Grand Central Terminal -- Remaining New York Central Pieces?

I took a little detour on the way home last night and went over to GCT... I'm wondering what other than the Plaques in Vanderbilt hall still bear the wording "New York Central", a logo, or even "NYC"?

The inscription on the base of the statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, on the south side of the terminal looking down Park Ave, reads "Founder of the New York Central Lines".

I find that one kind of funny since Corning was the founder of the New York Central, not Vanderbilt.

Guess history truly is written by the winner.

Actually, "New York Central Lines" was the long-standing official term for the entire system, not just the original Albany-Buffalo company, so in that sense the designation is correct.

Although not part of GCT, the Helmsley Building at 230 Park Ave. (which originally housed NYC's executive offices) carries the "New York Central Building" lettering above its doorways. Also, I vaguely recall that the pair of plaques on either side of 230 Park (which commemorate the planners of the elevated Park Ave. roadway) mention the NYC.

Mid-Level of the west staircases there's another plaque, pretty sure it mentions NYC.

north end of helmsley building still states NYC RR

I checked out the plaque on the west staircase and it is in honor of William Butcher and mentions the MTA but nothing about the NYC.

This is a stretch answer to the original question, but there is the mural with a NYC motor (can't remember what class it is) in a vault in the passageway out to Lexington Ave.

bill8106 wrote:This is a stretch answer to the original question, but there is the mural with a NYC motor (can't remember what class it is) in a vault in the passageway out to Lexington Ave.

It's the Graybar Passage you are thinking of. Go find Track 11 and look UP to find the painting of the T-motor running under High Bridge.

Jmark wrote:I find that one kind of funny since Corning was the founder of the New York Central, not Vanderbilt.

Guess history truly is written by the winner.

Not to pick nits or split hairs... Erastus Corning may have organized the New York Central Railroad (combining several companies to connect Albany and Buffalo), but it was Cornelius Vanderbilt who turned all of his acquired properties in the New York Central *System* that stretched from New York to Chicago and beyond.

As president of the Utica & Schenectady, Corning organized in 1851 a convention of the owners and presidents of the other eight operating railroads, which combined roughly connected the cities of Albany and Buffalo, New York. The convention agreed on a framework for consolidation of the eight roads (as well as two paper roads, which had not yet been built but were planned)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erastus_Corning

Once in charge of the Harlem, Vanderbilt encountered conflicts with connecting lines. In each case, the strife ended in a battle that Vanderbilt won. He bought control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, the New York Central Railroad in 1867, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in 1869. He later bought the Canada Southern as well. In 1870, he consolidated two of his key lines into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, one of the first giant corporations in American history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Vanderbilt

It was Vanderbilt's company that later built Grand Central Terminal, therefore he gets a statue outside, and not Erastus.

-otto-

While we're on the topic, let's not forget the Terminal's "Biltmore Room," which still contains the giant blackboard where the New York Central once displayed the anticipated arrival times of incoming trains.

During the 1980s, someone chalked in the names of a fleet of long-extinct NYC trains, along with their arrival times. Although somewhat smeared, that "historical reconstruction" remains on view to this day.

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I wonder if that's the same chalkboard I remember from the 50's at the GCT "arrival station" on the west side of the terminal. My recollection is that it was more of a green board than a black board, and it was split between NYC and NH arrivals.

A gentleman with impeccable handwriting would get the track designations off a Telautograph machine about 5 minutes before the train's arrival and fill in the track number on the board. I remember the machine would give the train number followed by the track; if it was a NH train, it had a "Y" in front of it, designating Yankee.