ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

click here for a Panoramic View of Station
Street Level Plan	Cross Section	Platform Layout

Fronting on Raymond Plaza West, the new Pennsylvania Station in Newark extends from Raymond Boulevard to Edison Place, a distance of about 1200 feet. The main entrance on the axis of Commerce Street, is through an inspiring granite archway leading to the main waiting room and main concourse, from which direct access is provided to the main line tracks above by stairs and escalators. A similar archway leads to another concourse, which will eventually serve the rapid transit subway and bus traffic.

 

Type of Waiting Room Bench, Numbered to Facilitate Meeting.

Ornamental Drinking Fountain in Rear.

The baggage handling facilities, now temporarily on the Raymond Boulevard side, will be finally located along Raymond Boulevard East. Another large area at the Market Street end provides a covered driveway for loading and unloading taxicabs and private automobile and connects directly with the main waiting room and the main concourse.

The main station building, which extends outward from the tracks, is an imposing structure, 302 feet long, 79 feet deep and 51 feet high, built of grey Indiana limestone, The stone blocks are of unusual size, the lintels being single stones over 17 feet long. Some blocks in the piers are over eight feet in height and width. The base and the two great archways are of rubbed pink granite, also in large blocks.

The style of the building is based upon classical tradition, The front presents a rhythmical procession of square pilasters interrupted by the granite archways already referred to, The skyline is broken by a decorative motive over each archway, a clock and a sunburst, both illuminated from concealed sources in a novel and interesting manner. Carved limestone panels symbolize the flight of time, and various products, such as wheat and cattle, carried by the railroad.

East End of Main Waiting Room, Showing Ticket Windows and 

Decorative Placques Representing Various Forms of American Transportation.

A feature of the exterior is the use of aluminum for the window frames and marquises, embellished with decorative panel with dark backgrounds.

The doors are not of the usual wood or metal, but of a red composition called "formica."

On either side of the main building, 327 feet to the east, and 575 feet to the west, extends the impressive viaduct wall sheltering the main line tracks and platforms, which are about 20 feet above the street level This wall has been given an architectural treatment with an interesting use of materials, namely, elongated "Roman" brick of a light buff color, relieved with occasional metal-faced brick, grey limestone, green terra cotta, pink granite and silvery aluminum.

The direction of the tracks is accentuated by stressing the horizontal lines by bands of brickwork and the elongated shape of the windows. The top and bottom of the wall are finished off with decorative aluminum effects. Market Street and Raymond Boulevard pass under the viaduct through arched portals, flanked by granite pylons surmounted by carved granite eagles,

The outstanding feature of the station's interior is the main waiting room, which is 175 feet long, 58 feet wide and 46 feet high. The floor is of red terrazzo, with inlaid patterns in black and yellow, outlined by embedded brass strips. There is a high wainscot of rose yellow travertine from Montana, here used for the first time in the East. The upper portions of the walls are of acoustic material, and the ceiling is of the same material in die form, laid in herring-bone pattern.

West End of Main Waiting Room.

On the walls of the main waiting room are decorative placques, modelled in relief, representing the different forms of American transportation, as follows: The Canoe, Horse, Stage-Coach, Prairie Schooner, Steam Locomotive Electric Locomotive Viking Ship, the Santa Maria of Columbus, the Mayflower, the Clipper Ship, Steamship, Motor Bus, and finally the Aeroplane

The ceiling is blue encircled by decorative lines of gold leaf. The benches are of grey walnut, inlaid with aluminum. The room is illuminated by four large hanging globes of white bronze and flashed opal glass encircled with pierced bands displaying the signs of the Zodiac. The fixtures, which weigh in excess of 800 pounds each, can be raised and lowered by means of windlasses

At the westerly end of the main waiting room is a large window filled with sheets of variegated translucent Alabama marble through which the afternoon sun shines with unusual and striking effect As has been indicated, a bold color scheme has been used in the main waiting room, producing an impression which is much more cheerful and attractive than is usual.

American materials are used throughout the structure. The main concourse, 45 feet wide, is lined with Napoleon Grey marble to the ceiling, which is insulated from the noise of the trains above by a rock wool blanket.

On the upper level, the platforms, 1200 to 1600 feet long and vast enclosing train shed, present a striking spectacle. The viaduct wall is lined with buff glazed brick; the curved roofs are fitted with skylights and the platform waiting rooms are of aluminum.

Island Platform Looking East, 

Showing Aluminum Enclosed Waiting Rooms and Station Master's Office.

A new high pressure heating plant with a gracefully tapered chimney 175 feet high, on Edison Place supplies steam for heating the station. An elaborate ventilating system, with provision for air conditioning, is located in the main building of the station itself.

While additional work remains to he done on the station building, it nevertheless provides full facilities to the traveling public, though some of these notably the baggage room and restaurant are in temporary locations until the existing southerly tracks which served the old station, have been replaced.  At that time, the depth of the station will be increased to 319 feet with a new elevation on Raymond Plaza East.

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