No. 1—Sump at the lowest point on City Hall Loop.

No. 2—Sump at intersection of Elm and White Streets.

No. 3—Sump at 38th Street in the Murray Hill Tunnel.

No. 4—Sump at intersection of 46th Street and Broadway.

No. 5—Sump at intersection of 116th Street and Lenox Avenue.

No. 6—Sump at intersection of 142d Street and Lenox Avenue.

No. 7—Sump at intersection of 147th Street and Lenox Avenue.

No. 8—Sump at about 144th Street in Harlem River approach.

No. 9—Sump at the center of the Harlem River Tunnel.

No. 10—Sump at intersection of Gerard Avenue and 149th Street.

In addition to the above mentioned sumps, where pumping plants are maintained, it is necessary to maintain pumping plants at the following points:

Location No. 1—At the cable tunnel constructed under the Subway at 23d Street and Fourth Avenue.

Location No. 2—At the sub-subway at 42d Street and Broadway.

Location No. 3—At the portal of the Lenox Avenue extension at 148th Street.

Location No. 4—At the southerly end of the Harlem River tube.

Location No. 5—At the northerly end of the Harlem River tube.

Location No. 6—At the portal at Bergen Avenue and 149th Street.

In the case of the No. 1 sump a direct-connected electric triple-plunger pump is employed, situated in a pump room about 40 feet distant from the sump pit. In the case of Nos. 2, 4, and 7 sumps, automatic air lifts are employed. This apparatus is placed in those sump wells which are not easily accessible, and the air lift was selected for the reason that no moving parts are conveyed in the air-lift construction other than the movable ball float and valve which control the device. The air lift consists of concentric piping extending several feet into the ground below the bottom of the well, and the water is elevated by the air producing a rising column of water of less specific weight than the descending column of water which is in the pipe extending below the bottom of the sump well.

In the case of Nos. 3 and 5 sumps, and for Location No. 1, automatic air-operated ejectors have been employed, for the reason that the conditions did not warrant the employment of air lifts or electric or air-operated pumps.

In the case of Nos. 6, 8, 9, and 10 sumps and for Locations Nos. 2, 4, and 5, air-operated reciprocating pumps will be employed. These pumps will be placed in readily accessible locations, where air lifts could not be used, and this type of pump was selected as being the most reliable device to employ.

In the case of Location No. 3, where provision has to be made to prevent a large amount of yard drainage, during a storm, from entering the tunnel where it descends from the portal, it was considered best to employ large submerged centrifugal pumps, operated by reciprocating air engines. Also for the portal, at Location No. 6, similar centrifugal pumps will be employed, but as compressed air is not available at this point, these pumps will be operated by electric motors.

The air supply to the air-operating pumping devices will be independent from the compressed air line which supplies air to the switch and signal system, but break-down connections will be made between the two systems, so that either system can help the other out in case of emergency.

A special air-compressor plant is located at the 148th Street repair shop, and another plant within the subway at 41st Street, for supplying air to the pumps, within the immediate locality of each compressor plant. For the more remote pumps, air will be supplied by smaller air compressors located within passenger stations. In one case, for the No. 2 sump, air will be taken from the switch and signal air-compressor plant located at the No. 11 sub-station.



CHAPTER XI

REPAIR AND INSPECTION SHED

While popularly and not inaccurately known as the "Subway System," the lines of the Interborough Company comprise also a large amount of trackage in the open air, and hence the rolling stock which has already been described is devised with the view to satisfying all the peculiar and special conditions thus involved. A necessary corollary is the requirement of adequate inspection and repair shops, so that all the rolling stock may at all times be in the highest state of efficiency; and in this respect the provision made by the company has been lavish and liberal to a degree.

The repair and inspection shop of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company adjoins the car yards of the company and occupies the entire block between Seventh Avenue on the west, Lenox Avenue and the Harlem River on the east, 148th Street on the south, and 149th Street on the north. The electric subway trains will enter the shops and car yard by means of the Lenox Avenue extension, which runs directly north from the junction at 142d Street and Lenox Avenue of the East Side main line. The branch leaves the main line at 142d Street, gradually approaches the surface, and emerges at about 147th Street.

