by J. M. Hague
1 November 2002
Buffalo's long-unused New York Central
Terminal (BCT) complex, alongside the New York-to-Chicago CSX (originally NY Central)
main line about two miles east of downtown, currently includes:
- Landmark main passenger-service building,
495 Paderewski Drive at Memorial Drive, Buffalo NY 14212,
with arch-roofed Passenger Concourse, Ladies' Waiting Room, restaurant,
and 15-story office tower (vacant but with four working, night-lit clocks);
- and south across Curtiss Street, the adjacent Mail and Baggage
building (vacant and windowless 5-story);
- U. S. Terminal Railway Post Office (vacant 1.5-story) building,
west of the Mail and Baggage Bldg.
- South across the CSX (New York Central) "Belt Line"
tracks extended the now-severed Train Concourse (passageway)
that spanned the tracks from the ticket windows and two waiting rooms and connected
seven passenger-loading platforms, that are now de-tracked and used for equipment
storage.
- A few hundred yards westerly is the Railway Express Agency
(REA) building (vacant and windowless, 2 stories).
Only the main building with tower and the M & B building are
owned by CTRC; other structures are owned by the City of Buffalo or CSX Transportation.
An aerial view of the complex c. 1984 is shown in a Sanborn map available in Room
101 City Hall (Vol. 7, #729).
Other buildings (east of the terminal), which can be seen in old photos, such as
the adjacent central heating plant with smokestack and water tank, interlocking
control towers 48 & 49, and car-service buildings, were demolished
more than 20 years ago.
Many photographs of the station complex and associated trains, passengers, railroad
personnel, and various written records, have been made available over the 75 years
since construction work started in 1927, and the scores of photos documented here
have been found and incorporated into web pages on the Internet by various rail station
enthusiasts such as Floyd Baker, Beverly Plack (granddaughter of NYC employee Joseph
Busselle), David M. Rote, J. Henry Priebe, Jr., Anthony M. Fedele & son &
grandson, John M. Hague, Jim Schweitzer, Jeff Kuchta, M. T. Hastreiter, John C. Dahl,
Alan Harris, Mike Ray, Chuck Maley, Mark Kohan, Dan Syrcher, Tim Willcox, Garnet
Cousins, Chuck LaChiusa and many other photographers, writers, and webmasters.
These web pages have been printed and organized into a 3-ring binder and documented
in a Lotus "1-2-3" spreadsheet, which will serve as a starting point until
more web pages are reported and added. Information gathered so far is described with
web addresses and brief summaries below.
1. NY Central
Trackage in Buffalo, NY in 1950 by J. Henry Priebe,
Jr. Set of 9 trackage maps and aerial photos
2. "B.C.T. Telegraph Office c. 1959-'64," by Floyd Baker, Al Tuscher, Jim Timmons, Norm Neubig, Hal Schup, Ted Frytag,
Mike Panaro.
3. Joe Busselle et al.: Five photos at or near B.C.T.
3A. Joe Busselle and eight co-workers at retirement ceremony
3B. Nineteen workers around conference table (18 men in suits & ties,
one woman)
3C. Joe and six cronies (suits, ties, hats) outside Curtiss St. Terminal
Lunch ("EAT" neon sign)
3D. "GEN. FREIGHT OFFICE, N.Y.C.R.R. BUFFALO MARCH 15 1952"; about 20 staff, men plus a few women, at desks.
3E. "MACHINE ROOM SEC.3 CAR SERVICE MARCH 20 '52 N.Y.C.R.R.BUFFALO"; about 14 staff at teletype machines.
4. "B.C.T.--35
N.Y.C. Named Trains Passing Through Buffalo in 1944" (plus two Southern, SAL, & FEC trains); plus "151 Numbered
Trains Passing Through Buffalo in 1944"
5. Dan Syrcher's Aerial Photos of Bufflo Centrl Terminal in the summer
of 1999 Six color photos taken at about 1,500 feet
altitude
Three yard or loading platform photos by Floyd Baker
6A. Three diesel switchers & caboose
6B. Several passenger trains parked at loading platforms
6C. View S.to stockyards across loading platforms & main line
7. Tower view E.up approach ramp: "SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI"
8. "37-A NY Central Terminal (1997)"; Tower photo w. narrative by David M. Rote.
