Reviews
Schlichting's new book is a stellar example of the importance of university presses. It profiles the chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad, the man 'who first presented his revolutionary plans for a completely new Grand Central'... Wilgus would continue to languish in obscurity had not Johns Hopkins University Press chosen to showcase him by printing his biography.
Schlichting is very good at providing the economic and political context for Wilgus's work... A very well-researched, well-organized, well-written account. Highly recommended.
The single best analysis we have of freight transportation in an early twentieth-century U.S. city.
Reconsidering accomplishments—and those who accomplished them—that predate our collective living memories is an important and rewarding exercise, especially when done as well as Grand Central’s Engineer, which celebrates William J. Wilgus both for his pioneering and visionary work on the terminal and for his subsequent work in transportation planning.
Schlichting does more than revive the reputation and importance of William Wilgus; he also provides a fascinating, well-researched, and important case study for how expertise and rational, comprehensive planning was necessary to solve the problems of the modern City.
Book Details
Preface
Introduction
1. New York City's Geography and Transportation Challenges
2. The Brilliance of Grand Central
3. New York's Freight Problem
4. Expanding the Subway in Manhattan
5. World War and Ideas
Preface
Introduction
1. New York City's Geography and Transportation Challenges
2. The Brilliance of Grand Central
3. New York's Freight Problem
4. Expanding the Subway in Manhattan
5. World War and Ideas for a New York–New Jersey "Port Authority"
6. Making Room for the Automobile: The Holland Tunnel
7. Joining Staten Island to New York City: The Narrows Tunnel
Conclusion
Notes
Index