26/06/2024
The Pennsylvania tunnel at New York City in 1904
“Rapid progress is being made in the initial stages of the great engineering project by which the Pennsylvania Road is to secure a terminal station in Manhattan Island and through connections with the Long Island Railroad system.
The work of clearing away the buildings on the four large city blocks that will be occupied by the passenger station is well under way, two of these blocks, over a third of a mile in total length, being ready for excavation.
The shafts from which the work of tunneling will be carried through have been sunk; and before many weeks have passed the whole stretch of work from the portal in Jersey to the portal in Long Island will be covered with as big a force as can be crowded upon it.
The tunnel, particularly that portion of it beneath the rivers,has been planned with a view to the prevention of accidents to trains, or mitigating the dangers, should an accident occur.
In the first place, the sides of the tunnel are flled with a mass of concrete up to the level of the car windows. This will reduce the damage due to derailment or collision to a minimum and
will provide a means of egress from the tunnel in case of accident.
Should a train be held in the tunnel for any reason, it would be possible for the passengers to climb out upon these footways, and escape by them to either end of the tunnel.
Moreover, should a car jump the track, it would be impossible for it to slew out of line, and it is probable that the whole train could be brought to a stop before any more serious injury than the breaking of windows had been done.
The electric cables will be carried in conduits and embedded in the concrete mass of these side benches. At stated intervals there will be refuge niches formed in the concrete for the useof employes, and, lastly, the whole tunnel will be thoroughly lighted from end to end.”
Scientific American article excerpt and illustration, January 16, 1904
See comments for flat version and a cross-section, from portal to porta
