Here's an interesting article about NY's Grand Central Terminal, which is turning 100 this month:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/travel/grand-central-terminal-100-year-anniversary/index.html
Very interesting article. Thank you for posting it. It is amazing how effective and efficient it is in moving people despite being 100 years old.
Tom
It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been in GCT and I think that was before the complete restoration of the ceiling was done. It was an amazing place then. It’s hard to believe that it was nearly demolished once. I guess near the end of Penn Central & the New Haven there was no money for upkeep.
It’s funny; I live just over an hour from NYC and we never go there. There are some places like GCT, the Intrepid Museum and of course the Ground Zero memorial that I would like to visit. Might be a day trip destination this year.
Nice links Ray. Thanks for posting.
I’ve mentioned this before but its been some time ago but for those interested in additional historic data there is a book that describes in some detail the operations at Grand Central during the late 20’s and 30’s. Included are fold out maps of not only Grand Central’s trackage but also that of Mott Haven Yard a few miles away.
Mott Haven serviced the passenger equipment and dining cars that made up the trains that operated out of and into the terminal and was a major operation by itself. Trains were made up at Mott Haven and run the few miles to Grand Central for loading of passengers.
The book The Run of the Twentieth Century by Hungerford tells in great detail everything from soup to nuts the origination of a train and virtually all the peripheral work involved in getting it done.
It’s out of print, even the reprint version, but may be available with a book hunt on the internet or from used RR book dealers. It’s soft bound 4x6 format and wasn’t very expensive the last time I saw one offered a number of years ago. Probably because it’s relatively unknown now.
Absolutely excellent and factual reading.
Jon Radder said:
It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been in GCT and I think that was before the complete restoration of the ceiling was done. It was an amazing place then. It’s hard to believe that it was nearly demolished once. I guess near the end of Penn Central & the New Haven there was no money for upkeep.
It’s funny; I live just over an hour from NYC and we never go there. There are some places like GCT, the Intrepid Museum and of course the Ground Zero memorial that I would like to visit. Might be a day trip destination this year.
There was a time when old was considered useless and had to be removed to make way for the modern. Fortunately the mid seventies and I believe the Bicentenial had something to do with the restoration movement. Penn Station was merely fifty years old when it was torn down to make space for a sports arena. Now you say that 100 years is a long time. Buildings in Europe are hundreds if not thousands of years old and still serving a purpose.
Fortunately Grand Central Terminal was spared the wrecking ball. And someone with enough vision saw to it that it should be restored.
There will always be those that see dollar signs rather than preserve history and our culture. To this we must all be on gaurd.