Misplaced Pages

Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

A train station , railroad station , or railroad depot (mainly North American terminology) and railway station (mainly UK and other Anglophone countries) is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers , freight , or both. It generally consists of at least one platform , one track , and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales, waiting rooms , and baggage/freight service. Stations on a single-track line often have a passing loop to accommodate trains travelling in the opposite direction.

#923076

127-419: [REDACTED] The Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station is the northern terminal station of the New York City Subway 's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line . Located at the intersection of 242nd Street and Broadway ( US Route 9 ) in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx , it is served by the 1 train at all times. It is adjacent to Van Cortlandt Park to the east, Manhattan University , and

254-404: A bar or pub . Other station facilities may include: toilets , left-luggage , lost-and-found , departures and arrivals schedules , luggage carts, waiting rooms , taxi ranks , bus bays and even car parks . Larger or staffed stations tend to have a greater range of facilities including also a station security office. These are usually open for travellers when there is sufficient traffic over

381-601: A progenitor of the hippie movement , although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. He has a lasting legacy, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan , the Beatles , Jerry Garcia and the Doors . In 1969, at the age of 47, Kerouac died from an abdominal hemorrhage caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking. Since then, his literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published. Kerouac

508-649: A Catholic", showing the reporter a painting of Pope Paul VI and saying, "You know who painted that? Me." The success of On the Road brought Kerouac instant fame. His celebrity status brought publishers desiring unwanted manuscripts that were previously rejected before its publication. After nine months, he no longer felt safe in public. He was badly beaten by three men outside the San Remo Cafe at 189 Bleecker Street in New York City one night. Neal Cassady , possibly as

635-510: A Jewish neighborhood on the Lower East Side of New York. He recalled "a whole bunch of rabbis walking arm in arm ... teedah- teedah – teedah ... and they wouldn't part for this Christian man and his wife, so my father went POOM! and knocked a rabbi right in the gutter." Leo, after the death of his child, also treated a priest with similar contempt, angrily throwing him out of the house despite his invitation from Gabrielle. Kerouac

762-521: A Times Square street hustler and favorite of many Beat Generation writers. According to Kerouac, On the Road "was really a story about two Catholic buddies roaming the country in search of God. And we found him. I found him in the sky, in Market Street San Francisco (those 2 visions), and Dean (Neal) had God sweating out of his forehead all the way. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OUT FOR THE HOLY MAN: HE MUST SWEAT FOR GOD. And once he has found Him,

889-534: A beat movie titled Pull My Daisy (1959), directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie . It starred poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso , musician David Amram and painter Larry Rivers among others. Originally to be called The Beat Generation , the title was changed at the last moment when MGM released a film by the same name in July 1959 that sensationalized beatnik culture. The television series Route 66 (1960–1964), featuring two untethered young men "on

1016-644: A biography of Siddhartha Gautama , titled Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha , which was unpublished during his lifetime, but eventually serialized in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review , 1993–95. It was published by Viking in September 2008. Kerouac found enemies on both sides of the political spectrum , the right disdaining his association with drugs and sexual libertinism and the left contemptuous of his anti-communism and Catholicism; characteristically, he watched

1143-406: A bypass line, used by freight trains that do not need to stop at the terminus. Some termini have a newer set of through platforms underneath (or above, or alongside) the terminal platforms on the main level. They are used by a cross-city extension of the main line, often for commuter trains , while the terminal platforms may serve long-distance services. Examples of underground through lines include

1270-445: A curved stem. At the south end is the only scrolled station sign remaining anywhere in the subway system. The western platform has its original railing and modern lights. The control house is the dominant architectural feature of the station. The copper-clad timber frame exterior is painted in a vertical, batten seam pattern. It is topped with a low hipped roof clad in sheet metal and pierced by two ventilating dormer windows on

1397-399: A diagnosis of " schizoid personality ". While a Merchant Mariner in 1942, Kerouac wrote his first novel, The Sea Is My Brother . The book was published in 2011, 70 years after it was written and over 40 years after Kerouac's death. Kerouac described the work as being about "man's simple revolt from society as it is, with the inequalities, frustration, and self-inflicted agonies." He viewed

SECTION 10

#1733092708924

1524-551: A family of potato farmers in the village of Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec . Jack also had various stories on the etymology of his surname, usually tracing it to Irish, Breton , Cornish , or other Celtic roots. In one interview he claimed it was from the name of the Cornish language ( Kernewek ), and that the Kerouacs had fled from Cornwall to Brittany. Another version was that the Kerouacs had come to Cornwall from Ireland before

1651-400: A few blocks west of the station. There is one island platform and two side platforms . The station was formerly set up as a Spanish solution with alighting passengers using the side platforms and boarding passengers using the island platform. Now, only the center island platform is open to the public for boarding and disembarking from trains. They are floored in concrete and sheltered with

1778-404: A few intermediate stations that take the form of a stub-end station, for example at some zigzags . If there is a station building , it is usually located to the side of the tracks. In the case of intermediate stations used for both passenger and freight traffic, there is a distinction between those where the station building and goods facilities are on the same side of the tracks and those in which

1905-472: A few small railway stations are designated as "halts" ( Irish : stadanna , sing. stad ). In some Commonwealth countries the term "halt" is used. In Australia, with its sparse rural populations, such stopping places were common on lines that were still open for passenger traffic. In the state of Victoria , for example, a location on a railway line where a small diesel railcar or railmotor could stop on request, allowing passengers to board or alight,

