A Brief Time Out
Ode to William Barclay Parsons

While looking up some information about Union Square in the mosaic book, I came across some words of William Barclay Parsons that were in the contract to build the subway. Parsons was the Chief Engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission and built the original 21 miles of the IRT.

"The railway and its equipment as contemplated by the contract constitute a great public work.
All parts of the structure where exposed to public sight shall therefore be designed, constructed and maintained with a view to the beauty of their appearance, as well as their efficiency."

As the original IRT system now nears its 100 year anniversary, it stands as a great monument to the vision of its Chief Engineer, William Barclay Parsons.

 

Okay. So now I'm aware that some of the things that I had been seing were part of the station rehabilitation. Mary Miss ( that's her name ) an artist, along with Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects worked on the overall redesign of the station. It was extensive. It took 3 separate stations and molded them into one. Passageways and track were reconfigured. My 2001 Monoliths were actual walls that were rediscovered when some track was realigned. It is the vision of Mary Miss
to have the design of the new station highlight the history and current functioning of the elements of the station.

 
These red frames are all over the mezzanine of the station. They serve to focus your vision on some aspect of the station. This one frames the gap filler control room. How do I know that?

 
If you came up real close to the red border, you would see inside a mirror and a printed message that would reflect in the mirror and give you information. This particular one was easy to relate to a physical object. I didn't have the time or really the patience to try to match up all these frames. There were more than 35 of them.

They pointed out things like:
orange holding lights
cable manholes
ventilation fans
track edge ladders
steel repair plates on columns
rail lubricators
high strength bolts
police antennas

 
So what's a Gap Filler? The IRT platforms are very curved. At certain places along the station, there is a large gap between the car and the platform. In this picture, a local train has come into the station. There is still a big gap between the doors and the platform.

 
Before the doors on the train open, the gap filler extends the platform to breech the gap. Has anyone ever gotten injured on the extenders? I don't know. There is a warning message playing over the P.A. system constantly reminding people to be careful of the moving platform and stay away from it as the trains enter or leave the station.

The extension remains in place until the doors close, and is actually somewhat nudged back into place by the train pulling slowly out.

 
There is a hole in the wall at the north end of the mezzanine overlooking the IRT platforms, about which there is a red frame. I was right over the northbound local track and the northbound express track with a set of redbird cars to the left. You could watch the trains snake out of the station and get close to each other. It's a railfan's window on the world. I must check with the Transit Authority to see if I can come there with a beach chair and a box of chocolates and watch the trains go by.

 
So who says only head on shots are good. Sometimes I have to get the feel of a sign to really get the sense of which way to go.

 
This way I really get the point.

 
Inside the red border around the last mosaic there is the following caption:

BY PLACING ALL WALL MATERIALS IN ONE PLANE, UNSANITARY DUST CATCHING EDGES WERE ELIMINATED

This was one of the advantages of the mosaics.

 
Close examination of the red border shows that it is an excellent dust collector. Perhaps the maid hadn't been by this spot that day.
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