Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 | Page 5

given by the Pennsylvania Railroad and other railroads terminating in New Jersey to the proposed North River Bridge, as hereinbefore stated, and, for the Long Island Railroad, Mr. Baldwin organized a new company to construct a tunnel from the Long Island Railroad at Sunnyside Yard, diving under the streets of Long Island City by two tracks under the East River to the foot of 33d Street and then proceeding under 33d Street as far as Seventh Avenue. A station was to be located at Fourth Avenue below the Rapid Transit Subway Station and also a large Terminal Station at Broadway. For this purpose an option was obtained on the property of the Newbold Lawrence Estate, at Broadway, Sixth Avenue, 33d and 34th Streets, now occupied by Saks' Store. Mr. Baldwin, however, considered that the amount of the investment ($1,600,000) for that property was too great for this purpose, and allowed the option to expire. The property was sold within a week thereafter to the Morganthau Syndicate for $2,000,000. At this time (May, 1900), the Pennsylvania Railroad obtained a controlling interest in the Long Island Railroad, and thereafter the two schemes became one. Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Rea purchased two 25-ft. lots on 33d Street just east of Broadway for an entrance to the underground station. Plans were also prepared for extending this line from Seventh Avenue northward under Seventh Avenue to 45th Street. The investigation and preliminary work in connection with this project were carried out in the early part of 1900.
Reconsideration was given by Mr. Baldwin to the proposed location of the up-town tunnels, with the idea of connecting the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad by a tunnel between Long Island City (Long Island Railroad Station) and the foot of 42d Street and extending to the Grand Central Station, but nothing further than investigation and the preparation of estimates was done on this.
In the summer of 1901 Mr. Cassatt was in Paris and was advised by Mr. Rea of the opening of the extension of the Orleans Railway to the Quai d'Orsay Station and its successful operation by electric power, also of the possibility of the Pennsylvania Railroad reaching New York City in a similar way (the other trunk lines not having joined in the promotion of the North River Bridge project). He at once examined the new line, and then consulted the writer in London in relation to the possibility of building tunnels under the North River. The writer returned to New York with Mr. Cassatt, and soon thereafter a conference of Mr. Cassatt, Mr. Rea, and Mr. Baldwin with the writer and Mr. Davies was held in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Office in New York, when Mr. Cassatt outlined the scheme practically as it is now carried out, the only difference being that he also proposed a station on property of the New York and Harlem Railroad Company at 33d Street, which was soon abandoned on account of the grade from the East River, and particularly because of the superior location of the adopted site at Seventh Avenue and 33d Street, this being central between the down-town commercial and financial district and Central Park, which divides New York City. On Mr. Cassatt's instructions, surveys and investigations were begun in November, 1901, and estimates, drawings, etc., were made. Preliminary estimates were presented to him on November 8th, 1901. Following this, borings were continued, and a plan was presented to Mr. Cassatt for assisting the support of the North River tunnels on piles, if necessary. At the time of the appointment of the Board of Engineers and the general organization of the work, the preliminary investigations and work had been carried to an advanced state.
One result of the determination of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to extend its lines into New York City and thus move its principal station from Jersey City, was that the down-town local and suburban as well as through business was not provided for properly. Mr. William G. McAdoo, appreciating this opportunity, revived the scheme of an electric subway from Jersey City to New York, originally promoted by Mr. Corbin and associates, but not including the extension via Maiden Lane to Brooklyn, and entered into negotiations with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to provide for this down-town business by extensions of the tunnel lines of the New York and New Jersey Railroads to Exchange Place, Jersey City, under the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, and thence across the Hudson River to Cortlandt and Church Streets. As a result, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company was organized in 1902, and contracts were made with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the sub-surface use of its station in Jersey City, and for the interchange of passenger business at that point between the trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the