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Published by Worces te r Boa rd of Trade,

NOVEMBER, 1908

$1.50 PE R YEAR )~ IS CENT S P E R ('I')r

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Present Beginnin gs and Future Plans.

'rH E most important bu ild ing op eration in W or ecs­ care he has displayed in r emoving th e bi g brick bloc ks
tor in 1909, an d one of the most imp or t ant in th e his ­ that must be gotten rid of to mak e a pla ce fo r the n ew
t ory of th e c it y , will be the con struc tion of the new sta t ion and it s appr oaches.
Gre at as "Wor ceste r confessedly is as an in du stri al
Un ion P assenger Station in W ashingt on Squa re next a nd ra ilroad ce nt re , the p lan th at th e New Haven
yea r. P lan s fo r thi s s tr uc ture wor e d ra wn bac k in R ailroad is und oub tedlv contempl ating' will make of
1905, and wer e made pub lic at a meeti n g of the direc­ it a far grea te r r ail road centr e in th e future, an d
t ors of the Bo a r d of T r ade, Jan . 12, 190 6, an d th e hen ce a f ar grea te r industria l cent re than it has been
three years tha t th e rai lroads were give n th en to com­ in t he past.
p lct e t he wo rk is al ready far spe nt . Th e close business all ia nce b et ween the New Yo r k ,
Gen uine , however, h as been th e effort m ade t o New H aven & Ha r tf or d Railroad an d th e Bos ton &
acc omplish so meth ing thi s ye ar . W ork on t he aboli ­ Ma in e R ail r oad, wh ich has n ow bec ome an a ccom­
tion of th e g r ade cr ossi ngs is already well advan ced plis hed fa ct, must i nevit abl y ten d to make Wo rc este r C
by Messrs, R ya n & K eon . the con tractors in cha r ge a n importa nt po int alo ng th e line of that steel hi gh ­
for t he railroads of th e wo rk , and at Washi ngto n way that will eve ntu ally stretch a way in a d irect lin e
Square S . I . H owa r d , th e cont rac tor , h as r a zed the fro m New York to P or tla nd , 1\[ 8 . It is eviden t that
bu ildings un t il h e h as li teral ly mad e a des er t of that the Billa r d in t er ests will have t o sp end millions-it
sectio n of Fron t Street a d j oining th e tracks. h as been estima ted that th e amount will r each $50,-

TI lE SITE OF THE "' E ll' UNTO;\, STAT IO N . OCTOBE R 1. 10U".