[Sidenote: General Arrangement]

The inspection shed is at the southern end of the property and occupies an area of approximately 336 feet by 240 feet. It is divided into three bays, of which the north bay is equipped with four tracks running its entire length, and the middle bay with five tracks. The south bay contains the machine-tool equipment, and consists of eighteen electrically driven machines, locker and wash rooms, heating boilers, etc., and has only one track extending through it.

[Sidenote: Construction]

The construction of the inspection shops is that which is ordinarily known as "reinforced concrete," and no wood is employed in the walls or roof. The building is a steel structure made up of four rows of center columns, which consist of twenty-one bays of 16 feet each, supporting the roof trusses. The foundations for these center columns are concrete piers mounted on piles. After the erection of the steel skeleton, the sides of the building and the interior walls are constructed by the use of 3/4-inch furring channels, located 16 inches apart, on which are fastened a series of expanded metal laths. The concrete is then applied to these laths in six coats, three on each side, and termed respectively the scratch coat, the rough coat, and the fining coat. In the later, the concrete is made with white sand, to give a finished appearance to the building.

The roof is composed of concrete slabs, reinforced with expanded metal laths and finished with cement and mortar. It is then water-proofed with vulcanite water-proofing and gravel.

In this connection it might be said that, although this system of construction has been employed before, the building under consideration is the largest example of this kind of work yet done in the neighborhood of New York City. It was adopted instead of corrugated iron, as it is much more substantial, and it was considered preferable to brick, as the later would have required much more extensive foundations.

The doors at each of the bays of the building are of rolling steel shutter type, and are composed of rolled-steel strips which interloop with each other, so that while the entire door is of steel, it can easily be raised and lowered.

[Sidenote: Capacity and Pit Room]

All of the tracks in the north and middle bays are supplied with pits for inspecting purposes, and as each track has a length sufficient to hold six cars, the capacity of these two bays is fifty-four cars.

The inspection pits are heated by steam and lighted by electric light, for which latter purpose frequent sockets are provided, and are also equipped with gas pipes, so that gas torches can be used instead of gasoline.

[Sidenote: Trolley Connection]

As usual in shops of this kind, the third rail is not carried into the shops, but the cars will be moved about by means of a special trolley. In the middle bay this trolley consists of a four-wheeled light-frame carriage, which will run on a conductor located in the pit. The carriage has attached to it a flexible wire which can be connected to the shoe-hanger of the truck or to the end plug of the car, so that the cars can be moved around in the shops by means of their own motors. In the north bay, where the pits are very shallow, the conductor is carried overhead and consists of an 8-pound T-rail supported from the roof girders.

The middle bay is provided with a 50-ton electric crane, which spans all of the tracks in this shop and is so arranged that it can serve any one of the thirty cars on the five tracks, and can deliver the trucks, wheels, motors, and other repair parts at either end of the shops, where they can be transferred to the telpherage hoist.

[Sidenote: The Telpherage System]

One of the most interesting features of the shops is the electric telpherage system. This system runs the entire length of the north and south bays crossing the middle bay or erection shop at each end, so that the telpherage hoist can pick up in the main room any wheels, trucks, or other apparatus which may be required, and can take them either into the north bay for painting, or into the south bay or machine shop for machine-tool work. The telpherage system extends across the transfer table pit at the west end of the shops and into the storehouse and blacksmith shop at the Seventh Avenue end of the grounds.

