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RE: (rshsdepot) "450-Ton Locomotive at the Waldorf-Astoria"
OK, now you've aroused my curiosity. I've done a little research on the
"Waldorf station", and will do a little more, but the stories are certainly
conflicting. The most recent one, from this past September, certainly tends
to support the existence of the siding. But I recall reading a very
authoritative debunking of the siding (which is the source for my previous
comments on the list) and I'll try to dig that up as well. Here's the
tantalizing description from the Journal News, a Gannett paper:
A VIP station
While the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and Grand Central Terminal were being
completed side by side in 1932, an underground train station for the elite
was built off a trunk line at Track 61. This station, hidden within the
terminal, allowed Roosevelt and other VIPs to arrive in New York in style.
It also had the advantage of concealing FDR's wheelchair use from the
public.
"His armor-plated Pierce Arrow car would drive off the train, onto this
platform and into the elevator, and it would bring him and his car into the
hotel garage,'' Metro-North Railroad spokesman Dan Brucker said while
offering a rare tour of the long-unused station. "He could take the
presidential train back to Hyde Park without ever leaving the building.''
The 6-foot-wide elevator, built to accommodate a 6,000-pound armored car, is
kept in shape by elevator mechanic Darick Jones. Once at street level, Jones
yanks the elevator gates open to reveal 49th Street. Driving an automobile
with a slim profile, one could still make a sharp, right U-turn into the
Waldorf garage.
"Once or twice a year, the Secret Service will be there,'' Brucker said. "It
is still protected. It's a means of access.''
The locked entrance to the secret station is down a stairway concealed
behind a brass door marked 101-121 49th St., below a sign that reads
"Metro-North Fire Exit.'' In 1965, the platform was used for one of Andy
Warhol's underground parties, according to "Grand Central: Gateway to a
Million Lives'' by John Bell and Maxinne R. Leighton, published last year by
W.W. Norton & Co.
- -----Original Message-----
From: rshsdepot-owner_@_lists.railfan.net
[mailto:rshsdepot-owner_@_lists.railfan.net]On Behalf Of Paul S. Luchter
Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 11:56 PM
To: RSHSDepot
Subject: (rshsdepot) "450-Ton Locomotive at the Waldorf-Astoria"
Here we have the horse's mouth...
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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