9. Three essays with photos c. 1997:
9A. "Central Terminal: Judging our Age" by Eric Miller
9B. "Central Terminal: For the Future" by Eric Miller
9C. "Photographic
History of B.C.T. (1929-Present)" by J.M.
Hague, Tho's A. Fedele, & Michael Fedele (NYCSHS, Inc. CENTRAL HEADLIGHT
4Q 1997)
10. 58
photos by Alan Harris, Mike Ray, & Chuck Haley
11. History
1842-1945
12. Decline 1945-1990
13A. NY
Central E. Buffalo stockyards
13B. East
Buffalo stockyards
14. "Recalling
the E. side stockyards" by M. T. Hastreiter
15. "Great
Railroad Stations, Buffalo" by John C. Dahl
16. "Central Terminal" by
Mark Kohan
17. central.terminal.railfan.net/pics/*.jpg
17A. Framework of tower, 1928
17B. 20th Century Ltd.@ B.C.T. (steam
at night)
18. central.terminal.railfan.net/pics/1950-1970/*.jpg
18A. 20th Century Ltd. "Water Level Rte." schematic
18B."Century" & "Ohio State Ltd." @ B.C.T. (1948)"
photo
19. 1950 U.S.
Geological Survey-based maps of Western New York
(14 trackage areas scanned from USGS Quadrangle maps courtesy of railfan.net, the
first two areas covering the NY Central Terminal).
20. Sanborn maps of the BCT area, at the junction of the the New York Central Belt
Line and Main Line are available at http://central.terminal.railfan.net/CT_Sanborn. See especially
1917 (before the terminal was built), 1939, and 1951.
21. Sanborn map of 1984 New York Central Railroad Terminal in Buffalo, NY
Buffalo and Erie County's extensive railway lines and yards that existed in 1950,
second only to Chicago in mileage and area, are available on the internet as a set
of fourteen Western NY maps, of one to four contiguous 9" x 11" sheets
per map. The "thumbnail" picture of each map is accompanied by a description,
summarized below. The maps' orientation is usually east-west, e.g. in the former
New York Central areas of downtown and east Buffalo; though not in South Buffalo
and Lackawanna, where the lines run southwest. The maps were scanned by railfan.net
people, from U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle maps of 1950, with trackage highlighted,
and are accessible at www.railfan.net/cgi-bin/trainthumb.cgi?maps/1950usgs/*.jpg
or gif.
These map files, in alphabetical order, are:
1) bison50.jpg =East Buffalo trackage, including NY Central E. Buffalo yard which became
CSX Frontier Yard; Delaware Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) E. Buffalo Yard which
became Bison Yard, dismantled in 1980s, then partially rebuilt in the '90s for Norfolk
Southern (NS); Erie's E. Buffalo yard which became SK Yard, still used by Canadian
Pacific (CP) & NS; New York Central (NYC) Central Terminal area, including stockyards
now partly occupied by Main Post Office; and Lehigh Valley (LV) E. Buffalo Yard,
with DM Interlocking where Pennsylvania (PRR) and DL&W interchanged and were
crossed by LV (trackage now gone...).
"Iron Island" was the designation of the rectangular Lovejoy district east
of Bailey Avenue, north of William St., west of Ogden St., & south of Broadway
because it was surrounded on all sides by trackage.
2) cterm50.gif =All NYC, from top to bottom on left: Stockyards, Tower T
Interlocking, Tower 48 Interlocking, Central Terminal, Tower 49 Interlocking, Tower
49A Interlocking, Tower 50 Interlocking.
From top to bottom on right: Erie E. Buffalo Yard, Tower FW Interlocking, Erie trackage
to downtown Buffalo & (to right) to Katherine St. industrial yards. FW Interlocking:
top to bottom is Erie, left to right is Buffalo Creek (BCK) RR, & upper right
to lower middle is PRR with its Babcock St. Yard to upper right of FW (which is no
longer interlocking point for CSX and NS). Just below Smith and Seneca streets, Erie
had a sizable shop complex which was dismantled in first half of 1900s. At middle
bottom is trackage (right to left) of PRR, NYC, Erie, NYC, and LV.
3A) centerm50.gif
3B) aercterm50.gif
4) draw50.gif =Middle of map l. to r.: FW Interlocking, BCK Yard (top), NKP Yard (below),
Buffalo River drawbridges, Buffalo Jct. yards.
