Inside Today's Penn Station
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1935 - 2012 VOLUME 43 NUMBER 9 CHAPTER W EBSITE: W W W .NRHS1.ORG SEPTEMBER 2012 PIECE OF NEW YORK’S ORIGINAL PENN STATION HIDES IN PLAIN SIGHT … INSIDE TODAY’S PENN STATION JIM O'GRADY, TRANSPORTATION NATION - WNYC, NEW YORK New York, NY – At f irst, MTA spokesman Sal Arena insisted that no part of the architectural glory of the old Penn Station survived in the stripped down bunker of today’s Penn Station. But the carved leaf pattern in a large steel entryway on the lower level seemed so at odds with the rest of the station’s no-frills style that we asked him to re-check that. Arena obliged. Then wrote back, “I stand corrected.” Transportation Nation has learned that this entryway - part of the original Penn Station - was walled off in 1963, when the above-ground part of the station was razed. The destruction was decried by many as an act of “historical vandalism.” (Public ire at the leveling of the 1910 building is credited with launching the modern preservationist movement.) Madison Square Garden and a blocky office tower replaced the formerly grand public space; the train hub was shunted into ENTRYWAY OF THE OLD PENN STATION (PHOTO BY JENNIFER HSU / WNYC) the corridors beneath them. There the entryway lay hidden for 30 years. In the early 1990s, Penn Station underwent a major renovation, its first since the original building was demolished. That’s when workers took down the wall and discovered the entryway. “It was found exactly where it is now,” Arena said. “The contractor cleaned it, painted it and put in windows.” It is now a deep umber color. As far as we can tell, the entryway went back into service quietly–no announcement was made about the salvaged piece of history. It’s safe to assume that a large part of the station’s 600,000 weekday travelers pass by without an inkling of its provenance. In places, the paint on the entryway’s columns is worn away from the hordes of commuters brushing past it, wanting only to leave Penn Station. DETAIL OF GLASS AND STEEL ENTRYWAY FROM THE OLD PENN STATION. (PHOTO Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, called the BY JENNIFER HSU / WNYC) discovery a “cool” but minor find. “It’s the sort of thing that’s a curiosity, an oddity, one of those pieces of history that you need a plaque to explain,” he said. He noted a remnant of the past that can also be found outside the present station: two stone eagles from the vanished building that flank an entrance at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue. Bankoff said they’re handsome, if hard to see, and small consolation for the “interplay of space and light” that was lost when the original station was torn down and tossed into a trash heap in New Jersey. Except for a pair of stone eagles and a strangely tenacious red entryway. Note: In addition, the following relics from the original Penn Station still exist: translucent glass floor from the main concourse showing through worn terrazzo floor; several stairways to track level have original railings; tile walls in a few hidden areas; and the Samuel Rea statue in front of the new station. [Doug Nelson - [email protected]] LANCASTER DISPATCHER PAGE 2 SEPTEMBER 2012 THE POWER DIRECTOR “NEWS FROM THE RAILROAD WIRES” DOWNEASTER SETS RIDERSHIP RECORD NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTION OF PORTLAND, Maine - Amtrak Downeaster service posted CHAPTER OFFICERS ridership of 528,292 in fiscal-year 2012, which ended on In accordance with Lancaster Chapter, National Railway Historical Society June 30 — the highest mark in the service’s 10-year By-Laws, notice is hereby given of election of Chapter Officers for the year history. 2012-2013, to be held at the Regular Chapter Membership Meeting of the FY2012 ridership grew 4 percent compared with FY2011, marking the Lancaster Chapter, N.R.H.S. on Monday evening, October 15, 2012 at the seventh consecutive year of ridership growth for the service, according to Christiana Freight Station, 10 Railroad Avenue, Christiana, Pa., starting at the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), which 7:30 pm. manages the service. FY2012 ticket revenue, which increased 4.5 percent Any member in good standing who is interested in serving on the Chapter to $7.4 million, also set a record, NNEPRA officials said in a prepared Board of Directors may be nominated from the floor at the October 15 statement. meeting, or by placing your name in nomination by writing, before Since it began operating in 2001, the Downeaster has transported about 4 October 1, 2012 to: Kevin Crouse, Chairperson, Nominating Committee, million riders and generated more than $56 million in ticket revenue. The Lancaster Chapter, N.R.H.S., 10 Railroad Avenue, Christiana, Pa. 17509- service makes five round trips daily between Portland, Maine, and Boston. 