The traveling telpherage hoist has a capacity of 6,000 pounds. The girders upon which it runs consist of 12-inch I-beams, which are hung from the roof trusses. The car has a weight of one ton and is supported by and runs on the I-beam girders by means of four 9-inch diameter wheels, one on each side. The hoist is equipped with two motors. The driving motor of two horse power is geared by double reduction gearing to the driving wheels at one end of the hoist. The hoist motor is of eight horse power, and is connected by worm gearing and then by triple reduction gearing to the hoist drum. The motors are controlled by rheostatic controllers, one for each motor. The hoist motor is also fitted with an electric brake by which, when the power is cut off, a band brake is applied to the hoisting drum. There is also an automatic cut-out, consisting of a lever operated by a nut, which travels on the threaded extension of the hoisting drum shaft, and by which the current on the motor is cut off and the brake applied if the chain hook is wound up too close to the hoist.

[Sidenote: Heating and Lighting]

The buildings are heated throughout with steam, with vacuum system of return. The steam is supplied by two 100 horse power return tubular boilers, located at the southeastern corner of the building and provided with a 28-inch stack 60 feet high. The heat is distributed at 15 pounds pressure throughout the three bays by means of coil radiators, which are placed vertically against the side walls of the shop and storeroom. In addition, heating pipes are carried through the pits as already described. The shops are well lighted by large windows and skylights, and at night by enclosed arc lights.



[Sidenote: Fire Protection]

The shops and yards are equipped throughout with fire hydrants and fire plugs, hose and fire extinguishers. The water supply taps the city main at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 148th Street, and pipes are carried along the side of the north and south shops, with three reel connections on each line. A fire line is also carried through the yards, where there are four hydrants, also into the general storeroom.

[Sidenote: General Store Room]

The general storeroom, oil room, and blacksmith shop occupy a building 199 feet by 22 feet in the southwestern corner of the property. This building is of the same general construction as that of the inspection shops. The general storeroom, which is that fronting on 148th Street, is below the street grade, so that supplies can be loaded directly onto the telpherage hoist at the time of their receipt, and can be carried to any part of the works, or transferred to the proper compartments in the storeroom. Adjoining the general room is the oil and paint storeroom, which is separated from the rest of the building by fire walls. This room is fitted with a set of eight tanks, each with a capacity of 200 gallons. As the barrels filled with oil and other combustible material are brought into this room by the telpherage system they are deposited on elevated platforms, from which their contents can be tapped directly into the tank.

[Sidenote: Blacksmith Shop]

The final division of the west shops is that in the northeastern corner, which is devoted to a blacksmith shop. This shop contains six down-draught forges and one drop-hammer, and is also served by the telpherage system.

[Sidenote: Transfer Table]

Connecting the main shops with the storeroom and blacksmith or west shops is a rotary transfer table 46 feet 16-13/16 inches long and with a run of 219 feet. The transfer table is driven by a large electric motor the current being supplied through a conductor rail and sliding contact shoe. The transfer table runs on two tracks and is mounted on 33-inch standard car wheels.

[Sidenote: Employees]

The south side of the shop is fitted with offices for the Master Mechanic and his department.

The working force will comprise about 250 in the shops, and their lockers, lavatories, etc., are located in the south bay.



CHAPTER XII

SUB-CONTRACTORS

The scope of this book does not permit an enumeration of all the sub-contractors who have done work on the Rapid Transit Railroad. The following list, however, includes the sub-contractors for all the more important parts of the construction and equipment of the road.

* * * * *

General Construction, Sub-section Contracts, Track and Track Material, Station Finish, and Miscellaneous Contracts

S. L. F. Deyo, Chief Engineer.

Sub-sections

For construction purposes the road was divided into sub-sections, and sub-contracts were let which included excavation, construction and re-construction of sub-surface structures, support of surface railway tracks and abutting buildings, erection of steel (underground and viaduct), masonry work and tunnel work under the rivers; also the plastering and painting of the inside of tunnel walls and restoration of street surface.

Bradley, William, Sub-sections 6A and 6B, 60th Street to 104th Street.

Degnon-McLean Contracting Company (Degnon Contracting Company), Sub-section 1, 2 and 5A, Post-office to Great Jones Street and 41st Street and Park Avenue to 47th Street and Broadway.

Farrell, E. J., Sub-section, Lenox Avenue Extension, 142d Street to 148th Street.