2032-794: A further 40 from other companies at the Grouping of 1923. Peak building periods were before the First World War (145 built) and 1928–1939 (198 built). Ten more were opened by British Rail on ex-GWR lines. The GWR also built 34 "platforms". Many such stops remain on the national railway networks in the United Kingdom, such as Penmaenmawr in North Wales , Yorton in Shropshire , and The Lakes in Warwickshire , where passengers are requested to inform

2159-404: A geometric pattern similar to that on the control house's projecting bay window. C-shaped brackets support the original signage, now painted over. The steel-framed overpass is an architecturally sympathetic addition. Railings are a more restrained version of the original railings found on the platform. It is floored in wood plank and roofed with slats covered by standing seam metal. At its west end

2286-449: A guardian angel. This is the Gerard of Kerouac's novel Visions of Gerard . He had one other sibling, an older sister named Caroline. Kerouac was referred to as Ti Jean or little John around the house during his childhood. Kerouac spoke French with his family and began learning English at school, around age six; he began speaking it confidently in his late teens. He was a serious child who

2413-476: A large parking garage on the southwest corner; the east side has the track, football field, tennis courts, swimming pools and other athletic facilities of Van Cortlandt Park . Also in the park nearby, to the northeast, is the Van Cortlandt House Museum , a National Historic Landmark . The 240th Street Yard is beyond the parking garage to the southwest, next to the campus of Manhattan University ,

2540-654: A leg playing football during his freshman season, and during an abbreviated second year he argued constantly with coach Lou Little , who kept him benched. While at Columbia, Kerouac wrote several sports articles for the student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator , and joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He was a resident of Livingston Hall and Hartley Hall , where other Beat Generation figures lived. He also studied at The New School . When his football career at Columbia ended, Kerouac dropped out of

2667-571: A line was dual-purpose there would often be a freight depot apart from the passenger station. This type of dual-purpose station can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grandiose architecture of the time, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles. Various forms of architecture have been used in

SECTION 20

#1733092708924

2794-407: A long enough period of time to warrant the cost. In large cities this may mean facilities available around the clock. A basic station might only have platforms, though it may still be distinguished from a halt , a stopping or halting place that may not even have platforms. Many stations, either larger or smaller, offer interchange with local transportation; this can vary from a simple bus stop across

2921-504: A member of on-board train staff if they wish to alight, or, if catching a train from the station, to make themselves clearly visible to the driver and use a hand signal as the train approaches. Most have had "Halt" removed from their names. Two publicly advertised and publicly accessible National Rail stations retain it: Coombe Junction Halt and St Keyne Wishing Well Halt . A number of other halts are still open and operational on privately owned, heritage, and preserved railways throughout

3048-417: A mountain climbing trip Kerouac took with Snyder, and includes excerpts of letters from Snyder. While living with Snyder outside Mill Valley, California, in 1956, Kerouac worked on a book about him, which he considered calling Visions of Gary . (This eventually became Dharma Bums , which Kerouac described as "mostly about [Snyder].") That summer, Kerouac took a job as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in

3175-663: A new through-station, including the cases of Berlin Hauptbahnhof , Vienna Hauptbahnhof and numerous examples throughout the first century of railroading. Stuttgart 21 is a controversial project involving the replacement of a terminus station by a through-station. An American example of a terminal with this feature is Union Station in Washington, DC , where there are bay platforms on the main concourse level to serve terminating trains and standard island platforms one level below to serve trains continuing southward. The lower tracks run in

3302-449: A note to read " Emerson and Thoreau (again)." He spent a year at Horace Mann School , where he befriended Seymour Wyse, an Englishman whom he later featured as a character, under the pseudonym 'Lionel Smart', in several of Kerouac's books. He also cites Wyse as the person who introduced him to the new styles of jazz, including bop . After his year at Horace Mann, Kerouac earned the requisite grades for entry to Columbia. Kerouac broke

3429-574: A publisher. Before On the Road was accepted by Viking Press, Kerouac got a job as a "railroad brakeman and fire lookout" (see Desolation Peak (Washington) ) traveling between the East and West coasts of the United States to earn money, frequently finding rest and the quiet space necessary for writing at the home of his mother. While employed in this way he met and befriended Abe Green, a young freight train jumper who later introduced Kerouac to Herbert Huncke ,

3556-644: A result of his new notoriety as the central character of the book, was set up and arrested for selling marijuana. In response, Kerouac chronicled parts of his own experience with Buddhism, as well as some of his adventures with Gary Snyder and other San Francisco–area poets, in The Dharma Bums , set in California and Washington and published in 1958. It was written in Orlando between November 26 and December 7, 1957. To begin writing Dharma Bums , Kerouac typed onto

3683-407: A spot at the station to board and disembark trains is called station track or house track regardless of whether it is a main line or loop line. If such track is served by a platform , the track may be called platform track. A loop line without a platform, which is used to allow a train to clear the main line at the station only, is called passing track. A track at the station without a platform which

3810-417: A station and various other features set certain types apart. The first is the level of the tracks . Stations are often sited where a road crosses the railway: unless the crossing is a level crossing , the road and railway will be at different levels. The platforms will often be raised or lowered relative to the station entrance: the station buildings may be on either level, or both. The other arrangement, where

3937-576: A station stop does not. A station stop usually does not have any tracks other than the main tracks, and may or may not have switches (points, crossovers). An intermediate station does not have any other connecting route, unlike branch-off stations , connecting stations, transfer stations and railway junctions . In a broader sense, an intermediate station is generally any station on the route between its two terminal stations . The majority of stations are, in practice, intermediate stations. They are mostly designed as through stations ; there are only

Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station - Misplaced Pages Continue

4064-405: A station track as a temporary storage of a disabled train. A "terminus" or "terminal" is a station at the end of a railway line. Trains arriving there have to end their journeys (terminate) or reverse out of the station. Depending on the layout of the station, this usually permits travellers to reach all the platforms without the need to cross any tracks – the public entrance to the station and

