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  • Grand Central's Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan by Kurt C. Schlichting
  • Amy G. Richter (bio)
Grand Central's Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan. By Kurt C. Schlichting. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012. Pp. xii+276. $49.95.

When the new Grand Central Terminal opened in February 1913, William Wilgus, the former chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad and the man who first envisioned and planned the monumental station, went [End Page 670] unmentioned. No stories in the press, no speech at the opening ceremonies, no commemorative plaque made note of his contributions. Indeed, as Kurt Schlichting asserts in his biography of the engineer, Wilgus "remains lost to history" (p. 1). He sets out to rectify this loss, meticulously cataloging Wilgus's engineering accomplishments and near visionary insights into the "perplexing transportation problems" of New York City in the early twentieth century (p. 8).

In 1899, Wilgus was named chief engineer of the New York Central at age 34. He almost immediately developed a complex and integrated plan to remake the line's outdated depot at 42nd Street, including razing the existing building and train yard, building a two-story underground yard, constructing a new terminal building, and switching the motive power from steam to electricity. If this were not enough, he also imagined a twelve-story office building above the main terminal concourse, as well as a "Terminal City" of office buildings, apartments, and hotels that made use of the new terminal's air rights. Perhaps more impressive, Wilgus persuaded the railroad to take up his plan, and he oversaw much of its implementation until his resignation in 1907.

Wilgus's work on Grand Central Terminal defined his career, not simply by making his name among his peers (if not the public), but by revealing the skills and habits of mind that marked his future endeavors. Grand Central reflected Wilgus's belief "that piecemeal plans and projects brought no real solutions to providing efficient passenger and freight transportation into Manhattan, the rest of New York City, the harbor, and the surrounding metropolitan region" (p. 2). This insight informed his subsequent work: proposing a small-car freight subway to handle deliveries from New York's overcrowded port; planning an "Inter-Terminal Belt Line" of subway and elevated lines to move freight and passengers; developing the idea of a regional New York-New Jersey port authority to coordinate transportation needs and infrastructure; advising on the design and construction of the Holland Tunnel; and suggesting a rail tunnel to permit passenger and freight trains to run between Brooklyn and Staten Island. Schlichting treats each of these projects in its own chapter, supporting his account with tables, maps, and photographs that convey Wilgus's own planning process and attention to detail.

The result is much more than a biography of a forgotten man. Grand Central's Engineer provides a detailed picture of the chaos that emerged from the geography of New York City. As Schlichting notes: "It is easy to forget that Manhattan is, in fact, an island" (p. 8), which by 1900 had become the busiest port in the world, with no rational plan shaping its development. He continues: "Over three hundred years, piecemeal development had created the most complex ship, water, river, pier, and rail exchange in the world, driven by the vested interests of thirteen major railroads, hundreds of shipping companies, the cities of New York and Brooklyn, [End Page 671] and the numerous municipalities across the harbor in New Jersey" (p. 41). Schlichting's recounting of the resulting complexity not only conveys the enormity of the problems that Wilgus sought to solve, but provides key insight into the financial and political forces that repeatedly thwarted so many of his plans, undermined the railroads, and fueled the decline of New York City's port.

If Schlichting's book has a shortcoming, it is a hesitancy to explore more fully the reasons behind Wilgus's failures and his absence from accounts of achievements like Grand Central and the Port Authority. Certainly, as he argues, parochialism and the shortsighted self-interest of politicians and railroad executives played...

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