Front page of Scientific American - New York, January 22, 1876

NEW RAILROAD DEPOT

We present herewith a view and a plan [see page 51] of the depot recently erected at Worcester, Mass, for the joint use of the Boston and Albany, the Norwich and Worcester, the Providence and Worcester Railroads. The design, as will be seen in our engraving, is picturesque and effective, and the work is remarkably solid and substantial. We extract the following particulars from the Worcester Gazette:

"In the center of the front is the main passenger entrance to the building. About 15 feet from the entrance, and directly in front, is a granite archway supported by double columns of granite. This is connected with the round part by a trussed roof, making three archways. The two at the sides are to be used as a driveway, thus enabling passengers to arrive and depart at all times without being exposed to the weather. On the outside of the round part a stationary awning has been built, which will cover a walk 10 feet wide, which is to be built under it. At the northwest corner of the building is a stone tower, the cap stone of which is 159½ feet from the ground. Above this rises a wooden extension covered with slate, 40 feet in highs, and surmounted with a rod and vane of 13 feet, making a total of 212½ feet. In the construction of the stone work of the building and tower, there were used 600,000 brick, 12,000 tons of stone, and 3,000 barrels of lime and cement. Near the top of the stone work of the tower a large clock room has been built. It has not yet been decided what kind of a clock will be placed in it A strong effort is being made to have one with an illuminated dial.

"The roofs of the two sections are each supported by eight heavy trusses one end resting on the walls of the building, the other on the girders running over the heavy iron pillars placed through the center of the building. These two roofs are covered with slate, except a part of the two sides where they join in the center of the building. Over this part of the roof there has been built a second roof which begins at the east and west ends of the building where it is about 3 feet wide, and ascends with a gentle slope to the center of the building, where it is about one third the width of the building covered by the two roofs. This roof is made of concrete, and is built to catch the snow from the inner slopes of the two roofs, which would, but for this, slide down to the bottom of the pitch The two roofs are surmounted with ventilators running the entire length of each. On the top of each is an ornamental iron railing, while over the top of each arch is a large vane. The roofs of the ventilators are covered with 7,200 panes of glass, 12 by 34 inches in size, set in 360 sashes."

The offices and waiting rooms are conveniently and handsomely fitted up, and the whole work reflects credit on the architects Messrs. Ware and Van Brunt, of Boston Mass. These gentleman, and Mr. E. S. Philbrick, the engineer, have done their work under some difficulty, as the uniformity of their design has been’ broken by the arrangement of the side entrance for the Boston, Barre, and Gardener and the Nashua and Worcester Railroads. The Railroad Gazette from whose pages we select the engravings, is our authority for stating that this unfortunate arrangement is due to the managers of these two railroads, who declined to accede to any other plan.