Grand Central: The World's Greatest Railway Terminal.

When the New York Central Railroad threw open the doors of its splendid new Manhattan terminal on 42nd Street on February 2, 1913, newspaper and magazine writers of the time were hard pressed to find superlatives equal to the task of describing it. Grand Central Terminal represented an extraordinary and unequaled merging of an inspired work of civil engineering, a landmark achievement for the still-young profession of electrical engineering, and a distinguished example of functional architecture.

In this richly illustrated book, William D. Middleton traces the colorful history of this most famous of New York's great public buildings. From the first run of the New York and Harlem's horse-drawn trains of 1832 to the architectural landmarks controversy of today, and considers some of the possible new roles in New York City transportation for this extraordinarily useful and adaptable terminal.

This is the revised edition of 1999 and includes more than 220 b&w illustrations, photographs and diagrams.

Contents:
Foreword, pp. 5-10;
The Railroad Comes to Manhattan, pp. 11-20;
The Commodore's Palace on 42nd Street, pp. 21-52;
An Engineer and His Grand Design, pp. 53-62;
The Architects and Their Magnificent Structure, pp. 63-80;
A Prodigious Task Wonderfully Accomplished, pp. 81-92;
A City Within a City, pp. 93-106;
Gateway to a Continent, pp. 107-130;
What Future for Grand Central?, pp. 131-142;
Appendix, pp. 143-153;
Bibliography, pp. 154-156;
Index, pp. 157-160.

Golden West Books, hard cover with jacket, 160 pages, 8.5 x 11 .75 in., b&w photographs, illustrations, track diagrams. GWB711 
Price: 27.95 USD