4191-451: A ten-foot length of teleprinter paper, to avoid interrupting his flow for paper changes, as he had done six years previously for On the Road . Kerouac was demoralized by criticism of Dharma Bums from such respected figures in the American field of Buddhism as Zen teachers Ruth Fuller Sasaki and Alan Watts . He wrote to Snyder, referring to a meeting with D. T. Suzuki , that "even Suzuki

4318-405: A three-way junction and platforms are built on all three sides, for example Shipley and Earlestown stations. In a station, there are different types of tracks to serve different purposes. A station may also have a passing loop with a loop line that comes off the straight main line and merge back to the main line on the other end by railroad switches to allow trains to pass. A track with

4445-580: A tunnel beneath the concourse and emerge a few blocks away to cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Terminus stations in large cities are by far the biggest stations, with the largest being Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Other major cities, such as London, Boston , Paris, Istanbul , Tokyo, and Milan have more than one terminus, rather than routes straight through the city. Train journeys through such cities often require alternative transport ( metro , bus , taxi or ferry ) from one terminus to

4572-425: A wooden roof covered in standing-seam metal supported by trussed steel T-frames on the side platforms and timber in the center. Rounded rafter tails project from the eaves . The sides, except for the open southernmost section, have had metal windscreen added. Under the canopies are modern fluorescent lights. On the eastern platform, the original iron railings support original lights, with dish-shaped downlights on

4699-464: Is Arbroath . Occasionally, a station serves two or more railway lines at differing levels. This may be due to the station's position at a point where two lines cross (example: Berlin Hauptbahnhof ), or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, such as intercity and suburban (examples: Paris-Gare de Lyon and Philadelphia's 30th Street Station ), or for two different destinations. Stations may also be classified according to

4826-560: Is a covered veranda leading into the control house. On the inside, the control house is floored in wood plank as well. The walls are finished in a mix of solid and tongue and groove wood paneling. Tall riveted steel arches support the ceiling. The main waiting area has niches where modern heaters have replaced the original pot-bellied stoves . There is a modern steel and glass token booth and turnstile bank, along with MetroCard vending machines. Former restrooms have been converted into utility and storage rooms. The crew quarters building

4953-455: Is any longer served by trains), or military base (such as Lympstone Commando ) or railway yard. The only two such "private" stopping places on the national system, where the "halt" designation is still officially used, seem to be Staff Halt (at Durnsford Road, Wimbledon) and Battersea Pier Sidings Staff Halt, both of which are solely for railway staff. In Portugal , railway stops are called halts ( Portuguese : apeadeiro ). In Ireland ,

5080-411: Is augmented with a series of blocks in the same color descending towards the tracks on the north end. At the south end, a series of projecting nested bays descends to an entrance to track level. To its south is an old signal house also sided in metal. The crew quarters can also be entered from the center platform. Its interior is given over to employee-related functions and is not open to the public. At

5207-404: Is frequently, but not always, the final destination of trains arriving at the station. Especially in continental Europe, a city may have a terminus as its main railway station, and all main lines converge on it. In such cases all trains arriving at the terminus must leave in the reverse direction from that of their arrival. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished: There may also be

Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station - Misplaced Pages Continue

5334-467: Is located at the south end of the platforms. It is a one-story building sided in corrugated metal with a flat roof, elevated over the tracks and platforms at that end. The siding has been given the appearance of clapboard and painted gray. A belt course corresponding to the top of the windows has been painted red, the color of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue trunk line, on both side elevations; it

5461-451: Is the terminology typically used in the U.S. In Europe, the terms train station and railway station are both commonly used, with railroad being obsolete. In British Commonwealth usage, where railway station is the traditional term, the word station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise specified. In the United States, the term depot is sometimes used as an alternative name for station , along with

5588-411: Is used for trains to pass the station without stopping is called through track. There may be other sidings at the station which are lower speed tracks for other purposes. A maintenance track or a maintenance siding, usually connected to a passing track, is used for parking maintenance equipment, trains not in service, autoracks or sleepers . A refuge track is a dead-end siding that is connected to

5715-451: The 1 at all times. It is the northern terminus of the 1 train; the next stop to the south is 238th Street . There are three components to the station: the platforms , a control house perpendicular to the tracks at the north end, and a crew quarters building spanning the platform at the south end. From the northeast corner an overpass crosses the through-traffic lanes of Broadway. Two stairs descend in either direction from its end, matching

5842-405: The 240th Street Yard of the subway system, along with the affluent neighborhoods of Fieldston and Riverdale to the west. It was built from a design by subway architects Heins & LaFarge . Today it is the only remaining Victorian Gothic elevated terminal station on the subway, and contains the subway's only remaining scrolled station sign among its decorative flourishes. In 2005, it

5969-575: The New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway. As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $ 1.5 million (equivalent to $ 49.1 million in 2023) spent on platform lengthening, $ 500,000 (equivalent to $ 16.4 million in 2023)

6096-617: The North Cascades in Washington, after hearing Snyder's and Whalen's stories of working as fire spotters. Kerouac described the experience in Desolation Angels and later in "Alone on a Mountaintop" (published in Lonesome Traveler ) and The Dharma Bums . Kerouac would go on for hours, often drunk, to friends and strangers about his method. Allen Ginsberg, initially unimpressed, would later be one of his great proponents, and it