The work of both contract ors h as not on ly bee n OOO,OOO-in improving t he physical condition of the
done ex pediti ou sly , but abso lutely wit ho ut acc ident. Boston & Maine r oad . Should this p rove t o be t h e
No one , unless he has made a special stud y of the case, an a .it 11111st be that Mr. Bill ard knew this 'when
subj ect , ca n un ders ta nd t he ma gnitu de of th e oper a­ he bongh t t he stock of th e Bo ston & Ma ine, and gov­
tions involved in the prepar ati on f or the n ew sta ti on . ern ed hi mself a ccor d ingl y , then t he Worcester,
'I'he gr ade crossi ng prob lem alon e in a city of 150,000 Nashua & Portland divis ion of the road will ge t a
inh abi tan t s is a mig hty on e, and ye t it has been solved hu ge slice of this money, f or certain ly no division of
so simp ly, so easily , a nd so qui etl y, tha t Worceste r th e Bost on & Mai ne needs it more and, wh en com­
people themsel ves do not rea lize wh at ha s t aken pl a ce. pl ete d an d do uble-tr a cke d fro m end to en d with n ew
Nor do th ey app r eciate the fact t h at within a yea r it st eel rail s, it will gi ve W or cester as fine railroad
will he pos sibl e to run ex p r ess tr a in s in to t he hear t oE out let to t he northea st as it n ow enj oys t o the east, to
th e cit y at the ra te of sixty miles an h our , if the rail­ the west, and to the so uth .
roads des ir e to, wit h p erfect impu nity , and with out Tha t t he far-si ghted ma n agem ent of th e great rail­
the sligh t est danger t o pe de str ian s and equestri ans liv­ ro ads passing throu gh Worces ter h ad all th ese facts
in g alon gside th e tracks. th or oughly di ges ted, and plans laid fo r th eir consu m­
In the sa me wa y at W ash ington Square, so quietly matio n at least three years ago , is evide n t from the
and tho rou gh ly has Mr. H oward don e hi s wo rk th at plans th ey ha ve promu lgate d for t he new Uni on Sta­
few p eop le, ex cep t th e cro wds wh o loit er ab out th e ti on , pi ct ur es of wh ich , with it s ap proa ches and
pla ce fro m day t o day, realize the intelligen ce an d envi r ons, a ccomp any this ar ti cle.
 WORCESTER MAGAZINE 293
Th e waiting-room alon e of the n ew st ation, with its ing-roorn by large ope ni ngs . Th e waitin g-room will
se mi-circ ula r annex in th e r ear, will, with its 12,654 hav e a handsome tiled floor an d marble w ainscoting,
squar e f eet of floor space it cover s, be larger than that and will be decorated ar t isti ca lly and furni sh ed sump­
in th e North St at ion, Boston , and even larger than tuously. Nothing will be left undon e by the joint
tha t in th e Grand Cent ral, New York, bein g on ly railroads to mak e this roo m worth y of th e st at ion or
ex ceeded by th at in the South Terminal, Boston, which, of their own dignity.
with its 14,625 squ are f eet of fioor space , is one of th e At th e real' of th e w aitin g-room , design ed particu­
largest in the world. larly for wom en, th ere will be a telephon e and tel e­
Th e location of th e new Un ion St at ion is fixed by graph booth, 17 x 33 f ect; a. ticket office, 33 x 45 feet;
Legislative en actm ent in the trian gular space in W ash­ a vestibule leadin g' to th e northern train s, 33 x 38 feet,
ington Squ are, between the viadu ct and the Boston &, and finally a smok ing-roo m, 27 x 35 feet.
Alb any R ailroad track s. At th e rear' of th e women's cafe will be the station
Th e pl an contemplat es a structure of granite f oun­ re st aurant and buffet, and back of the ma in wai ting­
dati on, with wall s of gray brick a nd t erra cot t a, h av­ ro om at a con veni ent point will be th e baggage-rooms
ing a fro ntage of over 200 fe et on 'Wash ingt on Square, and a parcel-r oom.
and abou t 50 f eet all H ardin g Street, which is t o b e The bagga ge-ro om will b e at th e narrow est part of
joined with Canal Street, th e inter "' ning space be­ th e st atio n, between th e ra ilro ad tracks, and will ex ­
tw een th e B oston & Albany tracks and th e viaduct tencl th r ough to Harding St reet, the rece iving point
bein g ent irely filled . for inc omin g and th e distr-ibutin g p oint f or outg-oin g
An area 80 feet wide is to be left between the front ba ggage. Th e b aggage-room ha s boen id eally place.l
of th e edifi ce and Gr afton Street so as to admit of t o handle bagga ge on a ny of th e ra il roa ds usin j th e:

TH E PR OPOSE D N EW UN IO ;\ ST A T IO:\ ,

de corative treatm ent at that point, and afford facili­ st ation , and in th e summer ru sh will be able to facili­
ties for th e appro ach t o th e stat ion of carriages and t ate its work ov er present condition s wonderfully.
street cars. At th e so uth sid e of th e station will be a. walkway
All b aggage is t o be r eceived at th e rear of th e sta­ twenty-one f eet wid e, hav ing amp le commun ication
ti on on Hardin g St ree t, and th c ex pr ess comp a nies will with th e interior of th e bu ildin g . Th is walkway will
be located in a sep arate building on th e westerly sid c run clear th rou gh from th c front of th e station t o
of Hardin g St reet , th er eby re lieving th e fr- ont of th e H ard in g Street. A similar walkway on th e north sid e
building of th e u nsightly ca r ts and expr ess w agons of the bag gage-r oom will conne ct th e vest ibule leading
that t oo frequ ently d etract from dep ot app roach es. t o th e north ern road s with H ardin g Street. Stairs
The central front of th e Dew sta tion will be u t ilized will run h om th ese walkw ay s t o th e platform abov e,
for a vestibule 21{ fe et wid e by 88 f eet lon g. Flank­ and serve the incoming and out goin g travel on all
in g this vestibule on th e ri ght a nd left resp ectively tra cks . On the south sid e of th e station th ere 'will be
will be the wom en's retirin g ro om, 33 x 34 feet , and two flights of st airs n ine f eet wide, a nd on th e north
th e wom en's cafe. side three flig hts, tw o of th em six and one eight feet
The main waiting-ro om will be at the r ea r of tbis wide.
vestibule, to whi ch indee d it lead s. Th e r oom will be The tracks removed from the station will be reached
of impressive prop orti ons, 80 x 125 fe et, and 40 feet in on th e south side by a su bway twenty-four feet wide ,
th e clear, and will terminate in a semi -circular vesti­ and having two flights of stairs six an d one-half fe et,
bule, 40 x 83 feet, and conn ected with th e main wait- wide, and th ose on th e north sid e will be reach ed by a
294 WORCE S1'ER MAGAZINE

