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Interborough Rapid Transit
THE NEW YORK SUBWAY
Its Construction and Equipment
[Illustration: OPERATING ROOM OF POWER HOUSE]
[Illustration: (I.R.T. symbol)]
New York
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
ANNO. DOMI. MCMIV
Copyright, 1904, by
Interborough Rapid Transit Co.
New York
Planned and Executed by The
McGraw Publishing Co.
[Illustration: (McGraw Publishing Company New York logo)]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.
INTRODUCTION, 13
CHAPTER I. THE ROUTE OF THE ROAD--PASSENGER STATIONS
AND TRACKS, 23
CHAPTER II. TYPES AND METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION, 37
CHAPTER III. POWER HOUSE BUILDING, 67
CHAPTER IV. POWER PLANT FROM COAL PILE TO SHAFTS OF
ENGINES AND TURBINES, 77
CHAPTER V. SYSTEM OF ELECTRICAL SUPPLY, 91
CHAPTER VI. ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT OF CARS, 117
CHAPTER VII. LIGHTING SYSTEM FOR PASSENGER STATIONS
AND TUNNEL, 121
CHAPTER VIII. ROLLING STOCK--CARS, TRUCKS, ETC., 125
CHAPTER IX. SIGNAL SYSTEM, 135
CHAPTER X. SUBWAY DRAINAGE, 145
CHAPTER XI. REPAIR AND INSPECTION SHED, 147
CHAPTER XII. SUB-CONTRACTORS, 151
INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT COMPANY
_Directors_
August Belmont
E. P. Bryan
Andrew Freedman
James Jourdan
Gardiner M. Lane
John B. McDonald
Walter G. Oakman
John Peirce
Morton F. Plant
William A. Read
Alfred Skitt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
George W. Young
_Executive Committee_
August Belmont
Andrew Freedman
James Jourdan
Walter G. Oakman
William A. Read
Cornelius Vanderbilt
_Officers_
August Belmont, President
E. P. Bryan, Vice-president
H. M. Fisher, Secretary
D. W. McWilliams, Treasurer
E. F. J. Gaynor, Auditor
Frank Hedley, General Superintendent
S. L. F. Deyo, Chief Engineer
George W. Wickersham, General Counsel
Chas. A. Gardiner, General Attorney
DeLancey Nicoll, Associate Counsel
Alfred A. Gardner, Associate Counsel
_Engineering Staff_
S. L. F. Deyo, Chief Engineer.
_Electrical Equipment_
L. B. Stillwell, Electrical Director.
H. N. Latey, Principal Assistant.
Frederick R. Slater, Assistant Engineer in charge of Third Rail
Construction.
Albert F. Parks, Assistant Engineer in charge of Lighting.
George G. Raymond, Assistant Engineer in charge of Conduits and Cables.
William B. Flynn, Assistant Engineer in charge of Draughting Room.
_Mechanical and Architectural_
J. Van Vleck, Mechanical and Construction Engineer.
William C. Phelps, Assistant Construction Engineer.
William N. Stevens, Ass't Mechanical Engineer.
Paul C. Hunter, Architectural Assistant.
Geo. E. Thomas, Supervising Engineer in Field.
_Cars and Signal System_
George Gibbs, Consulting Engineer.
Watson T. Thompson, Master Mechanic.
J. N. Waldron, Signal Engineer.
RAPID TRANSIT SUBWAY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
_Directors_
August Belmont
E. P. Bryan
Andrew Freedman
James Jourdan
Gardiner M. Lane
Walther Luttgen
John B. McDonald
Walter G. Oakman
John Peirce
Morton F. Plant
William A. Read
Cornelius Vanderbilt
George W. Young
_Executive Committee_
August Belmont
Andrew Freedman
James Jourdan
Walter G. Oakman
William A. Read
Cornelius Vanderbilt
_Officers_
August Belmont, president
Walter G. Oakman, vice-president
John B. McDonald, contractor
H. M. Fisher, secretary
John F. Buck, treasurer
E. F. J. Gaynor, auditor
S. L. F. Deyo, chief engineer
George W. Wickersham, general counsel
Alfred A. Gardner, attorney
_Engineering Staff_
S. L. F. Deyo, Chief Engineer.
H. T. Douglas, Principal Assistant Engineer.
A. Edward Olmsted, Division Engineer, Manhattan-Bronx Lines.
Henry B. Reed, Division Engineer, Brooklyn Extension.
Theodore Paschke, Resident Engineer, First Division, City Hall to 33d
Street, also Brooklyn Extension, City Hall to Bowling Green; and
Robert S. Fowler, Assistant.
Ernest C. Moore, Resident Engineer, Second Division, 33d Street to
104th Street; and Stanley Raymond, Assistant.
William C. Merryman, Resident Engineer, Third Division, Underground
Work, 104th Street to Fort George West Side and Westchester Avenue
East Side; and William B. Leonard, W. A. Morton, and William E.
Morris, Jr., Assistants.
Allan A. Robbins and Justin Burns, Resident Engineers, Fourth
Division, Viaducts; and George I. Oakley, Assistant.
Frank D. Leffingwell, Resident Engineer, East River Tunnel Division,
Brooklyn Extension; and C. D. Drew, Assistant.
Percy Litchfield, Resident Engineer, Fifth Division, Brooklyn
Extension, Borough Hall to Prospect Park; and Edward R. Eichner,
Assistant.
M. C. Hamilton, Engineer, Maintenance of Way; and Robert E. Brandeis,
Assistant.
D. L. Turner, Assistant Engineer in charge of Stations.
A. Samuel Berquist, Assistant Engineer in charge of Steel Erection.
William J. Boucher, Assistant Engineer in charge of Draughting Rooms.
[Illustration: (INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT)]
INTRODUCTION
The completion of the rapid transit railroad in the boroughs of
Manhattan and The Bronx, which is popularly known as the "Subway," has
demonstrated that underground railroads can be built beneath the
congested streets of the city, and has made possible in the near
future a comprehensive system of subsurface transportation extending
throughout the wide territory of Greater New York.
