GROUNDS OF RAILWAY STATIONS 225 



Some railways have already made a good start 

 in the right direction. Among these are the Bos- 

 ton and Albany Railway at its stations near Bos- 

 ton, the Pennsylvania Lines at many of their sub- 

 urban stations, the Michigan Central at a few of 

 its stations, and some others. Sometimes a rail- 

 way has made an attempt to have beautiful station 

 grounds without securing a satisfactory result. 

 Perhaps a circular bed of flowers has been planted 

 in the middle of a lawn near the platform, while 

 back of this there are ugly sheds, buildings or ob- 

 trusive bill-boards. The effect from the station 

 should take into account all the surroundings, in- 

 cluding the buildings, the streets, and the planting. 

 If the buildings are ugly, they might be improved 

 by paint, or by planting trees so as at least par- 

 tially to hide them, or they might be torn down 

 and the ground they occupied included with the 

 station property so as to make the whole effect 

 attractive and dignified. A careful study of the 

 grounds, with plans made by some skilful designer, 

 should not only lead to a satisfactory welcome, 

 but to real economy in maintenance and to in- 

 creased valuation in adjoining property. 



In designing station grounds, the first essential 