Farrell & Hopper (Farrell, Hopper & Company), Sub-sections 7 and 8, 103d Street and Broadway to 135th Street and Lenox Avenue.

Holbrook, Cabot & Daly (Holbrook, Cabot & Daly Contracting Company), Sub-section 3, Great Jones Street to 33d Street.

McCabe & Brother, L. B. (R. C. Hunt, Superintendent), Sub-sections 13 and 14, 133d Street to Hillside Avenue.

McMullen & McBean, Sub-section 9A, 135th Street and Lenox Avenue to Gerard Avenue and 149th Street.

Naughton & Company (Naughton Company), Sub-section 5B, 47th Street to 60th Street.

Roberts, E. P., Sub-sections 10, 12, and 15, Foundations (Viaducts), Brook Avenue to Bronx Park, 125th Street to 133d Street, and Hillside Avenue to Bailey Avenue.

Rodgers, John C., Sub-section 9B, Gerard Avenue to Brook Avenue.

Shaler, Ira A. (Estate of Ira A. Shaler), Sub-section 4, 33d Street to 41st Street.

Shields, John, Sub-section 11, 104th Street to 125th Street.

Terry & Tench Construction Company (Terry & Tench Company), Sub-sections 10, 12, and 15, Steel Erection (Viaducts), Brook Avenue to Bronx Park, 125th Street to 133d Street, and Hillside Avenue to Bailey Avenue.

BROOKLYN EXTENSION.

Cranford & McNamee, Sub-section 3, Clinton Street to Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, Brooklyn.

Degnon-McLean Contracting Company (Degnon Contracting Company), Sub-section 1, Park Row to Bridge Street, Manhattan.

Onderdonk, Andrew (New York Tunnel Company), Sub-sections 2 and 2A, Bridge Street, Manhattan, to Clinton and Joralemon Streets, Brooklyn.

TRACK AND TRACK MATERIAL

American Iron & Steel Manufacturing Company, Track Bolts.

Baxter & Company, G. S., Ties.

Connecticut Trap Rock Quarries, Ballast.

Dilworth, Porter & Company, Spikes.

Holbrook, Cabot & Rollins (Holbrook, Cabot & Rollins Corporation), Track Laying, City Hall to Broadway and 42d Street.

Long Clove Trap Rock Company, Ballast.

Malleable Iron Fittings Company, Cup Washers.

Naughton Company, Track Laying, Underground Portion of Road north of 42d Street and Broadway.

Pennsylvania Steel Company, Running Rails, Angle Bars, Tie Plates and Guard Rails.

Ramapo Iron Works, Frogs and Switches, Filler Blocks and Washers.

Sizer & Company, Robert R., Ties.

Terry & Tench Construction Company (Terry & Tench Company), Timber Decks for Viaduct Portions, and Laying and Surfacing Track on Viaduct Portions.

Weber Railway Joint Manufacturing Company, Weber Rail Joints.

STATION FINISH

American Mason Safety Tread Company, Safety Treads.

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, Terra Cotta.

Boote Company, Alfred, Glazed Tile and Art Ceramic Tile.

Byrne & Murphy, Plumbing, 86th Street Station.

Dowd & Maslen, Brick Work for City Hall and other Stations and Superstructures for 72d Street, 103d Street and Columbia University Stations.

Empire City Marble Company, Marble.

Grueby Faience Company, Faience.

Guastavino Company, Guastavino Arch, City Hall Station.

Hecla Iron Works, Kiosks and Eight Stations on Elevated Structure.

Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company, Safes.

Holbrook, Cabot & Rollins Corporation, Painting Stations.

Howden Tile Company, Glazed Tile and Art Ceramic Tile.

Laheny Company, J. E., Painting Kiosks.

Manhattan Glass Tile Company, Glass Tile, and Art Ceramic Tile.

Parry, John H., Glass Tile and Art Ceramic Tile.

Pulsifer & Larson Company, Illuminated Station Signs.