In March, 1900, when the Mayor with appropriate ceremonies broke
ground at the Borough Hall, in Manhattan, for the new road, there were
many well-informed people, including prominent financiers and
experienced engineers, who freely prophesied failure for the
enterprise, although the contract had been taken by a most capable
contractor, and one of the best known banking houses in America had
committed itself to finance the undertaking.
In looking at the finished road as a completed work, one is apt to
wonder why it ever seemed impossible and to forget the difficulties
which confronted the builders at the start.
The railway was to be owned by the city, and built and operated under
legislation unique in the history of municipal governments,
complicated, and minute in provisions for the occupation of the city
streets, payment of moneys by the city, and city supervision over
construction and operation. Questions as to the interpretation of
these provisions might have to be passed upon by the courts, with
delays, how serious none could foretell, especially in New York where
the crowded calendars retard speedy decisions. The experience of the
elevated railroad corporations in building their lines had shown the
uncertainty of depending upon legal precedents. It was not, at that
time, supposed that the abutting property owners would have any legal
ground for complaint against the elevated structures, but the courts
found new laws for new conditions and spelled out new property rights
of light, air, and access, which were made the basis for a volume of
litigation unprecedented in the courts of any country.
An underground railroad was a new condition. None could say that the
abutting property owners might not find rights substantial enough, at
least, to entitle them to their day in court, a day which, in this
State, might stretch into many months, or even several years. Owing to
the magnitude of the work, delay might easily result in failure. An
eminent judge of the New York Supreme Court had emphasized the
uncertainties of the situation in the following language: "Just what
are the rights of the owners of property abutting upon a street or
avenue, the fee in and to the soil underneath the surface of which has
been acquired by the city of New York, so far as the same is not
required for the ordinary city uses of gas or water pipes, or others
of a like character, has never been finally determined. We have now
the example of the elevated railroad, constructed and operated in the
city of New York under legislative and municipal authority for nearly
twenty years, which has been compelled to pay many millions of dollars
to abutting property owners for the easement in the public streets
appropriated by the construction and maintenance of the road, and
still the amount that the road will have to pay is not ascertained.
What liabilities will be imposed upon the city under this contract;
what injury the construction and operation of this road will cause to
abutting property, and what easements and rights will have to be
acquired before the road can be legally constructed and operated, it
is impossible now to ascertain."
It is true, that the city undertook "to secure to the contractor the
right to construct and operate, free from all rights, claims, or other
interference, whether by injunction, suit for damages, or otherwise on
the part of any abutting owner or other person." But another eminent
judge of the same court had characterized this as "a condition
absolutely impossible of fulfillment," and had said: "How is the city
to prevent interference with the work by injunction? That question
lies with the courts; and not with the courts of this State alone, for
there are cases without doubt in which the courts of the United States
would have jurisdiction to act, and when such jurisdiction exists they
have not hitherto shown much reluctance in acting.... That legal
proceedings will be undertaken which will, to some extent at least,
interfere with the progress of this work seems to be inevitable...."
Another difficulty was that the Constitution of the State of New York
limited the debt-incurring power of the city. The capacity of the city
to undertake the work had been much discussed in the courts, and the
Supreme Court of the State had disposed of that phase of the situation
by suggesting that it did not make much difference to the municipality
whether or not the debt limit permitted a contract for the work,
because if the limit should be exceeded, "no liability could possibly
be imposed upon the city," a view which might comfort the timid
taxpayers but could hardly be expected to give confidence to the
capitalists who might undertake the execution of the contract.
Various corporations, organized during the thirty odd years of
unsuccessful attempts by the city to secure underground rapid transit,
claimed that their franchises gave them vested rights in the streets
to the exclusion of the new enterprise, and they were prepared to
assert their rights in the courts. (The Underground Railroad Company
of the City of New York sought to enjoin the building of the road and
carried their contest to the Supreme Court of the United States which
did not finally decide the questions raised until March, 1904, when
the subway was practically complete.)
Rival transportation companies stood ready to obstruct the work and
encourage whomever might find objection to the building of the road.
New York has biennial elections. The road could not be completed in
two years, and the attitude of one administration might not be the
attitude of its successors.
The engineering difficulties were well-nigh appalling. Towering
buildings along the streets had to be considered, and the streets
themselves were already occupied with a complicated network of
subsurface structures, such as sewers, water and gas mains, electric
cable conduits, electric surface railway conduits, telegraph and
power conduits, and many vaults extending out under the streets,
occupied by the abutting property owners. On the surface were street
railway lines carrying a very heavy traffic night and day, and all the
thoroughfares in the lower part of the city were congested with
vehicular traffic.
Finally, the city was unwilling to take any risk, and demanded
millions of dollars of security to insure the completion of the road
according to the contract, the terms of which were most exacting down
to the smallest detail.
The builders of the road did not underestimate the magnitude of the
task before them. They retained the most experienced experts for every
part of the work and, perfecting an organization in an incredibly
short time, proceeded to surmount and sweep aside difficulties. The
result is one of which every citizen of New York may feel proud. Upon
the completion of the road the city will own the best constructed and
best equipped intraurban rapid transit railroad in the world. The
efforts of the builders have not been limited by the strict terms of
the contract. They have striven, not to equal the best devices, but to
improve upon the best devices used in modern electrical railroading,
to secure for the traveling public safety, comfort, and speedy
transportation.
The road is off the surface and escapes the delays incident to
congested city streets, but near the surface and accessible, light,
dry, clean, and well ventilated. The stations and approaches are
commodious, and the stations themselves furnish conveniences to
passengers heretofore not heard of on intraurban lines. There is a
separate express service, with its own tracks, and the stations are so
arranged that passengers may pass from local trains to express trains,
and vice versa, without delay and without payment of additional fare.
Special precautions have been taken and devices adopted to prevent a
failure of the electric power and the consequent delays of traffic. An
electro pneumatic block signal system has been devised, which excels
any system heretofore used and is unique in its mechanism. The third
rail for conveying the electric current is covered, so as to prevent
injury to passengers and employees from contact. Special emergency and
fire alarm signal systems are installed throughout the length of the
road. At a few stations, where the road is not near the surface,
improved escalators and elevators are provided. The cars have been
designed to prevent danger from fire, and improved types of motors
have been adopted, capable of supplying great speed combined with
complete control. Strength, utility, and convenience have not alone
been considered, but all parts of the railroad structures and
equipment, stations, power house, and electrical sub-stations have
been designed and constructed with a view to the beauty of their
appearance, as well as to their efficiency.
