On February 1, 1913, more than 150,000 people eagerly rushed to Grand Central Terminal to gaze at New York City's newest landmark. A marvel of engineering, architecture, and vision, the new Beaux Arts structure on 42nd street housed an underground electric train station that would revolutionize the way people traveled and transform midtown Manhattan.
Grand Central Terminal History
The official Web site for Grand Central Terminal presents essays on its history, as well as information about walking tours, shops, restaurants at the terminal, and more.
http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/info/railroad.cfm
MTA Arts for Transit: Boris Klapwald Gallery
"Meet Me at Grand Central" is the title of photographer Boris Klapwald's evocative series of images from the early 1950s. Browse a few of these classic pictures, some of which were featured in the American Experience documentary, at this site maintained by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
http://www.mta.info/mta/aft/lightbox/lightbox.html?station=3
Grand Central Photos on Flickr
Explore thousands of self-published photographs of Grand Central taken by a host of photographers on this popular photo-sharing site.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22grand+central%22&ct=0
National Park Service: The House of Vanderbilt
From the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site comes this online family history, including a description of the first Vanderbilt to invest in railroads, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who admitted, "I have been insane on the subject of moneymaking all my life."
http://www.nps.gov/archive/vama/house_of.html
American Experience: Streamliners
Learn about the sleek designs and revolutionary diesel engines that made the U.S. passenger rail system the envy of the world.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/index.html
The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie
This site from American Experience describes the expansion of railroads in the United States and presents a gallery of homes on New York's Millionaire's Row, including the Vanderbilt chateau.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/index.html
American Experience: Transcontinental Railroad
Can't get enough train history? Trace the exploits of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific in their race to meet up in Utah! Scout the route, see an interactive map, and learn how workers blasted through the Sierra Nevada with nitroglycerin.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tcrr/index.html
Belle, John and Maxinne R. Leighton. Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
Schlichting, Kurt C. Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Engineering, and Architecture in New York City. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Stanley, Ed. Grand Central Terminal: Gateway to New York City. New York: MONDO Publishing, 2003.
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