6223-797: The San Jose Library, which marked the beginning of his study of Buddhism. Between 1955 and 1956, he lived on and off with his sister, whom he called "Nin," and her husband, Paul Blake, at their home outside of Rocky Mount, North Carolina ("Testament, Va." in his works) where he meditated on, and studied, Buddhism. He wrote Some of the Dharma , an imaginative treatise on Buddhism, while living there. However, Kerouac had earlier taken an interest in Eastern thought. In 1946 he read Heinrich Zimmer's Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization . In 1955, Kerouac wrote

6350-566: The Screen Gems TV production company, and sponsor Chevrolet, but was somehow counseled against proceeding with what looked like a very potent cause of action. John Antonelli's 1985 documentary Kerouac, the Movie begins and ends with footage of Kerouac reading from On the Road and Visions of Cody on The Steve Allen Show in November 1959. In response to Allen's question "How would you define

6477-661: The Shinkansen in Japan, THSR in Taiwan, TGV lines in France, and ICE lines in Germany. Stations normally have staffed ticket sales offices, automated ticket machines , or both, although on some lines tickets are sold on board the trains. Many stations include a shop or convenience store . Larger stations usually have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, stations may also have

SECTION 50

#1733092708924

6604-961: The Thameslink platforms at St Pancras in London, the Argyle and North Clyde lines of Glasgow's suburban rail network , in Antwerp in Belgium, the RER at the Gare du Nord in Paris, the Milan suburban railway service 's Passante railway , and many of the numerous S-Bahn lines at terminal stations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, such as at Zürich Hauptbahnhof . Due to the disadvantages of terminus stations there have been multiple cases in which one or several terminus stations were replaced with

6731-487: The 1954 Senate McCarthy hearings smoking marijuana and rooting for the anti-communist crusader, Senator Joseph McCarthy . In Desolation Angels he wrote, "when I went to Columbia all they tried to teach us was Marx , as if I cared" (considering Marxism, like Freudianism , to be an illusory tangent). In 1957, after being rejected by several other publishers, On the Road was finally purchased by Viking Press , which demanded major revisions prior to publication. Many of

6858-788: The Abattoir of the Soul : "A gaping, rabid congregation, eager to bathe, are washed over by the Font of Euphoria, and bask like protozoans in the celebrated light." Kerouac used earnings from On the Road to purchase the first of three homes in Northport, New York — a wood-framed Victorian on Gilbert Street that he shared with his mother, Gabrielle. They moved there in March 1958 and stayed in Northport for six years, moving twice during that time. Kerouac also wrote and narrated

6985-587: The British Isles. The word is often used informally to describe national rail network stations with limited service and low usage, such as the Oxfordshire Halts on the Cotswold Line . It has also sometimes been used for stations served by public services but accessible only by persons travelling to/from an associated factory (for example IBM near Greenock and British Steel Redcar – although neither of these

7112-477: The Contract 1 are extensively decorated on their exterior surfaces, complementing the corresponding tilework and mosaics in the underground stations. 242nd Street, which opened on August 1, 1908, is the only elevated terminal station left in that style from Contract 1. Within a few years of the station's opening, ridership on the line north of 157th Street increased sharply. In 1913, 3.1 million tickets were sold at

7239-498: The Godhood of God is forever Established and really must not be spoken about." According to his biographer, historian Douglas Brinkley , On the Road has been misinterpreted as a tale of companions out looking for kicks, but the most important thing to comprehend is that Kerouac was an American Catholic author – for example, virtually every page of his diary bore a sketch of a crucifix, a prayer, or an appeal to Christ to be forgiven. In

7366-508: The IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock , which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The route to 242nd Street became known as the 1 . In 1959, all 1 trains became local. In 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of

7493-536: The Kerouacs had descended from Baron François Louis Alexandre Lebris de Kerouac. Kerouac's baptism certificate lists his name simply as Jean Louis Kirouac , the most common spelling of the name in Quebec. Kerouac's roots were indeed in Brittany , and he was descended from a middle-class merchant colonist, Urbain-François Le Bihan, Sieur de Kervoac , whose sons married French Canadians. Kerouac's father Leo had been born into

7620-804: The Municipal Building, with two detectives as witnesses, before Kerouac was returned to his cell in the Bronx City Prison (their marriage was annulled in 1948.) Kerouac and Burroughs collaborated on a novel about the Kammerer killing entitled And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks . Though the book was not published during their lifetimes, an excerpt eventually appeared in Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader (and as noted below,

7747-474: The Van Cortlandt Park station. Undeveloped lots along Broadway to the city's northern limit were quickly bought by builders hoping to profit from the boom in luxury houses, which could reach the subway through streetcar lines as well. At that time, it was expected that the line would be extended to 262nd Street. The Horace Mann School was built to serve this population. To address overcrowding, in 1909,

SECTION 60

#1733092708924

7874-457: The agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program. A request for proposals was put out on May 18, 2023 for the contract for a project bundle to make 13 stations accessible, including 242nd Street. A contract for one elevator at the station was awarded in December 2023. Construction on the elevator was begun in late September, 2024, and is anticipated to be completed and opened in 2025. The station is served by

8001-491: The body in the Hudson River. Afterwards, Carr sought help from Kerouac. Kerouac disposed of the murder weapon and buried Kammerer's eyeglasses. Carr, encouraged by Burroughs, turned himself in to the police. Kerouac and Burroughs were later arrested as material witnesses. Kerouac's father refused to pay his bail; Kerouac then agreed to marry Edie Parker if her parents would pay the bail. They married on Tuesday 22 August 1944 in

8128-560: The book by Gilbert Millstein appeared in The New York Times proclaiming Kerouac the voice of a new generation. Kerouac was hailed as a major American writer. His friendship with Allen Ginsberg , William S. Burroughs and Gregory Corso , among others, became a notorious representation of the Beat Generation. The term Beat Generation was invented by Kerouac during a conversation held with fellow novelist Herbert Huncke . Huncke used

