This isn’t really a proper book review but really more of a book recommendation. I’m not a writer or literary critic. I’m just an engineer who just finished reading a book about the history of one the greatest engineering feats in the early twentieth century and want others to know how interesting a book it is. The book is “Conquering Gotham: A gilded age epic: The construction of Penn Station and its tunnels” by Jill Jonnes (Penguin Group, 2007).
The book chronicles some of the history of various people and companies who tried to link Manhattan Island and New Jersey via bridge or tunnel. When the book starts, the Brooklyn Bridge, which was an engineering feat in itself, has been built, but the only railroad connection to Manhattan Island was via New York Central and its bridge over the Harlem River. Thousands of commuters, other people, and cargo must use ferries across the Hudson River everyday to get to Manhattan from New Jersey. Dewitt Clinton Haskin unsuccessfully attempts to build a tunnel underneath the Hudson River, but due to construction and financial problems, the tunnel was abandoned. [Decades later the tunnel would be completed and in present day is used for PATH trains.] Gustav Lindenthal unsuccessfully tried for decades to build a bridge across the Hudson River but was never successful due to an inability to get funding. Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) under the leadership Alexander Cassatt is determined to get their trains into Manhattan in some manner instead of having their tracks end in New Jersey and their passengers needing to take ferries across the river.
The book describes how PRR explores the possible ways to get their trains to Manhattan Island and finally settles on an audacious plan to build two tunnels underneath the Hudson River, two tunnels under and through Manhattan, a grand station in a not so nice section of Manhattan, and four tunnels underneath the East River to further expand their tracks into New England. Completing this audacious plan is fraught with many engineering and financial difficulties and is further complicated by the need to deal with the corrupt New York City Tammany Hall politicians, which put about as many delays on the project as the difficult engineering. The history is fascinating, and Jonnes describes it really well. The book is not a dry history textbook. She describes the engineering obstacles in a way in which a non-technical person will understand and be interested, although as an engineer, I actually would have liked more details about some of the engineering issues, particularly with the tunnels.
The final chapter describes some of the post-completion problems, including the eventual decline of the railroads due to automobiles and then aviation. The modifications made to Penn Station after its completion and finally its destruction and replacement with the atrocious Madison Square Garden are also discussed. I have traveled on Amtrak trains many times via the Hudson River tunnels and twice via the East River tunnels. I have a much better appreciation for the difficulties in their construction now. I am also now even more sad to have never seen Penn Station in its original glory. In my humble opinion, the current Penn Station with Madison Square Garden is the ugliest and most ill-designed train station ever, and New York City deserves so much better. Of course, New York City is partially to blame for the destruction of the original and the construction of the current Penn Station.
If you are at all interested in history, transportation, or engineering, I highly encourage you to read this book. It is a great read. [I received no compensation for this recommendation, and I checked this book out from my local library.]