The completion of the subway marks the solution of a problem which for
over thirty years baffled the people of New York City, in spite of the
best efforts of many of its foremost citizens. An extended account of
Rapid Transit Legislation would be out of place here, but a brief
glance at the history of the Act under the authority of which the
subway has been built is necessary to a clear understanding of the
work which has been accomplished. From 1850 to 1865 the street surface
horse railways were sufficient for the requirements of the traveling
public. As the city grew rapidly, the congestion spreading northward,
to and beyond the Harlem River, the service of surface roads became
entirely inadequate. As early as 1868, forty-two well known business
men of the city became, by special legislative Act, incorporators of
the New York City Central Underground Railway Company, to build a line
from the City Hall to the Harlem River. The names of the incorporators
evidenced the seriousness of the attempt, but nothing came of it. In
1872, also by special Act, Cornelius Vanderbilt and others were
incorporated as The New York City Rapid Transit Company, to build an
underground road from the City Hall to connect with the New York &
Harlem Road at 59th Street, with a branch to the tracks of the New
York Central Road. The enterprise was soon abandoned. Numerous
companies were incorporated in the succeeding years under the general
railroad laws, to build underground roads, but without results; among
them the Central Tunnel Railway Company in 1881, The New York & New
Jersey Tunnel Railway Company in 1883, The Terminal Underground
Railway Company in 1886, The Underground Railroad Company of the City
of New York (a consolidation of the last two companies) in 1896, and
The Rapid Transit Underground Railroad Company in 1897.
All attempts to build a road under the early special charter and later
under the general laws having failed, the city secured in 1891 the
passage of the Rapid Transit Act under which, as amended, the subway
has been built. As originally passed it did not provide for municipal
ownership. It provided that a board of five rapid transit railroad
commissioners might adopt routes and general plans for a railroad,
obtain the consents of the local authorities and abutting property
owners, or in lieu of the consents of the property owners the approval
of the Supreme Court; and then, having adopted detail plans for the
construction and operation, might sell at public sale the right to
build and operate the road to a corporation, whose powers and duties
were defined in the Act, for such period of time and on such terms as
they could. The Commissioners prepared plans and obtained the consents
of the local authorities. The property owners refused their consent;
the Supreme Court gave its approval in lieu thereof, but upon inviting
bids the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners found no
responsible bidder.
The late Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, as early as 1884, when legislation for
underground roads was under discussion, had urged municipal ownership.
Speaking in 1901, he said of his efforts in 1884:
"It was evident to me that underground rapid transit could
not be secured by the investment of private capital, but in
some way or other its construction was dependent upon the
use of the credit of the City of New York. It was also
apparent to me that if such credit were used, the property
must belong to the city. Inasmuch as it would not be safe
for the city to undertake the construction itself, the
intervention of a contracting company appeared
indispensable. To secure the city against loss, this company
must necessarily be required to give a sufficient bond for
the completion of the work and be willing to enter into a
contract for its continued operation under a rental which
would pay the interest upon the bonds issued by the city for
the construction, and provide a sinking fund sufficient for
the payment of the bonds at or before maturity. It also
seemed to be indispensable that the leasing company should
invest in the rolling stock and in the real estate required
for its power houses and other buildings an amount of money
sufficiently large to indemnify the city against loss in
case the lessees should fail in their undertaking to build
and operate the railroad."
Mr. Hewitt became Mayor of the city in 1887, and his views were
presented in the form of a Bill to the Legislature in the following
year. The measure found practically no support. Six years later, after
the Rapid Transit Commissioners had failed under the Act of 1891, as
originally drawn, to obtain bidders for the franchise, the New York
Chamber of Commerce undertook to solve the problem by reverting to Mr.
Hewitt's idea of municipal ownership. Whether or not municipal
ownership would meet the approval of the citizens of New York could
not be determined; therefore, as a preliminary step, it was decided to
submit the question to a popular vote. An amendment to the Act of 1891
was drawn (Chapter 752 of the Laws of 1894) which provided that the
qualified electors of the city were to decide at an annual election,
by ballot, whether the rapid transit railway or railways should be
constructed by the city and at the public's expense, and be operated
under lease from the city, or should be constructed by a private
corporation under a franchise to be sold in the manner attempted
unsuccessfully, under the Act of 1891, as originally passed. At the
fall election of 1894, the electors of the city, by a very large vote,
declared against the sale of a franchise to a private corporation and
in favor of ownership by the city. Several other amendments, the
necessity for which developed as plans for the railway were worked
out, were made up to and including the session of the Legislature of
1900, but the general scheme for rapid transit may be said to have
become fixed when the electors declared in favor of municipal
ownership. The main provisions of the legislation which stood upon the
statute books as the Rapid Transit Act, when the contract was finally
executed, February 21, 1900, may be briefly summarized as follows:
(_a_) The Act was general in terms, applying to all cities in the
State having a population of over one million; it was special in
effect because New York was the only city having such a population. It
did not limit the Rapid Transit Commissioners to the building of a
single road, but authorized the laying out of successive roads or
extensions.
(_b_) A Board was created consisting of the Mayor, Comptroller, or
other chief financial officer of the city; the president of the
Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, by virtue of his office,
and five members named in the Act: William Steinway, Seth Low, John
Claflin, Alexander E. Orr, and John H. Starin, men distinguished for
their business experience, high integrity, and civic pride. Vacancies
in the Board were to be filled by the Board itself, a guaranty of a
continued uniform policy.
(_c_) The Board was to prepare general routes and plans and submit the
question of municipal ownership to the electors of the city.
(_d_) The city was authorized, in the event that the electors decided
for city ownership, to issue bonds not to exceed $50,000,000 for the
construction of the road or roads and $5,000,000 additional, if
necessary, for acquiring property rights for the route. The interest
on the bonds was not to exceed 3-1/2 per cent.