The LV passenger main to downtown passed overhead parallel to Perry St. and the DL&W
passenger main passed overhead left of the Buffalo River drawbridges. Buffalo Creek
owned top bridge, NKP owned the lower--which is still in use today (1950 or 2002?)
as CP DRAW.
5) dtbuff50.jpg =DL&W coal docks are at bottom left below downtown terminal (since
1980s used by NFTA) at foot of Main St.; BCK Ohio St. yards grain elevator trackage
is across Buffalo R. on both sides of West Channel. NYC lines west main crosses Buffalo
R. on double track bascule bridge at upper right, just left of elevated DL&W
passenger main. (95 percent of this trackage is gone today (1950?), DRIVEN AWAY by
outrageous city property taxes on every piece of track, signal, or railroad-owned
structure.)
6) dtbuffs50.jpg = Central Terminal at upper left, downtown Buffalo at middle left, Erie
E. Buffalo Yard at middle right. FW Interlocking at right center, PRR Babcock St.
Yard at center right.
NKP and BCK yards run between Seneca St. and Buffalo R. BCK Ohio St. yards (owned
by Erie and LV) serving grain elevators and mills are at lower left. Yards at bottom
center, l. to r., are: LV, NYC, Erie, NKP, and DL&W.
7) eben50.jpg =three PRR yards: small yard at top is Mineral Springs Yard, middle yard
with top leg of a wye is Ebenezer Jct. Yard (junction with NYC Gardenville line),
two yards at bottom are Ebenezer Yard proper.
All PRR yards gone today, but the main still (1950?) goes through to locations of
DM and FW Interlocking (though most trains use connection to left to reach CSX Seneca
Yard). Conrail, NS, and CSX called this connection GJ, Gardenville Jct. NYC Gardenville
Yard, to right, was removed in 1950s, and Gardenville Cutoff, much ballyhooed when
built in late 1880s, was downgraded and dismantled. PRR roundhouse still stands,
used by freight car rebuilder Eastern Railway Supply.
8) ebuff50.gif=Yards to far right are NYC E. Buffalo Yard and West Shore Yard, later combined
into automated Frontier Yard. The lower LV line branching off main line at Tifft
Jct. went to LV Tifft Yard complex, BCK Ohio St. Yard, and LV Lake Erie coal docks.
All LV trackage is long gone, abandoned after formation of Conrail. Upper LV line
went to downtown terminal at Main & Scott Sts. but was dismantled in 1950s for
construction of downtown section of NY State Thruway. NY State purchased LV's short-lived
Dingens St Terminal, at Weiss St. Both DL&W lines wyeing off their E. Buffalo
Yard were dismantled in early 1980s as part of Conrail's "Scorched Earth"
policy which removed all EL bridges on line to Black Rock so that right-of-way couldn't
be used by any competitor. That was done while federal gov't still owned Conrail!
Certainly in the public's best interests, wouldn't you say?
9) erie-eb50.jpg=Erie's E. Buffalo Yard complex. Left center is FW Interlocking, below and
to right, DM Interlocking. Top left is BCK connection to NYC near Tower 49 Interlocking.
PRR Babcock St. Yard is between FW and DM interlockings. DL&W "City Branch"
crossed PRR at DM, and LV crossed over both on a grade-separated embankment.
To upper right is LV's E. Buffalo Yard and engine facility. All DL&W and LV trackage
shown is gone today, and only 15 percent of Erie E. Buffalo Yard remains, used by
CP and NS. FW and DM are gone; and PRR single track continues from GJ to "Transisco
Wye" which was where FW was.
10) fw50.gif =FW Interlocking and surrounding trackage. Erie E. Buffalo Yard is to right.
PRR connection to NYC and PRR downtown trackage is at Tower 49A Interlocking at upper
left. The NKP and BCK yards are at bottom, left of center. A labelled map of FW Tower
area is also available.
11) fyard50.jpg =NYC E. Buffalo and West Shore Yards. The NY, West Shore & Buffalo
was acquired by NYC when J. P. Morgan got tired of the NYC and PRR's war games in
the late 1800s and told them to "Play nice, OR ELSE!"