8255-474: The compound forms train depot , railway depot , and railroad depot —it is used for both passenger and freight facilities. The term depot is not used in reference to vehicle maintenance facilities in the U.S., whereas it is used as such in Canada and the United Kingdom. The world's first recorded railway station, for trains drawn by horses rather than engined locomotives , began passenger service in 1807. It

8382-529: The construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque - or Gothic -style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles. Stations in Europe tended to follow British designs and were in some countries, like Italy, financed by British railway companies. Train stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a simple, abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as

8509-417: The cross-loading of freight and may be known as transshipment stations, where they primarily handle containers. They are also known as container stations or terminals. Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac ( / ˈ k ɛr u . æ k / ; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac , was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg ,

8636-496: The east and west side. A fleur-de-lis –patterned group of finials at the peak. On the north facade , narrow casement windows are echoed by recessed panels below. The groups of five in the section on either side of the projecting central bay window are flanked by blind openings. The bay is supported by corbeled brackets and topped with a fan gable above the overhanging eaves at the roofline. Its tripartite narrow windows are surrounded by recessed panels with inset circles on

8763-527: The end of his life, he expressed a desire to speak his parents' native tongue again. In 2016, a whole volume of previously unpublished works originally written in French by Kerouac was published as La vie est d'hommage . On May 17, 1928, while six years old, Kerouac made his first Confession . For penance , he was told to say a rosary , during which he heard God tell him that he had a good soul, that he would suffer in life and die in pain and horror, but would in

8890-503: The end receive salvation. This experience, along with his dying brother's vision of the Virgin Mary (as the nuns fawned over him, convinced he was a saint), combined with a later study of Buddhism and an ongoing commitment to Christ, solidified the worldview which informed his work. Kerouac once told Ted Berrigan , in an interview for The Paris Review , of an incident in the 1940s in which his mother and father were walking together in

9017-594: The events of these years. In 1953, he lived mostly in New York City, having a brief but passionate affair with Alene Lee , an African-American woman, and member of the Beat generation. Alene was the basis for the character named "Mardou" in the novel The Subterraneans, and Irene May in Book of Dreams and Big Sur . At the request of his editors, Kerouac changed the setting of the novel from New York to San Francisco. In 1954, Kerouac discovered Dwight Goddard's A Buddhist Bible at

9144-462: The experience of using the system pleasant. They took further inspiration from the contemporary City Beautiful movement , which called for beautiful public architecture in the hope that it would inspire citizens to act virtuously. Their use of the Victorian Gothic architectural style reflected its popularity at that time for train stations. The six elevated stations they built in that style on

9271-520: The film The Wizard of Oz . The Town and the City was published in 1950 under the name "John Kerouac" and, though it earned him a few respectable reviews, the book sold poorly. Heavily influenced by Kerouac's reading of Thomas Wolfe , it reflects on the generational epic formula and the contrasts of small-town life versus the multi-dimensional, and larger life of the city. The book was heavily edited by Robert Giroux , with around 400 pages taken out. For

9398-503: The final draft in 20 days, with Joan, his wife, supplying him with benzedrine, cigarettes, bowls of pea soup, and mugs of coffee to keep him going. Before beginning, Kerouac cut sheets of tracing paper into long strips, wide enough for a typewriter, and taped them together into a 120-foot (37 m) long roll which he then fed into the machine. This allowed him to type continuously without the interruption of reloading pages. The resulting manuscript contained no chapter or paragraph breaks and

9525-470: The goods facilities are on the opposite side of the tracks from the station building. Intermediate stations also occur on some funicular and cable car routes. A halt , in railway parlance in the Commonwealth of Nations , Ireland and Portugal , is a small station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities. In some cases, trains stop only on request , when passengers on

9652-445: The inherent structures of mind and language, and limited revision. Connected with this idea of breath was the elimination of the period , substituting instead a long connecting dash. As such, the phrases occurring between dashes might resemble improvisational jazz licks. When spoken, the words take on a certain musical rhythm and tempo. Kerouac greatly admired and was influenced by Gary Snyder. The Dharma Bums contains accounts of

9779-433: The late 40s and early 50s, as well as his relationships with other Beat writers and friends. Although some of the novel is focused on driving, Kerouac did not have a driver's license and Cassady did most of the cross-country driving. He learned to drive aged 34, but never had a formal license. Kerouac completed the first version of the novel during a three-week extended session of spontaneous confessional prose. Kerouac wrote

9906-401: The layout of the platforms. Apart from single-track lines, the most basic arrangement is a pair of tracks for the two directions; there is then a basic choice of an island platform between, two separate platforms outside the tracks ( side platforms ), or a combination of the two. With more tracks, the possibilities expand. Some stations have unusual platform layouts due to space constraints of

10033-417: The less developed KTM East Coast railway line to serve rural 'kampongs' (villages), that require train services to stay connected to important nodes, but do not have a need for staff. People boarding at halts who have not bought tickets online can buy it through staff on board. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, passengers wanting to board the train at such places had to flag

10160-686: The line was rerouted to a new terminus at 242nd Street. Like many of the other terminal stations in the outer boroughs , it was located near a park. Heins & LaFarge , who had already designed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine near Columbia University and the Astor Court at the Bronx Zoo , were commissioned to design the stations. In the early 1890s, the city's transit commissioners had recommended that subway stations be painted and decorated in order to make

10287-530: The loading and unloading of goods and may well have marshalling yards (classification yards) for the sorting of wagons. The world's first goods terminal was the 1830 Park Lane Goods Station at the South End Liverpool Docks. Built in 1830, the terminal was reached by a 1.24-mile (2 km) tunnel. As goods are increasingly moved by road, many former goods stations, as well as the goods sheds at passenger stations, have closed. Many are used purely for