(_e_) The Commissioners were given the broad power to enter into a
contract (in the case of more than one road, successive contracts) on
behalf of the city for the construction of the road with the person,
firm, or corporation which in the opinion of the Board should be best
qualified to carry out the contract, and to determine the amount of
the bond to be given by the contractor to secure its performance. The
essential features of the contract were, however, prescribed by the
Act. The contractor in and by the contract for building the road was
to agree to fully equip it at his own expense, and the equipment was
to include all power houses. He was also to operate the road, as
lessee of the city, for a term not to exceed fifty years, upon terms
to be included in the contract for construction, which might include
provision for renewals of the lease upon such terms as the Board
should from time to time determine. The rental was to be at least
equal to the amount of interest on the bonds which the city might
issue for construction and one per cent. additional. The one per cent.
additional might, in the discretion of the Board, be made contingent
in part for the first ten years of the lease upon the earnings of the
road. The rental was to be applied by the city to the interest on the
bonds and the balance was to be paid into the city's general sinking
fund for payment of the city's debt or into a sinking fund for the
redemption at maturity of the bonds issued for the construction of the
rapid transit road, or roads. In addition to the security which might
be required by the Board of the contractor for construction and
operation, the Act provided that the city should have a first lien
upon the equipment of the road to be furnished by the contractor, and
at the termination of the lease the city had the privilege of
purchasing such equipment from the contractor.
(_f_) The city was to furnish the right of way to the contractor free
from all claims of abutting property owners. The road was to be the
absolute property of the city and to be deemed a part of the public
streets and highways. The equipment of the road was to be exempt from
taxation.
(_g_) The Board was authorized to include in the contract for
construction provisions in detail for the supervision of the city,
through the Board, over the operation of the road under the lease.
One of the most attractive--and, in fact, indispensable features of
the scheme--was that the work of construction, instead of being
subject to the conflicting control of various departments of the City
Government, with their frequent changes in personnel, was under the
exclusive supervision and control of the Rapid Transit Board, a
conservative and continuous body composed of the two principal
officers of the City Government, and five merchants of the very
highest standing in the community.
Provided capitalists could be found to undertake such an extensive
work under the exacting provisions, the scheme was an admirable one
from the taxpayers' point of view. The road would cost the city
practically nothing and the obligation of the contractor to equip and
operate being combined with the agreement to construct furnished a
safeguard against waste of the public funds and insured the prompt
completion of the road. The interest of the contractor in the
successful operation, after construction, furnished a strong incentive
to see that as the construction progressed the details were consistent
with successful operation and to suggest and consent to such
modifications of the contract plans as might appear necessary from an
operating point of view, from time to time. The rental being based
upon the cost encouraged low bids, and the lien of the city upon the
equipment secured the city against all risk, once the road was in
operation.
Immediately after the vote of the electors upon the question of
municipal ownership, the Rapid Transit Commissioners adopted routes
and plans which they had been studying and perfecting since the
failure to find bidders for the franchise under the original Act of
1891. The local authorities approved them, and again the property
owners refused their consent, making an application to the Supreme
Court necessary. The Court refused its approval upon the ground that
the city, owing to a provision of the constitution of the State
limiting the city's power to incur debt, would be unable to raise the
necessary money. This decision appeared to nullify all the efforts of
the public spirited citizens composing the Board of Rapid Transit
Commissioners and to practically prohibit further attempts on their
part. They persevered, however, and in January, 1897, adopted new
general routes and plans. The consolidation of a large territory into
the Greater New York, and increased land values, warranted the hope
that the city's debt limit would no longer be an objection, especially
as the new route changed the line so as to reduce the estimated cost.
The demands for rapid transit had become more and more imperative as
the years went by, and it was fair to assume that neither the courts
nor the municipal authorities would be overzealous to find a narrow
construction of the laws. Incidentally, the constitutionality of the
rapid transit legislation, in its fundamental features, had been
upheld in the Supreme Court in a decision which was affirmed by the
highest court of the State a few weeks after the Board had adopted its
new plans. The local authorities gave their consent to the new route;
the property owners, as on the two previous occasions, refused their
consent; the Supreme Court gave its approval in lieu thereof; and the
Board was prepared to undertake the preliminaries for letting a
contract. These successive steps and the preparation of the terms of
the contract all took time; but, finally, on November 15, 1899, a form
of contract was adopted and an invitation issued by the Board to
contractors to bid for the construction and operation of the railroad.
There were two bidders, one of whom was John B. McDonald, whose terms
submitted under the invitation were accepted on January 15, 1900; and,
for the first time, it seemed as if a beginning might be made in the
actual construction of the rapid transit road. The letter of
invitation to contractors required that every proposal should be
accompanied by a certified check upon a National or State Bank,
payable to the order of the Comptroller, for $150,000, and that within
ten days after acceptance, or within such further period as might be
prescribed by the Board, the contract should be duly executed and
delivered. The amount to be paid by the city for the construction was
$35,000,000 and an additional sum not to exceed $2,750,000 for
terminals, station sites, and other purposes. The construction was to
be completed in four years and a half, and the term of the lease from
the city to the contractor was fixed at fifty years, with a renewal,
at the option of the contractor, for twenty-five years at a rental to
be agreed upon by the city, not less than the average rental for the
then preceding ten years. The rental for the fifty-year term was fixed
at an amount equal to the annual interest upon the bonds issued by the
city for construction and 1 per cent. additional, such 1 per cent.
during the first ten years to be contingent in part upon the earnings
of the road. To secure the performance of the contract by Mr. McDonald
the city required him to deposit $1,000,000 in cash as security for
construction, to furnish a bond with surety for $5,000,000 as security
for construction and equipment, and to furnish another bond of
$1,000,000 as continuing security for the performance of the contract.
The city in addition to this security had, under the provisions of the
Rapid Transit Act, a first lien on the equipment, and it should be
mentioned that at the expiration of the lease and renewals (if any)
the equipment is to be turned over to the city, pending an agreement
or arbitration upon the question of the price to be paid for it by the
city. The contract (which covered about 200 printed pages) was minute
in detail as to the work to be done, and sweeping powers of
supervision were given the city through the Chief Engineer of the
Board, who by the contract was made arbiter of all questions that
might arise as to the interpretation of the plans and specifications.