The West Shore main runs east at upper left. It is no longer used, but most of it
remains intact. The old NYC main, today's CSX Chicago main, runs left to right at
bottom. Tower 47 is at extreme lower left and Tower 46 was a square dot at bottom
center below the engine facility. The DL&W Black Rock branch crossed over the
left end of the yard and Erie's Niagara Falls branch crossed over the NYC and West
Shore mains half a mile to the west. Both are gone today save for the northern stub
of the Erie, used to service American Axle's Delevan plant.
Where Erie crossed left of the Sycamore Wye is now called "Phantom Bridge."
Tower T was just off the map to lower left on the NYC Belt Line. The NYC Stock Yards
were just off the map at bottom center, past Tower 47. The West Shore roundhouse
and engine facility are directly in the center of map. The quarter roundhouse below
was NYC's and survives as a storage facility for a construction company. The car
shops below, and the NYC roundhouse, were owned by Pullman. Aside from the roundhouse,
no buildings or track remain. In the mid-1950s when NYC rebuilt E. Buffalo Yard into
Frontier Yard, it was touted as the most modern freight yard in the world. Aside
from the NYC and West Shore mains, arrangement of the yard is completely different
today.
12) gdvil50.gif=Gardenville Yard, built as part of NYC's Gardenville Cutoff project to
bypass downtown Buffalo in mid- 1880s. This sprawling facility and the cutoff itself
were made obsolete by construction of Frontier Yard and numerous grade crossing eliminations
on the mainline through Buffalo. Ebenezer Jct. with the PRR is to the left; and to
the right the cutoff crosses under the LV, Erie, and DL&W, respectively. Many
Hudsons were observed on the Gardenville dead line in the early 1950s.
13) h-50.jpg =Detail of NYC H Tower Interlocking and the DL&W and Erie Black Rock
Yard near International Bridge to Canada. NYC Niagara Branch from downtown Buffalo
runs through map from right to left. NYC Buffalo Belt Line enters the map at top
center right. Erie's Black Rock Branch cuts across middle of map and crosses two
legs of NYC wye to get to their yard. Map is inaccurate in this respect. DL&W
swings down from top left of map and crosses NYC Niagara Branch on overpass at middle
left to reach DL&W Black Rock Yards. NYC Tonawanda St. freight house is at lower
middle right where Crosscut Branch curves up through Pratt & Letchworth plant
to rejoin the Belt Line at Elmwood Avenue. The siding at Elmwood was just removed
in 1999.
14) lack50.gif =S. Buffalo, Lackawanna, & Blasdell area. (See details on link to "S.
Buffalo Yard/Lackawanna.") At lower left are BCK Ohio St. Yards and LV coal
docks. Bethlehem Steel Lackawanna Plant & S. Buffalo Railway's trackage are at
lower right. LV Tifft Yards are toward middle left above "East Canal" adjacent
to BCK Yard.
Above the LV are the NYC, then the Erie (Buffalo & Southwestern), then the Baltimore
& Ohio (B&O), then the DL&W Abbott Road Yard. The NKP and BCK Buffalo
River bascule bridges are at upper left. That area was known as Buffalo Jct. and
is now CP DRAW. Obviously S. Buffalo & Lackawanna were busy railroading sites
50 years ago! About 15 percent of this trackage remains today. CSX, Buffalo Southern,
NS, and Buffalo & Pittsburgh westbound/southbound mains are still there, although
B & P hasn't been used for a few years. The South Buffalo still serves the remains
of Bethlehem Steel and a Ford plant.
15) norbuf50.jpg =Large map showing North Buffalo [parts of which are described above in
#12) h-50.jpg]. Erie and DL&W lines are shown from from their E.
Buffalo yards swinging around from Int'l Jct. to Black Rock. The NYC Belt Line winds
northwest from Central Terminal area to the Niagara Branch connection at H Tower
in Black Rock. H Tower was demolished in 1998.
J. M. Hague, P.E.
NRHS, WNYRHS, NYCSHS
Former "BCT Engineer"* for Tony Fedele, R.I.P.
Member NY Central System Historical Society
*Hague, J.M., P.E. "Energy Survey of Main Plant Bldg., Central
Terminal Plaza" and "Wood-Energy Survey of Central Terminal Plaza"
(through NYS Energy Office "EASI" and "WEASI" programs, 1985).