10414-501: The loss of his older sister to a heart attack in 1964 and his mother suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1966. Kerouac moved in with his mother in Hyannis , Massachusetts, for almost a year in 1966. In 1968, Neal Cassady also died while in Mexico. Despite the role which his literary work played in inspiring the counterculture movement of the 1960s, Kerouac was openly critical of it. Arguments over

10541-403: The main reception facilities being at the far end of the platforms. Sometimes the track continues for a short distance beyond the station, and terminating trains continue forward after depositing their passengers, before either proceeding to sidings or reversing to the station to pick up departing passengers. Bondi Junction , Australia and Kristiansand Station , Norway are examples. A terminus

10668-459: The most sexually explicit passages were removed and, fearing libel suits, pseudonyms were used for the book's "characters." These revisions have often led to criticisms of the alleged spontaneity of Kerouac's style. In July 1957, Kerouac moved to a small house at 1418½ Clouser Avenue in the College Park section of Orlando, Florida, to await the release of On the Road . Weeks later, a review of

10795-506: The movement, which Kerouac believed was only an excuse to be "spiteful," also resulted in him splitting with Ginsberg by 1968. Also in 1968, Kerouac last appeared on television, for Firing Line , produced and hosted by William F. Buckley Jr. (a friend of his from college). Seemingly intoxicated, he affirmed his Catholicism and talked about the counterculture of the 1960s . On the morning of October 20, 1969, in St. Petersburg, Florida , Kerouac

10922-544: The next six years, Kerouac continued to write regularly. Building upon previous drafts tentatively titled "The Beat Generation" and "Gone on the Road", he completed what is now known as On the Road in April 1951, while living at 454 West 20th Street in Manhattan with his second wife, Joan Haverty . The book was largely autobiographical and describes Kerouac's road-trip adventures across the United States and Mexico with Neal Cassady in

11049-706: The north end of the station, past fare control, there are four stairs that lead down to Broadway. Two go to the west side of Broadway, and two go to the east side. Terminal station Locations at which passengers only occasionally board or leave a train, sometimes consisting of a short platform and a waiting area but sometimes indicated by no more than a sign, are variously referred to as "stops", " flag stops ", " halts ", or "provisional stopping places". The stations themselves may be at ground level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses , trams , or other rapid transit systems. Train station

11176-601: The novel was finally published late 2008). Kerouac also later wrote about the killing in his novel Vanity of Duluoz . Later, Kerouac lived with his parents in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, after they had also moved to New York. He wrote his first published novel, The Town and the City , and began On the Road around 1949 when living there. His friends jokingly called him "The Wizard of Ozone Park", alluding to Thomas Edison 's nickname, "the Wizard of Menlo Park", and to

11303-478: The operation, and died at the hospital at 5:15 the following morning, at the age of 47. His cause of death was listed as an internal hemorrhage (bleeding esophageal varices ) caused by cirrhosis , the result of longtime alcohol abuse. A possible contributing factor was an untreated hernia he suffered in a bar fight several weeks earlier. His funeral was held at St. Jean Baptiste Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, and he

11430-784: The other. For instance, in Istanbul transfers from the Sirkeci Terminal (the European terminus) and the Haydarpaşa Terminal (the Asian terminus) historically required crossing the Bosphorus via alternative means, before the Marmaray railway tunnel linking Europe and Asia was completed. Some cities, including New York, have both termini and through lines. Terminals that have competing rail lines using

11557-536: The platform indicate that they wish to board, or passengers on the train inform the crew that they wish to alight. These can sometimes appear with signals and sometimes without. The Great Western Railway in Great Britain began opening haltes on 12 October 1903; from 1905, the French spelling was Anglicised to "halt". These GWR halts had the most basic facilities, with platforms long enough for just one or two carriages; some had no raised platform at all, necessitating

11684-466: The provision of steps on the carriages. Halts were normally unstaffed, tickets being sold on the train. On 1 September 1904, a larger version, known on the GWR as a "platform" instead of a "halt", was introduced; these had longer platforms, and were usually staffed by a senior grade porter, who sold tickets and sometimes booked parcels or milk consignments. From 1903 to 1947 the GWR built 379 halts and inherited

11811-536: The road" in a Corvette seeking adventure and fueling their travels by apparently plentiful temporary jobs in the various U.S. locales framing the anthology-styled stories, gave the impression of being a commercially sanitized misappropriation of Kerouac's story model for On the Road . Even the leads, Buz and Todd, bore a resemblance to the dark, athletic Kerouac and the blonde Cassady/Moriarty, respectively. Kerouac felt he'd been conspicuously ripped off by Route 66 creator Stirling Silliphant and sought to sue him, CBS,

11938-418: The sick list. According to his medical report, Kerouac said he "asked for an aspirin for his headaches and they diagnosed me dementia praecox and sent me here." The medical examiner reported that Kerouac's military adjustment was poor, quoting Kerouac: "I just can't stand it; I like to be by myself." Two days later he was honorably discharged on the psychiatric grounds that he was of "indifferent character" with

12065-482: The sides and above. At both sides are steel frame parapets with wooden decks. These connect the western stairs and overpass to the control house. The stairs combine structural steel and decorative cast iron . Their supports are braced steel Tuscan columns. Gabled standing-seam metal canopies with box fluorescent lighting over the stairs are on narrow supports with slightly fluted capitals . At street level are gabled entries whose support columns are decorated with