The city had been fortunate in securing for the preparation of plans
the services of Mr. William Barclay Parsons, one of the foremost
engineers of the country. For years as Chief Engineer of the Board he
had studied and developed the various plans and it was he who was to
superintend on behalf of the city the completion of the work.
During the thirty-two years of rapid transit discussion between 1868,
when the New York City Central Underground Company was incorporated,
up to 1900, when the invitations for bids were issued by the city,
every scheme for rapid transit had failed because responsible
capitalists could not be found willing to undertake the task of
building a road. Each year had increased the difficulties attending
such an enterprise and the scheme finally evolved had put all of the
risk upon the capitalists who might attempt to finance the work, and
left none upon the city. Without detracting from the credit due the
public-spirited citizens who had evolved the plan of municipal
ownership, it may be safely asserted that the success of the
undertaking depended almost entirely upon the financial backing of the
contractor. When the bid was accepted by the city no arrangements had
been made for the capital necessary to carry out the contract. After
its acceptance, Mr. McDonald not only found little encouragement in
his efforts to secure the capital, but discovered that the surety
companies were unwilling to furnish the security required of him,
except on terms impossible for him to fulfill.
The crucial point in the whole problem of rapid transit with which the
citizens of New York had struggled for so many years had been reached,
and failure seemed inevitable. The requirements of the Rapid Transit
Act were rigid and forbade any solution of the problem which committed
the city to share in the risks of the undertaking. Engineers might
make routes and plans, lawyers might draw legislative acts, the city
might prepare contracts, the question was and always had been, Can
anybody build the road who will agree to do it and hold the city safe
from loss?
It was obvious when the surety companies declined the issue that the
whole rapid transit problem was thrown open, or rather that it always
had been open. The final analysis had not been made. After all, the
attitude of the surety companies was only a reflection of the general
feeling of practical business and railroad men towards the whole
venture. To the companies the proposition had come as a concrete
business proffer and they had rejected it.
At this critical point, Mr. McDonald sought the assistance of Mr.
August Belmont. It was left to Mr. Belmont to make the final analysis,
and avert the failure which impended. There was no time for indecision
or delay. Whatever was to be done must be done immediately. The
necessary capital must be procured, the required security must be
given, and an organization for building and operating the road must be
anticipated. Mr. Belmont looking through and beyond the intricacies of
the Rapid Transit Act, and the complications of the contract, saw that
he who undertook to surmount the difficulties presented by the
attitude of the surety companies must solve the whole problem. It was
not the ordinary question of financing a railroad contract. He saw
that the responsibility for the entire rapid transit undertaking must
be centered, and that a compact and effective organization must be
planned which could deal with every phase of the situation.
Mr. Belmont without delay took the matter up directly with the Board
of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and presented a plan for the
incorporation of a company to procure the security required for the
performance of the contract, to furnish the capital necessary to carry
on the work, and to assume supervision over the whole undertaking.
Application was to be made to the Supreme Court to modify the
requirements with respect to the sureties by striking out a provision
requiring the justification of the sureties in double the amount of
liabilities assumed by each and reducing the minimum amount permitted
to be taken by each surety from $500,000 to $250,000. The new
corporation was to execute as surety a bond for $4,000,000, the
additional amount of $1,000,000 to be furnished by other sureties. A
beneficial interest in the bonds required from the sub-contractors was
to be assigned to the city and, finally, the additional amount of
$1,000,000, in cash or securities, was to be deposited with the city
as further security for the performance of the contract. The plan was
approved by the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners, and
pursuant to the plan, the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company
was organized. The Supreme Court granted the application to modify the
requirements as to the justification of sureties and the contract was
executed February 21, 1900.
As president and active executive head of the Rapid Transit Subway
Construction Company, Mr. Belmont perfected its organization,
collected the staff of engineers under whose direction the work of
building the road was to be done, supervised the letting of
sub-contracts, and completed the financial arrangements for carrying
on the work.
The equipment of the road included, under the terms of the contract,
the rolling stock, all machinery and mechanisms for generating
electricity for motive power, lighting, and signaling, and also the
power house, sub-stations, and the real estate upon which they were to
be erected. The magnitude of the task of providing the equipment was
not generally appreciated until Mr. Belmont took the rapid transit
problem in hand. He foresaw from the beginning the importance of that
branch of the work, and early in 1900, immediately after the signing
of the contract, turned his attention to selecting the best engineers
and operating experts, and planned the organization of an operating
company. As early as May, 1900, he secured the services of Mr. E. P.
Bryan, who came to New York from St. Louis, resigning as
vice-president and general manager of the Terminal Railroad
Association, and began a study of the construction work and plans for
equipment, to the end that the problems of operation might be
anticipated as the building and equipment of the road progressed. Upon
the incorporation of the operating company, Mr. Bryan became
vice-president.
In the spring of 1902, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the
operating railroad corporation was formed by the interests represented
by Mr. Belmont, he becoming president and active executive head of
this company also, and soon thereafter Mr. McDonald assigned to it the
lease or operating part of his contract with the city, that company
thereby becoming directly responsible to the city for the equipment
and operation of the road, Mr. McDonald remaining as contractor for
its construction. In the summer of the same year, the Board of Rapid
Transit Railroad Commissioners having adopted a route and plans for an
extension of the subway under the East River to the Borough of
Brooklyn, the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company entered into a
contract with the city, similar in form to Mr. McDonald's contract, to
build, equip, and operate the extension. Mr. McDonald, as contractor
of the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company, assumed the general
supervision of the work of constructing the Brooklyn extension; and
the construction work of both the original subway and the extension
has been carried on under his direction. The work of construction has
been greatly facilitated by the broad minded and liberal policy of the
Rapid Transit Board and its Chief Engineer and Counsel, and by the
coöperation of all the other departments of the City Government, and
also by the generous attitude of the Metropolitan Street Railway
Company and its lessee, the New York City Railroad Company, in
extending privileges which have been of great assistance in the
prosecution of the work. In January, 1903, the Interborough Rapid
Transit Company acquired the elevated railway system by lease for 999
years from the Manhattan Railway Company, thus assuring harmonious
operation of the elevated roads and the subway system, including the
Brooklyn extension.
