ment of several great sewers which the work disturbed, has had to be carefully planned.

The foot-passengers crossing the yards must be cared for; and so there are temporary structures erected above the tracks. The excavations have so encroached upon other property, besides those buildings which have been destroyed, that, overhanging the tracks, there are long lines of structures under which elaborate shoring has been placed, and where a single miscalculation would send them toppling down. But it is characteristic of Americans, that the people live quite comfortably in these bracedup buildings and with as full a sense of confidence as if they were upon their

tions, to hoisting engines and other machinery. In every detail there is utilization of the most modern methods. And a thousand men are daily working there. The Terminal Engineer

The man who, under the title of "Terminal Engineer," is in active charge of all this work, has had a history which should serve as deep encouragement to all who are ambitious against odds.

Mr. Arthur B. Corthell, upon whom devolves most of the direct superintendency of the work of construction, is still under forty-five, and he has won high success. As a young man, it was his ambition to follow a scientific career; but it was impossible for him to be sent

original foundations. Such little things are among the necessary incidents of American progress, and so the occupants give the matter no concern.

In the midst of the desolated space, bordered in places by long lines of scaffolded sidewalk, giant derricks swing their arms, and drills eat their way into the heart of the rock. Steam shovels, each of which, working under difficult conditions, can fill forty 30-yard cars in ten hours-buckets which can pick up five yards of rock at a lift-such are some of the appliances. Air-compressors, with a capacity of 5,000 cubic feet a minute, supply air at one hundred pounds' pressure, through a ten-inch. main with branches and flexible connec

to one of the technical schools in the usual way. But, impressing the famous yacht-builder, Herreshoff, with his ability, he obtained a situation as draftsman in the latter's office, with the privilege of keeping up at the same time the course in engineering at Brown University. It is interesting, in view of Herreshoff's more recent and more important fame, to know that for some time the stripling, Corthell, was the only draftsman in his office.

Brown University would not-at least at that time-be chosen for the fulness and importance of its scientific course; but it was only fifteen miles from the Herreshoff yards, and so young Corthell was wise enough to take advantage,

PORTION OF THE YARDS AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL, NEW YORK.

"In the very heart of the great city."

thankfully, of the best attainable, rather than to repine over the impossibility of having the ideally best.

Graduating from Brown, Corthell looked for a wider field than yacht building could offer, and he gravitated naturally to railroading. Within five years after his graduation, he was in charge of important work for the Missouri Pacific system; he became known in Kansas, in Colorado, in Iowa; and then, called to the East by by powerful New England interests, he was in charge, successively, of various large works, until 1902, when he was recognized by the New York Central as a man whom it must have. To him, more than to any other individual, is owing the accepted plan for the depression, tunneling, and arrangement of the tracks approaching the terminal. In common with others, he was closely studying the problem; and the solution came to him, when it came. overnight.

Electrification

The electrification of the trackage territory of the lines leading into the terminal area, for a distance of some twenty-five miles from the station, is the most important single feature of the general plan. When the improvements are completed, not a train will enter the Grand Central territory under steam power. Not only are the suburban trains to be operated by this force, within the electrical area; but the swift express trains from distant points will, as they approach the city, dismiss their steam locomotives, and be taken in charge by electric locomotives.

For the first time, electricity is to show its capacity to draw heavy express trains, of from 500 to 800 tons, at a speed of sixty miles an hour. Railroad men look upon this-and justly-as marking the beginning of a new epoch in the history of transportation. It is considered to be the beginning of a possibly unlimited electrification of the railroads of the country. It is deemed not improbable that from this as a beginning electricity will displace steam as a motive power for trains.

The enormous electric locomotives, the pioneers of this class of service, are oddlooking to our unaccustomed eyes, dou

its two pairs of drivers, the electric locomotive will have 67 of its 85 tons borne on four pairs of drivers. Thus a surprising gain will be made in weight available for traction, and a great gain in the decrease of dead weight. In addition, experts point out that there will be an entire absence of counterbalancing of drivers and twist from reciprocal motion.

Electric locomotives are to be used for long-distance trains only. For service. from points within about twenty-five miles, there will be an equipment of multiple-unit controlled motors.

In the immediate approaches to the terminal, electricity has for some time past, been called for, by the necessities of the case and the demands of the city

government, to avoid the danger to life, and the loss of comfort, which arise from the blinding clouds of smoke and steam in the present tunneled approach through the city; and, while making the necessary degree of alteration, a broad policy dictated also the change, far more sweeping,

"The crossing foot passenger must be cared for."

which should establish the use of electricity throughout the twenty-five mile

area.

There are to be two power stations for the New York Central, one on Long Island Sound and one upon the Hudson, with ultimate capacity of 40,000 horsepower each. They will be cross-connected, and either one will be able to handle the entire traffic in case of the disabling of the other. And it is interesting, as showing the interdependence of traffic in these modern days, that these great power stations for land transportation are located at points upon the water, so as to be accessible by boat as well as by rail for the receipt of fuel.

A point very interesting to engineers, is that, at these power stations, the usual reciprocating engines will not be used, but there will be turbo-generators, of 7,500 horse-power, of the Curtis type. It is also of interest to note that, for these power stations, water-tube boilers have been adopted, in units of 625 horsepower each, equipped with internal superheaters which will generate steam at a pressure of 200 pounds and superheated to 200 degrees.

Another Master Mind The myriad problems to be solved in the electrical branch of the improvements, gave occasion for another exhibi

tion of the policy which has operated throughout the entire work-that of the utilization of the skill and knowledge of a number of men working in harmony. For a commission, consisting of some half dozen engineers, has been studying all the points involved, and regularly meeting for the final comparison and decision. The chairman of this commission is Mr. William J. Wilgus.

The career of Mr. Wilgus, who is in . general charge of the entire work and to whom it is owing, more than to any other one man, that it has been carried so far toward successful completion, is of special interest. Born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1865, he was enabled to pursue the grammar school and high school courses in that city, but found himself unable to take the technical course for which he felt a keen desire. But he was not of the stuff of which failures are made. did not lamely repine that he must forego his ambitions because of insurmountable obstacles. He studied civil engineering in Buffalo, and worked with concentrated determination through the course of a correspondence school of Cornell University, which at that time had begun to give a correspondence course in engineering. The hektographed sheets of that period were his passport to success.

He

His course over, he looked about for engineering work. The Northwest attracted him; and in St. Paul he found his first success-a mild success only, for it gave him but the position of rodman. It was, however, the entering wedge with which he was to split the rock of achievement. There seems to be something in Minnesota air that is particularly favorable to the recognition and development