12192-602: The spring of 1951, while pregnant, Joan Haverty left and divorced Kerouac. In February 1952, she gave birth to Kerouac's only child, Jan Kerouac , whom he acknowledged as his daughter after a blood test confirmed it nine years later. For the next several years Kerouac continued writing and traveling, taking long trips through the U.S. and Mexico. He often experienced episodes of heavy drinking and depression. During this period, he finished drafts of what became ten more novels, including The Subterraneans , Doctor Sax , Tristessa , and Desolation Angels , which chronicle many of

12319-405: The station entrance and platforms are on the same level, is also common, but is perhaps rarer in urban areas , except when the station is a terminus. Stations located at level crossings can be problematic if the train blocks the roadway while it stops, causing road traffic to wait for an extended period of time. Stations also exist where the station buildings are above the tracks. An example of this

12446-477: The station frequently set up a jointly owned terminal railroad to own and operate the station and its associated tracks and switching operations. During a journey, the term station stop may be used in announcements, to differentiate halts during which passengers may alight and halts for another reasons, such as a locomotive change . While a junction or interlocking usually divides two or more lines or routes, and thus has remotely or locally operated signals ,

12573-561: The station location, or the alignment of the tracks. Examples include staggered platforms, such as at Tutbury and Hatton railway station on the Crewe–Derby line , and curved platforms, such as Cheadle Hulme railway station on the Macclesfield to Manchester Line. Stations at junctions can also have unusual shapes – a Keilbahnhof (or "wedge-shaped" station) is sited where two lines split. Triangular stations also exist where two lines form

12700-484: The station, then a busy trolley hub, at the end of the first leg of his escape from the city in what became On the Road . His goal was to reach U.S. Route 6 at the Bear Mountain Bridge and use it as a route along which to go West to Denver . The attempt failed when he found very little traffic on Route 6 to hitch rides from, and he returned to the city to take a bus instead. The city government took over

12827-557: The street to underground rapid-transit urban rail stations. In many African, South American, and Asian countries, stations are also used as a place for public markets and other informal businesses. This is especially true on tourist routes or stations near tourist destinations . As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations can sometimes have locomotive and rolling stock depots, usually with facilities for storing and refuelling rolling stock and carrying out minor repairs. The basic configuration of

12954-409: The term "beat" to describe a person with little money and few prospects. Kerouac's fame came as an unmanageable surge that would ultimately be his undoing. Kerouac's novel is often described as the defining work of the post-World War II Beat Generation and Kerouac came to be called "the king of the beat generation," a term with which he never felt comfortable. He once observed, "I'm not a beatnik. I'm

13081-646: The time of Christ and the name meant "language of the house". In still another interview he said it was an Irish word for "language of the water" and related to Kerwick . Kerouac, derived from Kervoach , is the name of a town in Brittany in Lanmeur , near Morlaix . Jack Kerouac later referred to 34 Beaulieu Street as "sad Beaulieu". The Kerouac family was living there in 1926 when Jack's older brother Gerard died of rheumatic fever , aged nine. This deeply affected four-year-old Jack, who later said Gerard followed him in life as

13208-442: The train down to stop it, hence the name " flag stops " or "flag stations". Accessibility for disabled people is mandated by law in some countries. Considerations include: In the United Kingdom, rail operators will arrange alternative transport (typically a taxi ) at no extra cost to the ticket holder if the station they intend to travel to or from is inaccessible. Goods or freight stations deal exclusively or predominantly with

13335-441: The two stairs that descend to the sidewalk from the west of the control house. Just south of the station, the line widens to three tracks, which is the configuration up to just before Dyckman Street . The station is located 29 feet (8.8 m) above the west side of the street, where parking is located on either side of where West 242nd Street intersects from the west. On that side of the street are commercial buildings, including

13462-544: The university. He continued to live for a time in New York's Upper West Side with his girlfriend and future first wife, Edie Parker . It was during this time that he first met the Beat Generation figures who shaped his legacy and became characters in many of his novels, such as Allen Ginsberg , Neal Cassady , John Clellon Holmes , Herbert Huncke , Lucien Carr , and William S. Burroughs . During World War II , Kerouac

13589-789: The word 'beat? ' ", Kerouac responds "well ... sympathetic ." In 1965, he met the poet Youenn Gwernig who was a Breton American like him in New York, and they became friends. Gwernig used to translate his Breton language poems into English so that Kerouac could read and understand them : "Meeting with Jack Kerouac in 1965, for instance, was a decisive turn. Since he could not speak Breton he asked me: 'Would you not write some of your poems in English? I'd really like to read them ! ... ' So I wrote an Diri Dir – Stairs of Steel for him, and kept on doing so. That's why I often write my poems in Breton, French and English." During these years, Kerouac suffered

13716-607: The work as a failure, calling it a "crock as literature" and never actively seeking to publish it. In 1944, Kerouac was arrested as a material witness in the murder of David Kammerer, who allegedly had been stalking Kerouac's friend Lucien Carr since Carr was a teenager in St. Louis. William Burroughs was also a native of St. Louis, and it was through Carr that Kerouac came to know both Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Carr said Kammerer's homosexual obsession turned aggressive, finally provoking Carr to stab him to death in self-defense. Carr dumped

13843-602: The world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, England , built in 1830, on the locomotive-hauled Liverpool to Manchester line. The station was slightly older than the still extant Liverpool Road railway station terminal in Manchester. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed . Crown Street station was demolished in 1836, as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station . Crown Street station

13970-578: Was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road , in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and numerous poetry volumes. Kerouac is recognized for his style of stream of consciousness spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as his Catholic spirituality, jazz, travel, promiscuity, life in New York City , Buddhism , drugs, and poverty. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats,

