(rshsdepot) Grand Central Terminal

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

Historic elevators link the past and the present at Grand Central Terminal
   
By Mark Ginocchio
Staff Writer

November 2, 2005

They are Grand Central Terminal's elevators -- They go by code names like King and Queen, A and C, and have carried people from all social classes -- janitors and presidents of the United States.

artifacts within a larger artifact. Metallic shafts of history in one of the country's most historic buildings.

"Some of these elevators are older than the building itself," says Steve Stroh, Metro-North Railroad superintendent of electrical maintenance.

That's because most of Grand Central, which is more than a century old, has been restored. But some of the elevators that were installed in the early 1900s are untouched.

Many have broken down and no longer operate. But a few still have something left in the tank.

"People have to look on the mark on the floor so they know where to stop the car," says Stroh, holding the rusted crank of the century-old "A" car, a hidden elevator that goes to Grand Central's secret basement sub-station.

His eyes motion to a thick line painted on a concrete wall outside the elevator cage. Operators must align the lift with the mark to determine where to open the doors, Stroh says.

"There's no automatic here," he says. "It's all manual."

He pounds his foot on a button on the elevator floor, causing a crash from the closing jaw-like iron gates. He lifts his foot and the jaws open again, then disappear, creating another creaky thud.

There are about 40 elevators throughout Grand Central, and eight are open to the public, Stroh estimates. Many are used for transporting freight. Others have carried legendary cargo, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who used a famed secret elevator to go between Grand Central and the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Most elevators descend many stories below Grand Central, connecting underground passageways, while others only drop the height of a basketball hoop.

"One of our newer elevators only goes about six to eight feet below sea level," Stroh says.

That $1 million elevator between tracks 11 and 13 was built a few years ago so the terminal would comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

He enters the elevator and presses the button to go down. Within 20 seconds, the doors open again, he steps out and looks up at the floor, just out of his reach.

"So, this cost quite a bit of money to just go about eight feet," Stroh says.

At the end of one train platform in the main concourse are two elevators dubbed King and Queen.

"The reason all the elevators have these weird names is because, back in the day, that's what the people here named them and we've just been reluctant to change it," Stroh says.

Neither has worked in more than 20 years, but in their hey day, King would take passengers between the main concourse and the mail room one floor above, and Queen would travel one more floor down to the lower level of the terminal.

Both are powered by hydraulics, which means they need weight and pressure from water and pistons to work, Stroh says. There are also electric elevators and the rope and pulley style.

To continue the tour, Stroh boards a freight lift near King and Queen that's operated by Arthur Weinberger, an employee in Grand Central for more than 50 years.

After Sept. 11, 2001, the railroad made sure employees worked all the elevators manually as an additional layer of security, Stroh says.

He doesn't say where he's stopping, but claims it's a passage that goes from the far east end of the terminal to the west end. This is a part of Grand Central the public likely will never see.

A buzzer rings, indicating the elevator has reached its destination, and Stroh gets out. He walks down a winding, dark path, littered with dirt and debris. Railroad employees have spray-painted messages on the walls, mocking the filth. Large, thick, clacking pipes carrying steam line the floors and ceilings.

"People who work here know how to get from one side of the building to the other without ever going above ground," he says over the noise.

As the passage extends, Stroh walks past Grand Central's elevator graveyard -- some of the oldest lifts in the building and nearly all out of service.

The metal gates on most are rusted, and the dusty insides of many are spray-painted like the walls. These elevators go by the names T01 and T02 -- more old-school lingo that has been lost in translation, Stroh says.

It's difficult to keep old elevators working "because they require a lot of upkeep," he says. "They have parts, like electrical coils, that have burnt out, and you can't just call a supply shop and ask for new ones. You have to go out and make it. They're special."

Grand Central has eight mechanics and two foreman for maintenance, and most of their work is focused on elevator doors, Stroh says.

One Metro-North mechanic, Fred Slater, is fixing a passenger elevator in the main concourse. It may be one of the building's newer elevators, but when designing it, the railroad didn't forget its roots, he says.

"A lot of the old ones looked just like this with the same design patterns," Slater says. "That's because these are part of a landmark." 

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-railroad1nov02,0,1617885.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
Copyright ? 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. 

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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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