Main entry:

Schlichting, Kurt C.

Title & Author:

Grand Central's engineer : William J. Wilgus and the planning of modern Manhattan / Kurt C. Schlichting.

Publication:

Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press, ©2012.

Description:

276 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.

Series:

The Johns Hopkins University studies in historical and political science ; 130th series (2012), 1

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
New York City's geography and transportation challenges -- The brilliance of Grand Central -- New York's freight problem -- Expanding the subway in Manhattan -- World War and ideas for a New York-New Jersey "Port Authority" -- Making room for the automobile: The Holland Tunnel -- Joining Staten Island to New York City: The Narrows Tunnel.
Current Copyright Fee: GBP6.15 0.

Summary:

"Few people have had as profound an impact on the history of New York City as William J. Wilgus. As chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad, Wilgus conceived the Grand Central Terminal, the city's magnificent monument to America's Railway Age. Kurt C. Schlichting here examines the remarkable career of this innovator, revealing how his tireless work moving people and goods over and under Manhattan Island's surrounding waterways forever changed New York's bustling transportation system. After his herculean efforts on behalf of Grand Central, the most complicated construction project in New York's history, Wilgus turned to solving the city's transportation quandary: Manhattan--the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of the United States in the twentieth century--was separated from the mainland by two major rivers to the west and east, a deep-water estuary to the south, and the Harlem River to the north. Wilgus believed that railroads and mass transportation provided the answer to New York City's complicated geography. His ingenious ideas included a freight subway linking rail facilities in New Jersey with manufacturers and shippers in Manhattan, a freight and passenger tunnel connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn, and a belt railway interconnecting sixteen private railroads serving the metropolitan area."--From publisher description.

ISBN:

9781421403021 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
1421403021 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
1421411938
9781421411934

Subject:

Wilgus, William J. (William John), 1865-1949.
Grand Central Terminal (New York, N.Y.)
Civil engineers United States Biography.
Transportation engineering New York Metropolitan Area History 20th century.
Ingénieurs civils États-Unis Biographies.
Transport Technologie New York, Agglomération de Histoire 20e siècle.
Buildings.
Civil engineers.
Transportation engineering.
Manhattan (New York, N.Y.) Buildings, structures, etc. History 20th century.
New York (State) New York Manhattan.
New York (State) New York Metropolitan Area.
United States.

Form/genre:

Biographies.
Statistics.
History.

Added entries:

Johns Hopkins University studies in historical and political science ; 130th ser., 1.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 279292
Call No.: BIB 215297
Status: Available