(rshsdepot) Bad News -- LV Station in Buffalo

[Will Enser <alcoman_@_net.bluemoon.net>]

Just learned of this...

http://www.biniasz.com/pages/3/index.htm

In a slow moving city like Buffalo, moments of historical importance often 
happen quickly. So fast the changes to the landscape that they happen 
almost over night. During December 2004, Buffalo lost one of its last 
remaining urban train stations. No fanfare, no public lamenting. In fact, 
most people never knew that the building was once the pride of the Lehigh 
Valley Railroad. A railroad that hoped the facility would put a modern 
face on an aging system.

During the mid-1950s, New York embarked on a massive project to build a 
statewide thruway system. Railroad right-a-ways into and out of Buffalo 
were to become the modern transportations primary urban corridors. With 
declining passenger business and a decaying downtown station, the LVRR 
opted to sell its valuable property and build anew on the citys suburban 
border.

Click on map to see location of Buffalo's second Lehigh Valley Railraod 
Station. 1955-2004.


Located at Dingens and South Ogden Streets, the station formally opened 
for service on August 11, 1955. The facility replaced a neo-classical 
structure that fronted Pearl Street. (On the site of the Donavan State 
Office Building). The station was demolished in 1960. Passengers arriving 
at or departing from Buffalo on Lehigh Valley passenger trains over the 
famous Route of the Black Diamond found the new terminal readily 
accessible. It was easily reached from Buffalos residential and suburban 
sections and was only feet away from the new New York State Thruway. The 
citys downtown hotels, business and shopping areas were advertised as 
being only 10 mins away by taxi. Completely modern in every detail, the 
newest Terminal, and the last to be built in Buffalo, combined beauty and 
utility.

The Ogden Street Station was doomed from day one. Almost immediately after 
the service began, the Lehigh Valley looked at discontinuing passenger 
operations. In May 1959 LV discontinued all but two of its main-line 
passenger trains, and those two, the New York-Lehighton John Wilkes and 
the New York-Toronto Maple Leaf. Loss suffered by the railway in 1958 was 
estimated at $3,570,933 and in 1959 $1,583,999. The era of Lehigh Valley 
Railroad passenger service in Buffalo ended on Feb. 3, 1961 when the Maple 
Leaf completed its run to the Queen City. The run marked the end of 115 
years of Lehigh Valley passenger service. J.R. de Capriles, vice president 
and general counsel of the Lehigh Valley, attributed the decrease in the 
Lehigh Valley's passenger traffic to increased motor and air travel - and 
competition from the New York Central and the Erie-Lackawanna Railroads. 
These railroads also connected New York and Buffalo, and their routes were 
shorter, requiring one and a half to two hours less than the Lehigh 
Valley.

During the station's post railroad life, it would house a bank, light 
industrial businesses and offices. The glass passenger waiting room was 
torn down in the mid 1960s.

Sadly, I never took a picture of this forgotten landmark before it 
vanished in 2004. If anyone has pictures to complete this story, please 
e-mail me at Rocketship7_@_aol.com.



Will Semanchuk-Enser    Blue Moon Internet Corp General Manager
www.bluemoon.net        Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net         Railfan Network Services
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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