14097-575: Was The Mount in Swansea , Wales, on the Oystermouth (later the Swansea and Mumbles ) Railway. The world's oldest station for engined trains was at Heighington , on the Stockton and Darlington railway in north-east England built by George Stephenson in the early 19th century, operated by locomotive Locomotion No. 1 . The station opened in 1827 and was in use until the 1970s. The building, Grade II*-listed ,

14224-677: Was a United States Merchant Mariner from July to October 1942 and served on the SS Dorchester before its maiden voyage. A few months later, the SS Dorchester was sunk during a submarine attack while crossing the Atlantic, and several of his former shipmates were lost. In 1943 he joined the United States Navy Reserves . He served eight days of active duty with the Navy before arriving on

14351-411: Was a capable athlete in football and wrestling. Kerouac's skills as running back in football for Lowell High School earned him scholarship offers from Boston College , Notre Dame , and Columbia University , where he enrolled in 1940. From around this time, Kerouac's journal includes an ambitious "Immediate Reading List," a wide-ranging list that includes sacred texts from India and China as well as

14478-550: Was a pioneer of the Beat Generation . Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts . He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II , he served in the United States Merchant Marine ; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book

14605-425: Was born on March 12, 1922, in Lowell, Massachusetts, to French Canadian parents, Léo-Alcide Kéroack (1889–1946) and Gabrielle-Ange Lévesque (1895–1973). There is some confusion surrounding his name, partly because of variations on the spelling of Kerouac , and because of Kerouac's own statement of his name as Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac . His reason for that statement seems to be linked to an old family legend that

14732-658: Was buried at Edson Cemetery . At the time of his death, Kerouac was living with his third wife, Stella Sampas Kerouac. His mother, Gabrielle, inherited most of his estate. Kerouac is generally considered to be the father of the Beat movement, although he actively disliked such labels. Kerouac's method was heavily influenced by the prolific explosion of jazz, especially the bebop genre established by Charlie Parker , Dizzy Gillespie , Thelonious Monk , and others. Later, he included ideas he developed from his Buddhist studies that began with Gary Snyder . He often referred to his style as "spontaneous prose". Although Kerouac's prose

14859-526: Was called a "rail motor stopping place" (RMSP). Usually situated near a level crossing , it was often designated solely by a sign beside the railway. The passenger could hail the driver to stop, and could buy a ticket from the train guard or conductor. In South Australia, such facilities were called "provisional stopping places". They were often placed on routes on which "school trains" (services conveying children from rural localities to and from school) operated. In West Malaysia , halts are commonplace along

14986-623: Was converted to a goods station terminal. The first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , opened in 1830. Manchester's Liverpool Road Station , the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester . It resembles a row of Georgian houses. Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and freight facilities, though some railway lines were goods-only or passenger-only, and if

15113-445: Was devoted to his mother, who played an important role in his life. She was a devout Catholic , who instilled this deep faith into both her sons. He later said she was the only woman he ever loved. After Gerard died, his mother sought solace in her faith, while his father abandoned it, wallowing in drinking, gambling, and smoking. Some of Kerouac's poetry was written in French, and in letters written to friend Allen Ginsberg towards

15240-514: Was in bad condition, but was restored in 1984 as an inn. The inn closed in 2017; in 2024 there were plans to renovate the derelict station in time for the 200th anniversary of the opening of the railway line. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore , Maryland , United States, which survives as a museum, first saw passenger service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on 22 May 1830. The oldest terminal station in

15367-583: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The station was built as part of the Contract 1 system erected from 1904–1908, connecting Lower Manhattan to the Bronx. Originally the northern terminus was intended to be Bailey Avenue and 230th Street, a block southeast of the current station at 231st Street . After the completion of the Harlem River Ship Canal at the end of the 19th century,

15494-421: Was looking at me through slitted eyes as though I was a monstrous imposter." He passed up the opportunity to reunite with Snyder in California, and explained to Philip Whalen "I'd be ashamed to confront you and Gary now I've become so decadent and drunk and don't give a shit. I'm not a Buddhist any more." In further reaction to their criticism, he quoted part of Abe Green's café recitation, Thrasonical Yawning in

15621-402: Was much more explicit than the version which was eventually published. Though "spontaneous," Kerouac had prepared long in advance before beginning to write. In fact, according to his Columbia professor and mentor Mark Van Doren , he had outlined much of the work in his journals over the several preceding years. Though the work was completed quickly, Kerouac had a long and difficult time finding

15748-433: Was on the characters' experiences and the exploration of themes such as freedom, rebellion, and the search for meaning. Many of his books exemplified this spontaneous approach, including On the Road , Visions of Cody , Visions of Gerard , Big Sur , and The Subterraneans . The central features of this writing method were the ideas of breath (borrowed from jazz and from Buddhist meditation breathing), improvising words over

15875-517: Was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent. The side platforms at the 242nd Street station were extended 62 feet (19 m) to the south. Six-car local trains began operating in October 1910, and ten-car express trains began running on the West Side Line on January 24, 1911. In 1947, Jack Kerouac passed through

16002-442: Was spontaneous and purportedly without edits, he primarily wrote autobiographical novels (or roman à clef ) based upon actual events from his life and the people with whom he interacted. This approach is reflected also by his plot structure: his narratives were not heavily focused on traditional plot structures. Instead, his works often revolved around a series of episodic encounters, road trips, and personal reflections. The emphasis

16129-442: Was working on a book about his father's print shop. He suddenly felt nauseated and went to the bathroom, where he began to vomit blood. Kerouac was taken to St. Anthony's Hospital , suffering from an esophageal hemorrhage. He received several transfusions in an attempt to make up for the loss of blood, and doctors subsequently attempted surgery, but a damaged liver prevented his blood from clotting. He never regained consciousness after

#923076