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LOCATI ON 0 .­
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sub way eig h tee n feet wid e, h av in g t wo stair wa ys six "All Aboard for Seattle! "
an d one-ha lf fee t wide.
In ord er that th e publi c may get some id ea of the When t his chee r ing cry resounds through our Union
ma gn itu d e of the new str uc tu re. som e co mpariso ns are Station on som e fin e d ay next August, we are ho pi ng
gi ven with t he presen t sta tio n . Th e wa it ing-r oom that t he respon se will surp ass the largest expec ta tions of
sp ace ill th e present station com p r- ises 8080 square th e spec ial comm it tee no w in charge of this import an t
feet. I n th e new sta tio n in a ll it will r ea ch the eno r­ matter. 'I'h e sp lendid ser ies of views presented at th e
mou s total of 17 ,833 sq u a re f ee t. Th e area of th e p re s­ first smoke- ta lk a roused mu ch interest, an d u ndoubted ly
ent ba gg a ge-r oom is 3000 sq uare feet. In th e new sta­ aid ed man y memb ers in makin g- an affirmative decisi on
ti on it will be 9268 sq ua re f eet. Th e restaurant in th e upon th e q uestion. " A rc yo u go ing?"
present station co n t ai n s 3280 sq u a re feet . I n t he n e w Th e comm it tee wish es to correct th e impression met in
it will contai n 38:37 square feet. Th e existing sta ti on som e minds that thi s is to be solely f or men . It is hop ed
h as tw o wind ows for the ticket-sell er-e. Th e ne w one that m an y of th e me mbers will be acco mpanied by th ei r
will h av e nine . wives a nd la dy f ri ends. Errrollm en t will n ot be lim ited
Th c build ing will be thoroughly equ ipped th rough­ to member s of th e Board of 'I'rade, but will be open t o
out wi th th e la t est designs in sa nita r y p lumbi ng', and all busin ess men of W or cester.
th e t oil ets wi ll be models of conven ien ce and hygienic The foll owin g itinerary and estimate of expe n ses IS
«x cell en ce. Fi na lly, th e buildin g is to be er ec te d with presented f or th e in f orm ation of all interested :
a n eye s ingle t o th e futur e, t o t h e ti me wh en Worces­
PROPOSED ITINERARY FOR THE BOARD OF TRADE
ter will h a ve 250,000 in stead of 150,000 in hab it an ts,
TOUR TO SEATTLE , WASH., AUGUST , 1909,
fo r a mo ng a ll wh o beli ev e in the futu re of W orcester,
a nd a re workin g hard to ma k e t hat f utu re more illus­ F'i.rs t day . L eave Wo rceste r b y spec ia l t rai u of Pullman
t r iou s th an th e p ast, non e a re more indefatig abl e than s ta nda rd an d tou ri st sleep er s a n d di n ing ca r a t 2.00 p.m.
th e grea t r ailroad s whi ch ac t as t he ar teries of co m­ S u pper in di ner .
merc« n orth , south , cast a nd west fro m th e H eart of Secon d da y . Arr iv e D etroit, head qu art ers at t he W ayn e
t he Co mmon we al th . H ot el. Leave a t 11.00 p.m . ; du e t o arri ve a t Ch ica go a bo u t
When th e re siden ts of thi s city recall th e t edious years 7.30 a .m.
of agitation, discussion, th e prop osal an d rej ection of T hi rd day. I n Chica g o, sp e nd ing th e da y . A ll meal s served
early plans, and the seeming impossi bil ity of securing at H ot el B re voort, L ea v e a t 8.00 p.rn. ; du e a t St. P a ul at
nnited a nd simultaneous action from all parties inter­ 8.00 a .m,
es ted, the actual beginning" of W orcester's new station F ourt h day . T o be spen t in St. Paul and M in neap olis. All
may well be noted as a significant wayrn ark in her prog­ meal s se r ved a t h ot el. Leave at 8.00 p.m ., passing t hrough
ress . Th e complet ion of thi s great work is still in the th e Gr eat N orth w est; clue at Spokane 6.00 p .m.
future : lind bef or e th e goal is reached t he re will be Si xt h day . H ea d quart ers at Spok a ne Hot el.
temporary in convenien ces f or man y j bu t with the goal S eventh clay. L ea ve Spokane at 8_00 p.m . ; du e Sea tt le n ext
in sigh t all th ese ca n be patien tly endured. morn in g .