GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL CENTENNIAL
1913-2013
1913
CENTENNIAL BY EMILY MOSER/PHOTOS AS NOTED
MORE THAN 750,000 PASSENGERS pass through its doors boarding 292 depar- tures daily. The complex covers more than 50 acres and stretches nearly 15 city blocks from bumping post to yard limits. Touted as the “World’s Greatest Railroad Station” New York’s Grand Central Terminal was a long time in the making. Two prior attempts at sta- tions bearing the name Grand Central eventually proved to be inadequate. As we achieve the centennial of Grand Central Terminal, it seems the third time was certainly the charm.
The first Grand Central
Well north of what was considered the city at the time, “Commodore” Cor-
nelius Vanderbilt staked a plot of rural land at the center of Manhattan island for a station he dubbed Grand Central Depot. Vanderbilt was a shrewd indus- trialist that amassed a fortune in early steamboat transportation, and later in- vested his wealth into railroads. By the late 1860s, Vanderbilt had built a for- midable railroad empire by combining the New York & Harlem and the Hud- son River railroads with his newly formed New York Central. The Depot would serve these railroads, as well as the New York & New Haven by rental agreement. Opened in 1871, Grand Central Depot provided the only direct long-distance rail service into and out of New York City, a competitive advan-
tage the railroads were to enjoy for many years.
Built at a cost of $3 million (roughly $52 million today), Grand Central De- pot was comprised of two parts: a brick headhouse facility designed by archi- tect John B. Snook, and an elaborate train shed made of glass and wrought iron. The shed was 200 by 600 feet wide, 100 feet
high, and enclosed
twelve tracks, with five platforms. Un- like today’s terminal, two of the Depot’s tracks did not end here, but continued south to a station at 27th Street. In its first year the new Depot handled an av- erage of 130 or more train movements per day. This number would only con- tinue to increase.
OPPOSITE: Grand Central Terminal’s magnificent Main Concourse is one of the largest indoor spaces in the world, with ceilings 125 feet high. TOP: Grand Central’s impressive 42nd Street facade anchors this midtown Manhattan neighborhood. EMILY MOSER PHOTOS
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GRAND
2013
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