1416. Later this year, the service will extend two of those round trips to Freeport and Brunswick, Maine. NOTE: Any candidate for office, whether nominated in advance or at the Downeaster trains operate over Pan Am Railway, formerly Guilford Regular Chapter Membership Meetings must give his/her consent, in Transportation, tracks. Guilford opposed the operation of passenger trains writing, to be a nominee. over its tracks and delayed the startup of the service by four years before service commenced in December 2001. [TRAINS News Wire] HIGH-SPEED TESTING IN NEW JERSEY CUSTOMS RELIEF IN SIGHT FOR AMTRAK’S ADIRONDACK As part of the $450 million Amtrak received to upgrade Northeast Corridor infrastructure, high-speed testing Amtrak's Adirondack has been plagued for years by of 165 mph Acela Express trains will begin in September between Trenton extensive border delays in both directions to its New and New Brunswick, NJ. York-Montreal journey due to both U.S. and Canadian customs clearance procedures. Now, spurred by U.S. Last May the Department of Transportation awarded Amtrak the funding to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), the railroad and both support more frequent and faster high-speed-rail service between nations may be able to reduce delays. Washington, D.C., and New York City — a route that currently has maximum speeds of 135 mph. Schumer said in a statement that Quebec’s Emissary Raymond Chretien told him during a meeting that the Along with new equipment, the project supports plans to add six more service is building a facility in Montreal's Gare Central, where U.S. Customs Acela Express high-speed roundtrips between New York and Washington and Border Patrol and Canada's Border Services Agency could complete by 2018 and 15 additional roundtrips by 2022, doubling high-speed service pre-screenings. Arriving passengers would be processed by Canadian from current levels. [Amtrak Ink employee publication] officials, while departing passengers would be screened by U.S. officials at the facility, he said. AMTRAK EXPANDS ELECTRONIC TICKETING TO NATIONAL NETWORK Amtrak has launched its eTicket program to all trains within its national Schumer and other New York congressional leaders have repeatedly asked network, including the Northeast Corridor, state-supported routes and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow the U.S.-bound train long-distance services. screenings in Montreal. At present, trains stop at Rouses Point, N.Y., near the U.S.-Canadian border, with Customs clearance delays reportedly lasting The new eTicket service, launched yesterday, will enable riders to print their up to two hours. (Railway Age can vouch for a delay lasting one hour, 45 tickets anytime or anywhere, or by using a smart phone to present their minutes.) tickets to the conductor, Amtrak officials said in a prepared statement. Under the plan, Amtrak would eliminate its stop at St. Lambert, Quebec, a Prior to the July 30 national rollout, Amtrak officials tested the eTicket suburb of Montreal roughly four miles from Gare Central, in order to system on five routes. Rider response to the new service “exceeded augment security and expedite scheduling. Should Amtrak succeed in expectations” and resulted in shorter lines at ticket counters, fewer tickets reinstating service between New York and Montreal via Vermont—as it once sold on trains and fewer tickets lost during the test, they said. offered on its namesake Montrealer—the Gare Central facility also could be The railroad developed the eTicket technology to enhance the rider-travel used for that train as well. (The vestigal Vermonter currently terminates its experience, deliver a higher level of safety and customer service, and journey short of the U.S.-Canadian border, at St. Albans, Vt., roughly 70 improve business and financial performance, Amtrak officials said. miles from Montreal.) The business benefits include more accurate, real-time knowledge of who Schumer said Canadian and U.S. authorities need to finalize legal is onboard, thereby improving safety and security of riders; real-time agreements to allow U.S. border agents to work in the Canadian facility onboard reporting of equipment problems to mechanical crews; and more under the Beyond the Borders agreement before pre-screening can begin. efficient financial reporting, they said. [Progressive Railroading] Such operations, however, have been in place for years at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport. In the West, U.S. and Canadian customs have cooperated successfully in expedited clearance for Amtrak Cascades LANCASTER DISPATCHER PAGE 3 SEPTEMBER 2012 service linking Vancouver, British Columbia, with Seattle and with Portland, The railroad said train crew productivity along with resource alignments Ore. But Schumer, in his statement, said the Montreal pre-screening would made in response to changes in the mix of the business drove an increase be "more comprehensive than the Vancouver pre-screening, because the in operating income to $943 million, leading the operating ratio to improve train will not have to stop at the border at all (unlike the current Vancouver to 68.7% for the quarter, a 60 basis point improvement year-over-year.