The incorporators of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company were
William H. Baldwin, Jr., Charles T. Barney, August Belmont, E. P.
Bryan, Andrew Freedman, James Jourdan, Gardiner M. Lane, John B.
McDonald, DeLancey Nicoll, Walter G. Oakman, John Peirce, Wm. A. Read,
Cornelius Vanderbilt, George W. Wickersham, and George W. Young.
The incorporators of the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company
were Charles T. Barney, August Belmont, John B. McDonald, Walter G.
Oakman, and William A. Read.
[Illustration: (wings)]
[Illustration: EXTERIOR VIEW OF POWER HOUSE]
CHAPTER I
THE ROUTE OF THE ROAD--PASSENGER STATIONS AND TRACKS
The selection of route for the Subway was governed largely by the
amount which the city was authorized by the Rapid Transit Act to
spend. The main object of the road was to carry to and from their
homes in the upper portions of Manhattan Island the great army of
workers who spend the business day in the offices, shops, and
warehouses of the lower portions, and it was therefore obvious that
the general direction of the routes must be north and south, and that
the line must extend as nearly as possible from one end of the island
to the other.
The routes proposed by the Rapid Transit Board in 1895, after
municipal ownership had been approved by the voters at the fall
election of 1894, contemplated the occupation of Broadway below 34th
Street to the Battery, and extended only to 185th Street on the west
side and 146th Street on the east side of the city. As has been told
in the introductory chapter, this plan was rejected by the Supreme
Court because of the probable cost of going under Broadway. It was
also intimated by the Court, in rejecting the routes, that the road
should extend further north.
It had been clear from the beginning that no routes could be laid out
to which abutting property owners would consent, and that the consent
of the Court as an alternative would be necessary to any routes
chosen. To conform as nearly as possible to the views of the Court,
the Commission proposed, in 1897, the so called "Elm Street route,"
the plan finally adopted, which reached from the territory near the
General Post-office, the City Hall, and Brooklyn Bridge Terminal to
Kingsbridge and the station of the New York & Putnam Railroad on the
upper west side, and to Bronx Park on the upper east side of the city,
touching the Grand Central Depot at 42d Street.
Subsequently, by the adoption of the Brooklyn Extension, the line was
extended down Broadway to the southern extremity of Manhattan Island,
thence under the East River to Brooklyn.
The routes in detail are as follows:
[Sidenote:
_Manhattan-Bronx
Route_]
Beginning near the intersection of Broadway and Park Row, one of the
routes of the railroad extends under Park Row, Center Street, New Elm
Street, Elm Street, Lafayette Place, Fourth Avenue (beginning at Astor
Place), Park Avenue, 42d Street, and Broadway to 125th Street, where
it passes over Broadway by viaduct to 133d Street, thence under
Broadway again to and under Eleventh Avenue to Fort George, where it
comes to the surface again at Dyckman Street and continues by viaduct
over Naegle Avenue, Amsterdam Avenue, and Broadway to Bailey Avenue,
at the Kingsbridge station of the New York & Putnam Railroad, crossing
the Harlem Ship Canal on a double-deck drawbridge. The length of this
route is 13.50 miles, of which about 2 miles are on viaduct.
Another route begins at Broadway near 103d Street and extends under
104th Street and the upper part of Central Park to and under Lenox
Avenue to 142d Street, thence curving to the east to and under the
Harlem River at about 145th Street, thence from the river to and
under East 149th Street to a point near Third Avenue, thence by
viaduct beginning at Brook Avenue over Westchester Avenue, the
Southern Boulevard and the Boston Road to Bronx Park. The length of
this route is about 6.97 miles, of which about 3 miles are on viaduct.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE LINES OF THE INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT
CO. 1904]
At the City Hall there is a loop under the Park. From 142d Street
there is a spur north under Lenox Avenue to 148th Street. There is a
spur at Westchester and Third Avenues connecting by viaduct the
Manhattan Elevated Railway Division of Interborough Rapid Transit
Company with the viaduct of the subway at or near St. Ann's Avenue.
[Sidenote: _Brooklyn Route_]
The route of the Brooklyn Extension connects near Broadway and Park
Row with the Manhattan Bronx Route and extends under Broadway, Bowling
Green, State Street, Battery Park, Whitehall Street, and South Street
to and under the East River to Brooklyn at the foot of Joralemon
Street, thence under Joralemon Street, Fulton Street, and Flatbush
Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, connecting with the Brooklyn tunnel of the
Long Island Railroad at that point. There is a loop under Battery Park
beginning at Bridge Street. The length of this route is about 3 miles.
The routes in Manhattan and The Bronx may therefore be said to roughly
resemble the letter Y with the base at the southern extremity of
Manhattan Island, the fork at 103d Street and Broadway, the terminus
of the westerly or Fort George branch of the fork just beyond Spuyten
Duyvil Creek, the terminus of the easterly or Bronx Park branch at
Bronx Park.
[Sidenote: _Location
of Stations_]
The stations beginning at the base of the Y and following the route up
to the fork are located at the following points:
South Ferry, Bowling Green and Battery Place, Rector Street and
Broadway, Fulton Street and Broadway, City Hall, Manhattan; Brooklyn
Bridge Entrance, Manhattan; Worth and Elm Streets, Canal and Elm
Streets, Spring and Elm Streets, Bleecker and Elm Streets, Astor Place
and Fourth Avenue, 14th Street and Fourth Avenue, 18th Street and
Fourth Avenue, 23d Street and Fourth Avenue, 28th Street and Fourth
Avenue, 33d Street and Fourth Avenue, 42d Street and Madison Avenue
(Grand Central Station), 42d Street and Broadway, 50th Street and
Broadway, 60th Street and Broadway (Columbus Circle), 66th Street and
Broadway, 72d Street and Broadway, 79th Street and Broadway, 86th
Street and Broadway, 91st Street and Broadway, 96th Street and
Broadway.
