Subterranean New York – Grand Central Terminal

Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the glory days of American long-distance passenger trains, it is the largest train terminal in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks along them.  The correct name is Grand Central Terminal , not Grand Central Station, since it has always been the terminus for the railroads it serves since its 1903 opening. The “central” part of the name is because it was built by the New York Central Railroad.

There are two levels, both below ground, with 31 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower.  The total number of tracks along platforms and in rail yards exceeds 100. When the Long Island Rail Road's new station, below the existing levels, opens, Grand Central will offer a total of 75 tracks and 48 platforms. There are 31 tracks on the upper level in revenue service, numbered from 11 to 42.  There  were 41 but tracks 22 and 31 were removed in the late 90's in order to build concourses for Grand Central North, track 12 was removed in order to expand the platform between tracks 11 and 13, and track 14 is only used for loading a garbage train from the most eastern track to the most western track. The 26 lower tracks are numbered from 100 to 126, east to west, although only tracks 102-112, and 114-116 are currently used for passenger service.

The tracks are numbered relating to their geographic location in the terminal building rather than the trains' destinations, because all of the trains end at Grand Central. This system makes it easy for passengers to locate rapidly where their train’s departure point. The immense terminal covers 48 acres, which stretches uptown from 42^nd Street all the way to 50^th Street.

The famous recognizable icon above ground like the perpetual meeting place, the four-faced clock on top of the information booth is perhaps the most recognizable icon of Grand Central. Each of the four clock faces is made from opal. The clock has a projected value of between $10 million and $20 million by both Sotheby's and Christie's. But the subterranean secret within the marble and brass pagoda is a "secret" door that conceals a spiral staircase leading to the lower level information booth.

There are many things not seen in the Terminal, since they are either behind closed doors or on lower levels hidden away. In one part of the gigantic subterranean maze, situated under the Waldorf-Astoria hotel for decade is a special train car and station built for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The station allowed the President to ride off the train in his limousine and enter the hotel while sitting in his car in order to hide his polio disability.

The back Terminal houses the Metro-North Lost & Found Room on the Lower Level. Its recorded success is one unbeaten for lost & found rooms anywhere with an 80% overall recovery rate, and a 100% recovery rate for laptop computers. Each article has a handwritten label stating the time and locality the item was found. All the information is entered into a catalog that riders can check via the Metro-North website with the ability to check if the item was turned-in. Don’t even assume you can go “shopping” at the Lost & Found. Individuals are asked for detailed facts on where you lost the item.

In addition to train platforms, Grand Central contains subterranean restaurants, the most famous of which is the Oyster Bar, and fast food outlets. The restaurants are located surrounding the Dining Concourse on the level below the Main Concourse, and include delis, bakeries, newsstands, a gourmet and fresh food bazaar, an annex of the New York Transit Museum, and 40+ retail stores.

There's also a secret communications system in the lower Terminal in front of the Oyster Bar on the lower level ramp. The Guastavino tile archway is actually a whispering gallery. Just stand in one corner and speak, and the person in the opposite corner can hear you completely.

Deeper under Grand Central Terminal is located a "secret" sub-basement known as M42, containing the AC to DC converters used to supply DC traction current to the Terminal. The exact location of M42 is a strictly safeguarded secret. It cannot be found on maps although it has been viewed on television, on such shows as the History Channel and National Geographic special. The original rotary converters remained in the late 20th century when solid state ones replaced their job. They remain for the rationale of historical record. During World War II, this was one of the most secured facilities. If it were incapacitated, military movement on the Eastern coastline would have been disrupted. The story goes that any unauthorized person entering the facility during the war risked being shot on sight. The rotary converters used at the time could have simply been crippled by a bucket of sand.