standing-tracks at the station, and 11 passenger
platforms, providing 21,500 ft. of platform adjacent to passenger
trains. Within the station area, which from Tenth Avenue to the normal
tunnel sections east of Seventh Avenue comprises 28 acres, there will be
a total of about 16 miles of track.
The service plant for the installation of machinery for lighting,
heating, and ventilating the station, and for operating the interlocking
system, is located in an independent building south of the station.
The Power-House to supply the electrical energy for the operation of the
tunnel line and the Long Island Railroad is situated on property in
Queens Borough adjoining the present Long Island Railroad Station near
the East River, and was constructed under the Chief Engineer of Electric
Traction and Station Construction. As at present designed, the
dimensions of the structure are 200 ft. by 262 ft., outside measurement.
It can accommodate six generating units of 5,500 kw., the standard
adopted for future work, and two of 2,500 kw. for lighting the tunnels.
The ultimate capacity of this station when extended will be about
105,000 kw.
_East River Division._--Chief Engineer, Mr. Alfred Noble.
This Division begins at the eastern limits of the New York Station at a
point in 32d Street, 292 ft. east of the west line of Seventh Avenue,
and at a point in 33d Street, 502 ft. east of the west line of Seventh
Avenue, and also includes the excavation work and retaining walls for
the station site and yard, to the track level, westward to Ninth Avenue.
It extends eastward from the station under 32d and 33d Streets through
tunnels partly three-track and partly so-called twin tunnels to Second
Avenue; thence the line curves to the left under private property to
permanent shafts a few feet east of First Avenue. Four single-track,
cast-iron, concrete-lined tunnels, with outside diameters of 23 ft.,
pass under the East River, and, after passing through permanent shafts
near the bulkhead line, reach the surface in Long Island City from 3,000
to 4,200 ft. east of the East River. The tunnel portals are in
Sunnyside Yard, which extends to Woodside, the easterly end of the
Division, and the Yard grading with its buildings and a number of City
viaducts crossing it were executed under this Division. The total length
of the Division is 4.48 miles.
The total length of the entire line is 13.66 miles. There are 6.78 miles
of single-track tube tunnels, and the average length of the tunnels
between portals is 5.56 miles.
[Illustration: PLATE II.--Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad. Map
and Profile. Harrison Yard to Bergen Hill Tunnel. Meadow Division July
30 1909]