Tuesday Links

On the Tennessee Valley Authority

Norris Resevoir and DamNorris Resevoir and Dam, originally uploaded by Robby Edwards

Review: The Tennessee Valley Authority:

Spanning seven states and 24 dams, the development of the TVA was a massive project affecting millions of people. Not just a feat of engineering or America’s grandest planning effort, the TVA sought to bring economic development to one of the country’s poorest regions, through flood control and the generation of electricity.

Mrs. Marie Griffith, manager of the information room, at one of the boards listing rates to points all over the country at the Union Station

20071118-chicago_union_station.jpg
Mrs. Marie Griffith, manager of the information room, at one of the boards listing rates to points all over the country at the Union Station, 1943, Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). Culled from searches for my Survey of Pennsylvania Railroad Station entry.
I wonder what happened to Mrs. Marie Griffith?

Union Stations

Waiting RoomWaiting Room, originally uploaded by plemeljr

While it seems that trains are on my mind with:

Here’s another train-link: a List of Union Stations and Union Station Flickr Tag. Union Stations which are …train station[s] where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them. I thought Union Station denoted a station which served Union Pacific trains or were built in the Union (as in Civil War Union).
Carry on.

Buffalo Central Terminal

Untitled-Grayscale-12Untitled-Grayscale-12, originally uploaded by Isaac-CC

A wonderful set of the abandoned Buffalo Central Terminal on flickr, Buffalo Central Terminal set:

In 1925 the New York Central RR, the City of Buffalo, the Grade Crossing and Terminal Station Commission signed an agreement to allow Central Terminal to be built in its present location, 2-1/2 miles from the downtown business district. The architectural team of Fellheimer and Wagner were commissioned to design the building, and after having all the legalities settled, construction began on the new terminal in 1927.

Vornado to Control 26.1 million square feet west of Broadway in Midtown

NYC vanaf Empire State BuildingNYC vanaf Empire State Building, originally uploaded by FaceMePLS

With the unveiling of five West Side Yard proposals this weekend, there has been major coverage of the different proposals, with all their archiporn models and renderings. Yet unreported is a major significance to the city and its citizens: if Varnado Realty Trust is chosen to develop the West Side Yards, they will directly control own or partially control a majority of property from Broadway to the Hudson between 30th and 30th Streets.
The Vornado holdings are vast around the USA, but their holdings in Manhattan, and specifically in Midtown is spectacular. Below, are holdings west of Broadway in Midtown:

Vornado Realty Trust Midtown Manhattan Holdings
If you add this up, you get a staggering realization of how much space Vornado controls: 26,111,000 sf of office and residential space.
While we have no position on which company’s proposal should win out at the West Side Yards, knowing that a single company can dominate an area to the extent Vornado can must be taken into account. In the end it probably won’t matter if Vornado controls this much area, but the sheer numbers at play is amazing – and the associated power, influence and political pressure which will come to bear is equally amazing – even for Manhattan.

Tunnel Boring Machine begins boring under Manhattan for LIRR East Side Access

DSCN2064, originally uploaded by robert the bear

Last week, the massive Tunnel Boring Machine (which is similar to the TBM above) began tunneling through the Manhattan Schist from the bulkheads of the existing tunnel at 2nd Avenue and 63rd Street (see map) on its way toward Grand Central Terminal. This marks the next phase of the MTA’s East Side Access project which aims to bring Long Island Railroad service to Grand Central. See the below isometric view of the Manhattan Tunnel Alignment:

From the press release:

The $10 million, 200-ton TBM arrived in pieces earlier this year, which were lowered into the 63rd Street tunnel in Long Island City via a massive excavation. The pieces were then transported through the tunnel, under the East River, to a “launch box” under 63rd Street and 2nd Avenue. The TBM was assembled in the launch box and began testing earlier in the fall, and has traveled approximately 500 feet to date. It is now digging its way toward Grand Central at approximately 50 feet per day, first moving east along 63rd Street and then curving down Park Avenue to Grand Central. A second TBM arrived in September and will begin digging a second tube for the project later this month.

The new facility will be an eight-track terminal, split into two four-track (two-over-two) caverns. This arrangement is the most economical both in terms of engineering and operations. The new terminal will be accessed by a concourse constructed in space currently occupied by Metro-North’s Madison Avenue Yard.

You can see photos of the lowering of the East Side Access Tunnel Boring Machine last June and read all about the East Side Access project.