[Illustration: 34TH STREET AND PARK AVENUE, LOOKING SOUTH]
The stations of the Fort George or westerly branch are located at the
following points:
One Hundred and Third Street and Broadway, 110th Street and Broadway
(Cathedral Parkway), 116th Street and Broadway (Columbia University),
Manhattan Street (near 128th Street) and Broadway, 137th Street and
Broadway, 145th Street and Broadway, 157th Street and Broadway, the
intersection of 168th Street, St. Nicholas Avenue and Broadway, 181st
Street and Eleventh Avenue, Dyckman Street and Naegle Avenue (beyond
Fort George), 207th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, 215th Street and
Amsterdam Avenue, Muscoota Street and Broadway, Bailey Avenue, at
Kingsbridge near the New York & Putnam Railroad station.
The stations on the Bronx Park or easterly branch are located at the
following points:
One Hundred and Tenth Street and Lenox Avenue, 116th Street and Lenox
Avenue, 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, 135th Street and Lenox Avenue,
145th Street and Lenox Avenue (spur), Mott Avenue and 149th Street,
the intersection of 149th Street, Melrose and Third Avenues, Jackson
and Westchester Avenues, Prospect and Westchester Avenues, Westchester
Avenue near Southern Boulevard (Fox Street), Freeman Street and the
Southern Boulevard, intersection of 174th Street, Southern Boulevard
and Boston Road, 177th Street and Boston Road (near Bronx Park).
[Illustration: PROFILE OF RAPID TRANSIT RAILROAD MANHATTAN AND
BRONX LINES.]
The stations in the Borough of Brooklyn on the Brooklyn Extension are
located as follows:
Joralemon Street near Court (Brooklyn Borough Hall), intersection of
Fulton, Bridge, and Hoyt Streets; Flatbush Avenue near Nevins Street,
Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue (Brooklyn terminal of the Long
Island Railroad).
From the Borough Hall, Manhattan, to the 96th Street station, the line
is four-track. On the Fort George branch (including 103d Street
station) there are three tracks to 145th Street and then two tracks to
Dyckman Street, then three tracks again to the terminus at Bailey
Avenue. On the Bronx Park branch there are two tracks to Brook Avenue
and from that point to Bronx Park there are three tracks. On the Lenox
Avenue spur to 148th Street there are two tracks, on the City Hall
loop one track, on the Battery Park loop two tracks. The Brooklyn
Extension is a two-track line.
There is a storage yard under Broadway between 137th Street and 145th
Street on the Fort George branch, another on the surface at the end of
the Lenox Avenue spur, Lenox Avenue and 148th Street, and a third on
an elevated structure at the Boston Road and 178th Street. There is a
repair shop and inspection shed on the surface adjoining the Lenox
Avenue spur at the Harlem River and 148-150th Streets, and an
inspection shed at the storage yard at Boston Road and 178th Street.
[Sidenote: _Length of
Line._]
The total length of the line from the City Hall to the Kingsbridge
terminal is 13.50 miles, with 47.11 miles of single track and sidings.
The eastern or Bronx Park branch is 6.97 miles long, with 17.50 miles
of single track.
[Illustration: PROFILE OF BROOKLYN EXTENSION.]
[Sidenote: _Grades and
Curves._]
The total length of the Brooklyn Extension is 3.1 miles, with about 8
miles of single track.
The grades and curvature along the main line may be summarized as
follows:
The total curvature is equal in length to 23 per cent. of the straight
line, and the least radius of curvature is 147 feet. The greatest
grade is 3 per cent., and occurs on either side of the tunnel under
the Harlem River. At each station there is a down grade of 2.1 per
cent., to assist in the acceleration of the cars when they start. In
order to make time on roads running trains at frequent intervals, it
is necessary to bring the trains to their full speed very soon after
starting. The electrical equipment of the Rapid Transit Railroad will
enable this to be done in a better manner than is possible with steam
locomotives, while these short acceleration grades at each station, on
both up and down tracks, will be of material assistance in making the
starts smooth.
Photograph on page 26 shows an interesting feature at a local
station, where, in order to obtain the quick acceleration in grade for
local trains, and at the same time maintain a level grade for the
express service, the tracks are constructed at a different level. This
occurs at many local stations.
On the Brooklyn Extension the maximum grade is 3.1 per cent.
descending from the ends to the center of the East River tunnel. The
minimum radius of curve is 1,200 feet.
[Illustration: STANDARD STEEL CONSTRUCTION IN TUNNEL--THIRD RAIL
PROTECTION NOT SHOWN]
[Illustration: PLAN OF BROOKLYN BRIDGE STATION AND CITY HALL LOOP]
[Sidenote: _Track_]
The track is of the usual standard construction with broken stone
ballast, timber cross ties, and 100-pound rails of the American
Society of Civil Engineers' section. The cross ties are selected hard
pine. All ties are fitted with tie plates. All curves are supplied
with steel inside guard rails. The frogs and switches are of the best
design and quality to be had, and a special design has been used on
all curves. At the Battery loop, at Westchester Avenue, at 96th
Street, and at City Hall loop, where it has been necessary for the
regular passenger tracks to cross, grade crossings have been avoided;
one track or set of tracks passing under the other at the intersecting
points. (See plan on this page.)
The contract for the building of the road contains the following
somewhat unusual provision: "The railway and its equipment as
contemplated by the contract constitute a great public work. All parts
of the structure where exposed to public sight shall therefore be
designed, constructed, and maintained with a view to the beauty of
their appearance, as well as to their efficiency."
It may be said with exact truthfulness that the builders have spared
no effort or expense to live up to the spirit of this provision, and
that all parts of the road and equipment display dignified and
consistent artistic effects of the highest order. These are noticeable
in the power house and the electrical sub-stations and particularly in
the passenger stations. It might readily have been supposed that the
limited space and comparative uniformity of the underground stations
would afford but little opportunity for architectural and decorative
effects. The result has shown the fallacy of such a supposition.
[Illustration: PLAN OF 28TH ST. & 4TH AVENUE STATION.]
Of the forty-eight stations, thirty-three are underground, eleven are
on the viaduct portions of the road, and three are partly on the
surface and partly underground, and one is partly on the surface and
partly on the viaduct.