Rookwood Pottery Company, Faience

Russell & Irwin Manufacturing Company, Hardware

Simmons Company, John, Railings and Gates.

Tracy Plumbing Company, Plumbing.

Tucker & Vinton, Strap Anchors for Kiosks.

Turner Construction Company, Stairways, Platforms, and Platform Overhangs.

Vulcanite Paving Company, Granolithic Floors.

MISCELLANEOUS

American Bridge Company, Structural Steel.

American Vitrified Conduit Company, Ducts.

Blanchite Process Paint Company, Plaster Work and Blanchite Enamel Finish on Tunnel Side Walls.

Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, Signal Houses at Four Stations.

Camp Company, H. B., Ducts.

Cunningham & Kearns, Sewer Construction, Mulberry Street, East 10th Street, and East 22d Street Sewers.

Fox & Company, John, Cast Iron.

McRoy Clay Works, Ducts.

Norton & Dalton, Sewer Construction, 142d Street Sewer.

Onondaga Vitrified Brick Company, Ducts.

Pilkington, James, Sewer Construction, Canal Street and Bleecker Street Sewers.

Simmons Company, John, Iron Railings, Viaduct Sections.

Sicilian Asphalt Paving Company, Waterproofing.

Tucker & Vinton, Vault Lights.

United Building Material Company, Cement.

* * * * *

Electrical Department

L. B. Stillwell, Electrical Director.

Electric plant for generation, transmission, conversion, and distribution of power, third rail construction, electrical car equipment, lighting system, fire and emergency alarm systems:

American Steel & Wire Company, Cable.

Bajohr, Carl, Lightning Rods.

Broderick & Company, Contact Shoes.

Cambria Steel Company, Contact Rail.

Columbia Machine Works & Malleable Iron Company, Contact Shoes.

Consolidated Car Heating Company, Car Heaters.

D. & W. Fuse Company, Fuse Boxes and Fuses.

Electric Storage Battery Company, Storage Battery Plant.

Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Company, Fire and Emergency Alarm Systems.

General Electric Company, Motors, Power House and Sub-station Switchboards, Control Apparatus, Cable.

General Incandescent Arc Light Company, Passenger Station Switchboards.

India Rubber & Gutta Percha Insulating Company, Cables.

Keasby & Mattison Company, Asbestos.

Malleable Iron Fittings Company, Third Rail and other Castings.

Mayer & Englund Company, Rail Bonds.

Mitchell Vance Company, Passenger Station Electric Light Fixtures.

National Conduit & Cable Company, Cables.

National Electric Company, Air Compressors.

Nernst Lamp Company, Power Station Lighting.

Okonite Company, Cables.

Prometheus Electric Company, Passenger Station Heaters.

Roebling's Sons Company, J. A., Cables.

Reconstructed Granite Company, Third Rail Insulators.

Standard Underground Cable Company, Cables.

Tucker Electrical Construction Company, Wiring for Tunnel and Passenger Station Lights.

Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, Alternators, Exciters, Transformers, Motors, Converters, Blower Outfits.

Westinghouse Machine Company, Turbo Alternators.

* * * * *

Mechanical and Architectural Department

John Van Vleck, Mechanical and Construction Engineer.

Power house and sub-station, steam plant, repair shop, tunnel drainage, elevators.

POWER HOUSE

Alberger Condenser Company, Condensing Equipment.

Allis-Chalmers Company, Nine 8,000-11,000 H. P. Engines.

Alphons Custodis Chimney Construction Company, Chimneys.

American Bridge Company, Structural Steel.

Babcock & Wilcox Company, Fifty-two 600 H. P. Boilers and Six Superheaters.

Burhorn, Edwin, Castings.

Gibson Iron Works, Thirty-six Hand-fired Grates.

Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Electric Traveling Cranes and Machine Tools.

Milliken Brothers, Ornamental Chimney Caps.

Otis Elevator Company, Freight Elevator.

Peirce, John, Power House Superstructure.

