William J Wilgus was an extraordinary engineer Legends. He is most famous for engineering Grand Central Terminal in 1913 which took 10 years to build. He is known to be an “Engineering Legend” He accomplished many things that had not been before. Such as before Grand Central Terminal, the Grand Centrals before. Grand Central Depot and Grand Central station were built above ground, and were made of steam. However this was very inconvenient and put harmful fumes into the air. Wilgus  collaborated with an electrical engineer named Frank Sprague and was able to build trains that ran on electricity, This also enabled it trains to be built underground because rationally you cannot have a steam train underground. It was also because of Wilgus ideas it allowed for the movement of trains to be below ground. His Brother in law May Reed was in the firm Reed and Stem a very successful architecture firm. When Wilgus returned back to New York  from the west, his Engineer status continued to build up until becoming a chief Engineer. New York City was growing along with the number of trains. Unfortunately, sometimes with America it takes a horrible accident for things to change. In 1902 two trains collided because I believe one or both of the trains could not see the signal due to the smoke, this ended with the lost of 17 lives. This made the removal of the Grand Central Station which operated above ground with steam trains to what is now Grand Central Terminal which operates below ground and with electricity. One of the smart things that William Wilgus was able to due in order to help with the finances of Grand Central Terminal was the idea of using the land and real estate above the trains and leasing them out. I can imagine now the lease amount to have a sky rise above Grand Central Terminal