[Sidenote: _Space Occupied_]
The underground stations are at the street intersections, and, except
in a few instances, occupy space under the cross streets. The station
plans are necessarily varied to suit the conditions of the different
locations, the most important factor in planning them having been the
amount of available space. The platforms are from 200 to 350 feet in
length, and about 16 feet in width, narrowing at the ends, while the
center space is larger or smaller, according to local conditions. As a
rule the body of the station extends back about 50 feet from the edge
of the platform.
At all local stations (except at 110th Street and Lenox Avenue) the
platforms are outside of the tracks. (Plan and photograph on pages
30 and 31.) At Lenox Avenue and 110th Street there is a single island
platform for uptown and downtown passengers.
[Illustration: 28TH STREET STATION]
[Sidenote: _Island
Platforms_]
At express stations there are two island platforms between the express
and local tracks, one for uptown and one for downtown traffic. In
addition, there are the usual local platforms at Brooklyn Bridge, 14th
Street (photograph on page 34) and 96th Street. At the remaining
express stations, 42d Street and Madison Avenue and 72d Street, there
are no local platforms outside of the tracks, local and through
traffic using the island platforms.
The island platforms at Brooklyn Bridge, 14th Street, and 42d Street
and Madison Avenue are reached by mezzanine footways from the local
platforms, it having been impossible to place entrances in the streets
immediately over the platforms. At 96th Street there is an underground
passage connecting the local and island platforms, and at 72d Street
there are entrances to the island platforms directly from the street
because there is a park area in the middle of the street. Local
passengers can transfer from express trains and express passengers
from local trains without payment of additional fare by stepping
across the island platforms.
At 72d Street, at 103d Street, and at 116th Street and Broadway the
station platforms are below the surface, but the ticket booths and
toilet rooms are on the surface; this arrangement being possible also
because of the park area available in the streets. At Manhattan Street
the platforms are on the viaduct, but the ticket booths and toilet
rooms are on the surface. The viaduct at this point is about 68 feet
above the surface, and escalators are provided. At many of the
stations entrances have been arranged from the adjacent buildings, in
addition to the entrances originally planned from the street.
[Sidenote: Kiosks]
The entrances to the underground stations are enclosed at the street
by kiosks of cast iron and wire glass (photograph on page 33), and
vary in number from two to eight at a station. The stairways are of
concrete, reinforced by twisted steel rods. At 168th Street, at 181st
Street, and at Mott Avenue, where the platforms are from 90 to 100
feet below the surface, elevators are provided.
[Illustration: WEST SIDE OF 23D STREET STATION]
At twenty of the underground stations it has been possible to use
vault lights to such an extent that very little artificial light is
needed. (Photograph on page 35.) Such artificial light as is
required is supplied by incandescent lamps sunk in the ceilings.
Provision has been made for using the track circuit for lighting in
emergency if the regular lighting circuit should temporarily fail.
[Illustration: KIOSKS AT COLUMBUS CIRCLE]
The station floors are of concrete, marked off in squares. At the
junction of the floors and side walls a cement sanitary cove is
placed. The floors drain to catch-basins, and hose bibs are provided
for washing the floors.
[Illustration: BROOKLYN BRIDGE STATION]
Two types of ceiling are used, one flat, which covers the steel and
concrete of the roof, and the other arched between the roof beams and
girders, the lower flanges of which are exposed. Both types have an
air space between ceiling and roof, which, together with the air
space behind the inner side walls, permits air to circulate and
minimizes condensation on the surface of the ceiling and walls.
[Illustration: PLAQUE SHOWING BEAVER AT ASTOR PLACE STATION]
The ceilings are separated into panels by wide ornamental mouldings,
and the panels are decorated with narrower mouldings and rosettes. The
bases of the walls are buff Norman brick. Above this is glass tile or
glazed tile, and above the tile is a faience or terra-cotta cornice.
Ceramic mosaic is used for decorative panels, friezes, pilasters, and
name-tablets. A different decorative treatment is used at each
station, including a distinctive color scheme. At some stations the
number of the intersecting street or initial letter of the street name
is shown on conspicuous plaques, at other stations the number or
letter is in the panel. At some stations artistic emblems have been
used in the scheme of decoration, as at Astor Place, the beaver (see
photograph on this page); at Columbus Circle, the great
navigator's Caravel; at 116th Street, the seal of Columbia University.
The walls above the cornice and the ceilings are finished in white
Keene cement.
[Illustration: EXPRESS STATION AT 14TH STREET, SHOWING ISLAND AND
MEZZANINE PLATFORMS AND STAIRS CONNECTING THEM]
[Illustration: WEST SIDE OF COLUMBUS CIRCLE STATION (60TH
STREET)--ILLUMINATED BY DAYLIGHT COMING THROUGH VAULT LIGHTS]
[Illustration: CARAVEL AND WALL DECORATION]
The ticket booths are of oak with bronze window grills and fittings.
There are toilet rooms in every station, except at the City Hall loop.
Each toilet room has a free closet or closets, and a pay closet which
is furnished with a basin, mirror, soap dish, and towel rack. The
fixtures are porcelain, finished in dull nickel. The soil, vent and
water pipes are run in wall spaces, so as to be accessible. The rooms
are ventilated through the hollow columns of the kiosks, and each is
provided with an electric fan. They are heated by electric heaters.
The woodwork of the rooms is oak; the walls are red slate wainscot and
Keene cement.
Passengers may enter the body of the station without paying fare. The
train platforms are separated from the body of the station by
railings. At the more important stations, separate sets of entrances
are provided for incoming and outgoing passengers, the stairs at the
back of the station being used for entrances and those nearer the
track being used for exits.
[Illustration: CITY HALL STATION]
An example of the care used to obtain artistic effects can be seen at
the City Hall station. The road at this point is through an arched
tunnel. In order to secure consistency in treatment the roof of the
station is continued by a larger arch of special design. (See
photograph on this page.) At 168th Street, and at 181st Street,
and at Mott Avenue stations, where the road is far beneath the
surface, it has been possible to build massive arches over the
stations and tracks, with spans of 50 feet.