Power Specialty Company, Four Superheaters.

Ryan & Parker, Foundation Work and Condensing Water Tunnels, etc.

Robins Conveying Belt Company, Coal and Ash Handling Apparatus.

Reese, Jr., Company, Thomas, Coal Downtake Apparatus, Oil Tanks, etc.

Riter-Conley Manufacturing Company, Smoke Flue System.

Sturtevant Company, B. F., Blower Sets.

Tucker & Vinton, Concrete Hot Wells.

Treadwell & Company, M. H., Furnace Castings, etc.

Walworth Manufacturing Company, Steam, Water, and Drip Piping.

Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Company, Three Turbo Generator Sets and Two Exciter Engines.

Westinghouse Machine Company, Stokers.

Wheeler Condenser Company, Feed Water Heaters.

Worthington, Henry R., Boiler Feed Pumps.

SUB-STATIONS

American Bridge Company, Structural Steel.

Carlin & Company, P. J., Foundation and Superstructure, Sub-station No. 15 (143d Street).

Cleveland Crane & Car Company, Hand Power Traveling Cranes.

Crow, W. L., Foundation and Superstructure Sub-stations Nos. 17 and 18 (Fox Street, Hillside Avenue).

Parker Company, John H., Foundation and Superstructure Sub-stations Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16 (City Hall Place, E. 19th Street, W. 53d Street, W. 96th Street, W. 132d Street).

INSPECTION SHED

American Bridge Company, Structural Steel.

Beggs & Company, James, Heating Boilers.

Elektron Manufacturing Company, Freight Elevator.

Farrell, E. J., Drainage System.

Hiscox & Company, W. T., Steam Heating System.

Leary & Curtis, Transformer House.

Milliken Brothers, Structural Steel and Iron for Storehouse.

Northern Engineering Works, Electric Telpherage System.

O'Rourke, John F., Foundation Work.

Tucker & Vinton, Superstructure of Reinforced Concrete.

Tracy Plumbing Company, Plumbing.

Weber, Hugh L., Superstructure of Storehouse, etc.

SIGNAL TOWERS

Tucker & Vinton, Reinforced Concrete Walls for Eight Signal Towers.

PASSENGER ELEVATORS

Otis Elevator Company, Electric Passenger Elevators for 167th Street, 181st Street, and Mott Avenue Stations, and Escalator for Manhattan Street Station.

* * * * *

Rolling Stock and Signal Department

George Gibbs, Consulting Engineer.

Cars, Automatic Signal System.

American Car & Foundry Company, Steel Car Bodies and Trailer Trucks.

Buffalo Forge Company, Blacksmith Shop Equipment.

Burnham, Williams & Company (Baldwin Locomotive Works), Motor Trucks.

Cambria Steel Company, Trailer Truck Axles.

Christensen Engineering Company, Compressors, Governors, and Pump Cages on Cars.

Curtain Supply Company, Car Window and Door Curtains.

Dressel Railway Lamp Works, Signal Lamps.

Hale & Kilburn Manufacturing Company, Car Seats and Backs.

Jewett Car Company, Wooden Car Bodies.

Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Machinery and Machine Tools for Inspection Shed.

Metal Plated Car & Lumber Company, Copper Sheathing for Cars.

Pitt Car Gate Company, Vestibule Door Operating Device for Cars.

Pneumatic Signal Company, Three Mechanical Interlocking Plants.

Standard Steel Works, Axles and Driving Wheels for Motor and Trailer Trucks.

St. Louis Car Company, Wooden Car Bodies and Trailer Trucks.

Stephenson Company, John, Wooden Car Bodies.

Taylor Iron & Steel Company, Trailer Truck Wheels.

Union Switch & Signal Company, Block Signal System and Interlocking Switch and Signal Plants.

Van Dorn Company, W. T., Car Couplings.

Wason Manufacturing Company, Wooden Car Bodies and Trailer Trucks.

Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Air Brakes.

Westinghouse Traction Brake Company, Air Brakes.

THE END