Evertt Street depot

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[edit] Evertt Street Depot, Milwaukee, WI is part of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMSP&P RR)

From BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES OF AMERICAN RAILROADS. A REFERENCE BOOK FOR RAILROAD MANAGERS, SUPERINTENDENTS, MASTER MECHANICS, ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, AND STUDENTS By Walter Gilman Berg, Published 1893

Terminal Passenger Depot at Milwaukee, Wis., Chicago, Milwaukee d f S/. Paul Railway.— The \y Passenger depot of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway at Milwaukee, Wis., plans for which were Published in the issue of the Railway Review of Dec. 25, 1886, and in the issue of the Scientific American (Architects and Builders' Edition) of March, 1887, is a large terminal side-station, described as follows in the publications mentioned:
The new passenger station of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway at Milwaukee is situated between Third and Fourth Streets, one and one-half blocks from Grand Avenue, and fronts on a park on Everett Street. The ground-plan of the building shows a surface of 120 x 65 ft.
There are three floors— the first 16 ft. in the clear and the other two 14 ft. each. In the centre of the facade rises a tower to the height of 160 ft., reminding one in its graceful lines of some Venetian campanile, and dominating the landscape in every direction. The style of the structure is modern Gothic. The foundations are solid and enduring, being constructed of stone, with granite facings above grade. The material used in the construction of the walls is Milwaukee brick, faced with pressed Philadelphia red brick. The trimmings are of red sandstone and terra-cotta in handsome patterns. The main entrance of the building is formed of a triple arch, supported by columns of polished granite.
It is reached by a flight of six easy steps. The swinging-doors of polished oak are a few feet 1ns1de the arch, being surmounted by stained-glass windows in beautiful designs. These admit the visitor into the large central hall which bisects the building. This is 30 x 65 ft. The floor is of tile, in a well-defined pattern, and soft, pleasing colors. The walls are of red brick up to the spring of the arch. From there on they are in a soft, creamy brick. The lower portion of the wall is marked with geometrical patterns in d1fferent- colored brick, while the creamy surface above is picked out here and there with a dash of dark color.
Around the rear of the hall runs a gallery, which serves to give the light and lightness needed to the whole. This gallery is surrounded by a railing in hammered dull brass. On the right of the main entrance is the ladies' waiting-room, an apartment of handsome proportions, 30 x 84 ft., with tile floor, and finished in oak in natural color. To the rear of the apartment are well- appointed toilet-rooms. On the same side of the hall, and occupying the south side of the building, is the gentlemen's waiting-room, of the same size as the other room, less a slight abridgment in length.
Between the two is a bijou ticket-office with three ticket-windows, one to the hall and one to each waiting-room. All these rooms, as well, in (act, as all the rooms down-stairs, with one exception, are finished in a similar manner to the ladies' room, and have tiled floors. The ceiling on this floor throughout is ribbed by heavy beams, whose possible heaviness is relieved by tinting in light color approaching a soft shade of Nile green.
On the left of the entrance is the dining-room of the hotel connected with the depot, a room 40 x 52 ft., finished as the other rooms, but with a wood floor. The lunch room, on the same side, is 16x 52 ft. in size, and is furnished with folding-stools for the benefit of its patrons. Between the two rooms is the telegraph- office and the parcel counter.
To the right and rear of the hall an alcove gives room for a handsome oak stairway that leads to the second floor. This, in the west end of the building, is occupied by the train-despatchers of the different divisions, and it is safe to say that never before did train-despatchers have more comfortable or beautiful quarters. The most of the offices look directly out on the park. The east end of the building is occupied, with the exception of one room, for hotel purposes. Descending to the first floor, in the extreme west end of the building, is found the baggage-room, an apartment 52 x 56 ft. in its floor dimensions. Immediately above it and reached by a water-elevator is a room of similar size for the purpose of storing baggage not called for immediately. In the east end of the building is the emigrant room, of size the same as the baggage-room, with heavily timbered ceiling and tiled floor. This room and the one above it, also intended for the same purpose, are well appointed for their special object. The building is lighted throughout by electricity and heated by steam, both being furnished by boilers and engine located in the east end of the basement.
Outside are large car-sheds, 600 ft. in length and 100 in width, supported by iron columns and girders, and roofed with corrugated iron. They cover five tracks, on which the highest skill of the road-masters' art has been displayed. There is placed in the tower, at a height that will make it easily seen from a good part of the city, a big clock, the dials of which will at night be illuminated by electricity. The clock is one of the finest as well as the largest in the country. It has four dials. Those on the north and south sides arc II ft. in diameter, and those on the east and west are 9 ft. Each of these dials is composed of six sections of the finest ground glass, so joined together as to appear one solid piece. The pendulum of this mammoth clock is 14 ft. in length, and weighs 400 Ibs. It is regulated for heat and cold. The cost complete is $500,000.

Berg, Walter Gilman (1893). BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES OF AMERICAN RAILROADS. A REFERENCE BOOK FOR RAILROAD MANAGERS, SUPERINTENDENTS, MASTER MECHANICS, ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, AND STUDENTS. J. Wiley, 500.