Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/35



O cut twenty minutes from the running time of passenger trains and one hour from the running time of freight trains between New York and Buffalo, the Lackawanna Railroad has invested twelve million dollars in a concrete arch half a mile long.

By the old, circuitous route, due to the heavy grades, five engines were required for the work that two can now do comfortably.

The new viaduct is an imposing structure crossing the Tuckhannock Valley in ten graceful arches. It is of concrete, the largest concrete structure in the world, containing more than five hundred million cubic yards of material. Some idea of its vast size can be gained by a comparison with the dimensions of better known structures. If the Flatiron Building were eight blocks longer, it would have practically the same dimensions as the Tuckhannock Viaduct. If the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge were one hundred feet higher, it would have the dimensions of the viaduct.

Including the viaduct, the total length of the cutoff is three and one-half miles. The old route is thirty-nine miles.