The Huge Laccawanna Station in Downtown Buffalo

[Anonymous]

Today on my way into Downtown Buffalo I took my bike on the new bike
path that is open from 9-5pm...The Bike trail starts at the Buffalo
Fire Department Tug House and circumevents around the Metro Rail Garage
that reuses part of the Laccawanna Railroad Terminal...I noticed some
steps and went up stairs. I walked around to a glass window. I peered
in and much to my suprise there were 4 Huge Train Platforms
intact...The Roofs even had venulation for the steam trains...Since
downstairs used to be train platforms too one could see that this
station probally saw at least 50 trains a day in its its heyday and
substatial Comuter traffic on the scale of Bostons North Station.
The potenstial for reuse as a train station is still there with the
railroads and Elevated right of way intact thu out the Buffalo Metro
Area...Only if we had some leaders with some vision...

[PBenham]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Chaplainmonster

Today on my way into Downtown Buffalo I took my bike on the new bike
path that is open from 9-5pm...The Bike trail starts at the Buffalo
Fire Department Tug House and circumevents around the Metro Rail Garage
that reuses part of the Laccawanna Railroad Terminal...I noticed some
steps and went up stairs. I walked around to a glass window. I peered
in and much to my suprise there were 4 Huge Train Platforms
intact...The Roofs even had venulation for the steam trains...Since
downstairs used to be train platforms too one could see that this
station probally saw at least 50 trains a day in its its heyday and
substatial Comuter traffic on the scale of Bostons North Station.
The potenstial for reuse as a train station is still there with the
railroads and Elevated right of way intact thu out the Buffalo Metro
Area...Only if we had some leaders with some vision...

The Lackawanna terminal was only lightly used by the Lackawanna and it's tenants. DL&W at the height of it's passenger service had three through trains from/to Hoboken, with local services to Elmira, Corning and Bath. The only local left by 1940 was a Buffalo-Binghamton local. Nickel Plate ran its two (briefly three) through trains into this facility from the day it opened until the day it closed. Baltimore & Ohio took over the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh in 1930, by which time it had two through trains for Pittsburgh and locals to Springville (gone prior to WWII) and Salamanca, NY. The last B&O train left Buffalo in 1954.Wabash ran a train there from 1916 until around 1930. The area occupied by the metro rail trackage, inside the trainshed never had tracks there until Metro rail's trackage was put in. This space was used for Baggage and Express traffic storage. The facility was served by the northern most track on the platform level, and a track at street level. The big loss was the headhouse, which had to be demolished to allow Metro rail cars to access the shop in the trainshed's lower level.

[Anonymous]

Then Why was it so big?? Was there intened more commuter trains and and passengert trains?? Can I get a intiror shot of the station?

[PBenham]

DL&W and its tenants wanted additional business, but, the passenger facilities were built without the knowledge of the decline of passenger traffic with help (IF one can call it that) of the depression. The Lackawanna terminal was never used to 100% of its potential capacity, as were Buffalo's other Passenger terminals: Lehigh Valley's, three blocks north of the Lackawanna's Terminal, or Central terminal, NYC's white elephant in the heart of the east side. The DL&W facility was also the terminal (Station) for a number of great lakes passenger boat operators.

[Anonymous]

So was there substatiol commuter traffic in Buffalo?
The Lehigh Valley I heard had a number of local trains prior to the Interstate and NYC ran a loop train around the belt line picking up and dropping passengers all around town..

[PBenham]

 The Lehigh Valley's station was on Main st, three or four blocks north of the Lackawanna's. It was closed in 1955, when LV sold the right of way from the Buffalo city line into downtown (Center City to those of you from Philadelphia) to the NY Thruway authority. Now, one can drive on I-190 along the old LV ROW from Weiss, st. to just west of Louisiana st. on the LV right of way. The Head house site is occupied by the State office building, named for William J. Donovan, (one of the fathers of the CIA!) The trainshed site is the Buffalo News building. A while back they were digging up Washington st. between the aforementioned buildings and they found the LV access tunnel was intact, full of water, but intact! The LV station had, in addition to the dozen through (prior to the depression) trains of their own, the Erie as a tenant from the early '30's to the end of Erie's Buffalo passenger service, in 1951. The Erie depot still stands at Exchange and Michigan, it was saved by having been converted into part of the Erie's freight house. It is used by a plastic manufacturer-For now. BUT it's location near the Seneca Nation Buffalo Creek Casino, might lead to it being torn down, so get those pictures of that building soon or regret it later. Also using the LV depot for a while was the Grand Trunk, but not CN! This means that GT passenger service ended prior to 1923. CN had the orginial "Maple Leaf" which had it's Toronto section running via Niagara Falls, which I figure answers that question.