catchin’ a train?”
“Sort of,” he responded, and that was all.
“All right, the suspense is killin’ me. What gives?”
“The Amtrak East River tunnel. What do you know of it?”
“A lot, actually,” I said. “Let’s see. There are two pairs of tunnel tubes under the city and the East River, consisting of four single-track tunnels, twenty some feet in diameter. The tunnels are located between 32 nd and 34 th Street and run from Penn Station under the East River to Queens . There are cross passages between the tubes every fifty feet, I think, and two openings in the whole length of the tubes through the center partition. Access shafts, one for each tube, were provided near the ends of the end sections, by which access can be obtained to the interior of the tubes, and there are several evacuation shafts throughout Manhattan. And that’s about everything I know.”
It was amazing I could retain so much information on the city’s history and infrastructure, but I had barely passed my history classes in college. Looking back, I realized it really didn’t matter because in the long run, a lot of what I had been taught had been incorrect anyways. Every year it seemed there was a new discovery in science or history to correct, disprove, or contradict that which we thought true. I’d learned more from the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel then I ever did in school.
“Impressive, but you’re missing something,” David said.
“The project was completed on March 18 th , 1908 and opened in November 1910.”
“And?”
“And… uh…?”
David looked at me, hoping for the response he was trying to evoke from me. But that was all I knew.
“Coffer-dams,” I blurted out. There’s something about coffer-dams, but I can’t remember.”
“True, but not it. In juxtaposition of location relative to the conEdison tunnel, where is the East River tunnel located?”
“It’s underground.” I gave a half statement, half question. The Jack Daniel’s was clouding my thought processes.
“Ours runs under theirs.”
“Okay. So?”
“ So ,” David said. “What the public doesn’t know is that we gave Amtrak permission to construct a tie-in tunnel, because their closest evacuation shaft, which is by the river, is nearly a century old and utilizes an antiquated ninety foot spiral staircase. By constructing the exit point they could utilize our shaft and its elevator for egress.”
“And you know this because?”
“I was a part of the engineering team for the emergency exit.”
“Where we going?” Julie interrupted, placing the First Aid kit on the desk.
I didn’t wait for David to make a decision. I knew where we could go. “Grand Central Terminal,” I said.
“Why?” They both asked simultaneously.
“It’s a P.O.D.”
“What’s P.O.D.?” Marisol wanted to know.
“Boy, you’re just full of questions, aren’t you?” I said. “Points of Dispensing. It’s a location where the Office of Emergency Management distributes treatments or vaccines for disease breakouts and biological events. There should be law enforcement or military presence there, too. Hopefully there’ll be an evacuation out of the city.”
“And how do you propose to get there?” David questioned.
“Since your tunnel connects to the East River Tunnel, we can use it to gain access to the IRT Line. We can walk straight up the tunnel into Grand Central.”
“Can we get from there into the subway tunnels?” David asked.
I was hesitant in my response. “I read there was a construction shaft that both the Pennsylvania Rail Road and the IRT shared because construction in each tunnel was going on concurrently. I also read somewhere that it had been converted into an emergency exit for the PRR, which should be at the subway station near 33 rd Street.” I hoped I was correct. If not, we’d have to go to Penn Station and take our chances.
“That’s the best I got. It’s
“Sort of,” he responded, and that was all.
“All right, the suspense is killin’ me. What gives?”
“The Amtrak East River tunnel. What do you know of it?”
“A lot, actually,” I said. “Let’s see. There are two pairs of tunnel tubes under the city and the East River, consisting of four single-track tunnels, twenty some feet in diameter. The tunnels are located between 32 nd and 34 th Street and run from Penn Station under the East River to Queens . There are cross passages between the tubes every fifty feet, I think, and two openings in the whole length of the tubes through the center partition. Access shafts, one for each tube, were provided near the ends of the end sections, by which access can be obtained to the interior of the tubes, and there are several evacuation shafts throughout Manhattan. And that’s about everything I know.”
It was amazing I could retain so much information on the city’s history and infrastructure, but I had barely passed my history classes in college. Looking back, I realized it really didn’t matter because in the long run, a lot of what I had been taught had been incorrect anyways. Every year it seemed there was a new discovery in science or history to correct, disprove, or contradict that which we thought true. I’d learned more from the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel then I ever did in school.
“Impressive, but you’re missing something,” David said.
“The project was completed on March 18 th , 1908 and opened in November 1910.”
“And?”
“And… uh…?”
David looked at me, hoping for the response he was trying to evoke from me. But that was all I knew.
“Coffer-dams,” I blurted out. There’s something about coffer-dams, but I can’t remember.”
“True, but not it. In juxtaposition of location relative to the conEdison tunnel, where is the East River tunnel located?”
“It’s underground.” I gave a half statement, half question. The Jack Daniel’s was clouding my thought processes.
“Ours runs under theirs.”
“Okay. So?”
“ So ,” David said. “What the public doesn’t know is that we gave Amtrak permission to construct a tie-in tunnel, because their closest evacuation shaft, which is by the river, is nearly a century old and utilizes an antiquated ninety foot spiral staircase. By constructing the exit point they could utilize our shaft and its elevator for egress.”
“And you know this because?”
“I was a part of the engineering team for the emergency exit.”
“Where we going?” Julie interrupted, placing the First Aid kit on the desk.
I didn’t wait for David to make a decision. I knew where we could go. “Grand Central Terminal,” I said.
“Why?” They both asked simultaneously.
“It’s a P.O.D.”
“What’s P.O.D.?” Marisol wanted to know.
“Boy, you’re just full of questions, aren’t you?” I said. “Points of Dispensing. It’s a location where the Office of Emergency Management distributes treatments or vaccines for disease breakouts and biological events. There should be law enforcement or military presence there, too. Hopefully there’ll be an evacuation out of the city.”
“And how do you propose to get there?” David questioned.
“Since your tunnel connects to the East River Tunnel, we can use it to gain access to the IRT Line. We can walk straight up the tunnel into Grand Central.”
“Can we get from there into the subway tunnels?” David asked.
I was hesitant in my response. “I read there was a construction shaft that both the Pennsylvania Rail Road and the IRT shared because construction in each tunnel was going on concurrently. I also read somewhere that it had been converted into an emergency exit for the PRR, which should be at the subway station near 33 rd Street.” I hoped I was correct. If not, we’d have to go to Penn Station and take our chances.
“That’s the best I got. It’s
Similar Books
