[Date Prev][Date Next]
[Chronological]
[Thread]
[Top]
Re: (rshsdepot) Buffalo, NY
Hi Henry,
I have enjoyed looking at your Central Terminal site many times! You've done
a great job with it!
RSHS members Gordy Bjoraker and myself fell in love with Central Terminal on
a January, 1976 visit, and also were lucky enough to get inside the
abandoned Lackawanna Station on the same trip.
Verne Brummel, Fitchburg,WI
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "J. Henry Priebe Jr." <root_@_net.bluemoon.net>
To: <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 4:17 PM
Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Buffalo, NY
>
> http://Central.Terminal.Railfan.net
>
> I started that site in the mid-90's and occasionally add more photos
although
> the flow of progress news has been somewhat slow for the past couple of
years
> despite requests to the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation to be
kept in
> the loop.
>
> The site has over 200 photos of the terminal and surrounding area. Central
> Terminal has been an interest of mine since I was a kid.
>
> It was more of a through station than a terminal. While some trains
terminated
> there and it was even the terminus of a couple of the tenants' passenger
> service, as far as the NYC goes it was much more a through station than a
> terminal.
>
> I'd never forget that place and did mean to mention it in the previous
post
> even though I was focusing on the downtown stub-end terminals.
>
> If one goes further back into downtown Buffalo's history there were at
least
> three other stub-end terminals. Today's CSX Niagara Branch route was once
> owned by two different NYC predecessors which each terminated on either
side
> of downtown at stub-end terminals. After the NYC affiliates connected
their
> lines through downtown the primary Buffalo passenger station was on
Exchange
> St and was sort of a union station for quite a while.
>
> From 1890 up until WWI there were various grand union station proposals
for
> downtown Buffalo which all fizzled for one reason or another. The city
> fathers, the local businessmen and the railroads just couldn't find one
single
> plan upon which the all agreed. DL&W gave up waiting and built their
> replacement for thier 30 or so year old downtown terminal and completed it
in
> 1917. LV built their own not long after and signed the Erie on as a tenant
> later on. NYC's ancient and much modified Exchange St station was a source
of
> considerable consternation for the city fathers as they did not deem the
old
> barn fitting for their fine city, which had been known as the Gateway to
the
> West for almost a century. The NYC and the City dickered back and forth
about
> where the NYC's main Buffalo station should be built until the NYC finally
got
> their way and the East Buffalo terminal site was agreed upon in 1925. NYC
> promised the City that they would build a suitable downtown depot
replacement
> in addition to the main terminal on the east side, but they basically
reneged
> on that promise for another 30 years. The downtown depot site was actually
on
> the Niagara Falls branch and the connection between NYC's NYC&HRR New York
> City line and Lake Shore & Michigan Southern's Chicago line actually
missed
> downtown by about a mile which had required time consuming and dangerous
back
> up moves for all through trains. There were virtually no grade separated
> crossings in the city before those projects were started after 1910. NYC
> expected Buffalo to expand outward similar to how New York City had grown
> toward Grand Central Station (before it was a terminal) at 42nd street. It
was
> not to happen in Buffalo and it was particularly bad luck that the grand
new
> Buffalo New York Central Terminal was completed in 1929 right on the eve
of
> the Wall Street Stock Market Crash.
>
> While Central Terminal did see some high wartime traffic levels it never
saw
> traffic close to what it was designed to handle. It was a grossly
overbuilt
> facility and its high cost of operation would forever be a millstone
around
> the NYC RR's neck. Being over two miles from the downtown business
district
> sure didn't help.
>
> Bad timing would again haunt the Terminal on December 7, 1941 when the
brand
> new Empire State Express streamlined trainset debuted. Complete with a
> streamlined and stainless clad 4-6-4 Hudson on the head end, its inaugural
run
> wasn't the big news for that dark day.
>
> Around 1935 NYC's old Exchange St station was razed and downtown travelers
had
> nothing but bare platforms for about 20 years until the NYC finally built
a
> small brick station which survives today and is still in use by Amtrak.
NYC
> locals and trains bound to and from Niagara Falls and Detroit stopped at
> Exchange St, but all mainline through trains used Central Terminal and
blew
> right on by downtown Buffalo.
>
> It was actually put up for sale in 1955 along with some 500 or so other
> Central passenger stations. I'm not sure even a single one was ever sold.
>
> This is all from memory so I might be off by a year or so here and there
in
> the above and it's but a thumbnail sketch of Buffalo's downtown passenger
> station history. The Grand Trunk even had one in the early years and there
> were several commuter stations in the downtown Buffalo area, but that's
> another story.
>
> Henry
>
> On Thu, 17 Apr 2003, James Kelling wrote:
>
> > Don't forget the huge New York Central terminal, which opened in 1929
and
> > is still standing, though derelict and devoid of trains.
> >
> > >>> root_@_net.bluemoon.net 04/17/03 02:31PM >>>
> > On Thu, 17 Apr 2003 Don Dorflinger related:
> >
> > >
> > > If my recollection serves me correctly, the DL&W Passenger station is
> > > long gone, and only a portion of the trainsheds remain. Are we talking
> > > about the freight house???
> > >
> >
> > The headhouse is long gone and what remains was the trainshed above and
> > the
> > baggage/express/freight area below. In the photo Jim attached the
> > headhouse
> > was in the foreground and attached to the trainshed where the mirrored
> > windows
> > are.
> >
> > I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to explore the abandoned
ruins
> > of
> > the terminal area in the mid 70's as a teenager when I used to go on
> > frequent
> > day trip safaris around the Buffalo area on my bicycle. It was quite a
> > place
> > in its day and it's a shame (like so many others) that it was
demolished.
> >
> > Buffalo had three good sized stub end passenger terminals downtown at
one
> > point, DL&W, Erie and LV. The Erie's was the first to go, in the 30's I
> > think,
> > then the LV in the middle 50's and finally DL&W's, a couple decades
after
> > the
> > 1962 abandonment.
> >
> > There are some good photos and data pages at the LOC website:
> >
> >
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=3Dhhphoto&fileName=3Dny/ny0100/
> > ny0199/photos/browse.db&action=3Dbrowse
> >
> > That's the shortest functional URL to get right to the pages (LOC's URL
> > scheme
> > is an abomination) so beware of wrapping lines when doing a copy and
paste
> > to
> > a browser.
> >
> > Henry
> >
> > J. Henry Priebe Jr. Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
> > www.bluemoon.net Internet Access & Web Hosting
> > www.railfan.net Railfan Network Services
> >
> >
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> > The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> > railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
> >
> > =================================
> > The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> > railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
> >
>
>
> J. Henry Priebe Jr. Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
> www.bluemoon.net Internet Access & Web Hosting
> www.railfan.net Railfan Network Services
>
> =================================
> The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
------------------------------
End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #637
*******************************
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org