MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
 
JUMP TO PAGE   100  >  200  >  300  >  400  >  500  >  600
VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Grand Central Terminal: 1913

New York's Grand Central Station nearing completion sometime around 1913. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.

New York's Grand Central Station nearing completion sometime around 1913. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

GCT

The facility is the end of the rail line; hence the name Grand Central Terminal. Pennsylvania Station is named as such since it provides for through rail traffic.

Third and Fourth Rails

Two different streetcar companies shared the track on 42nd Street between Madison and Park Avenues (where this photo was taken), they each had their own conduit rail to power only their own cars.

Source: "Manhattan's Lost Streetcars"; Images of Rail (2005); page 31

Third (and fourth) rails

There appear to be two buried "third rails" on the streetcar track (contacted by a plow), and on one of the two tracks, the third rails cross and trade places. Maybe some New York trolley fan could explain this strange arrangement.

Grand Central Station

Actually there is also a Grand Central Station that has nothing to do with the Post Office - it's a former IRT transfer point that also serves the Terminal building.

I suspect that while the use of the term Grand Central Station was common in New York for a long time, it really became common usage because of the radio program of the 1930s or '40s by that name.

Grand Central TERMINAL

Grand Central Station is a POST OFFICE! This is Grand Central TERMINAL! It sez so on the building itself right below the clock, IIRC.

[cc: G.G.B. - Dave]

Grand Central

Here's how that entrance looks today.

Shorpy is a wonderful site--I read it every day. Keep up the great work!

City Growth

Jeeze, it is incredible to see it as it was!
So many new buildings now clutter and overshadow that scene.
I wish we could get a current pic at that same angle, and compare our "progress".

The corner entrance

I walked through that exact entrance countless times when I was in my 20s (in the 80s). It's wild to see it as it was in 1913 and to contemplate the untold millions who preceded me and those who have come after me.

Strange perspective

The building looks like it will tumble to the right and at the same time to the front. Very strange!

Grand central

the sky is so clear...

Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.