The NYC's Buffalo Central Terminal

Like its rival, Pennsylvania Railroad, entire libraries could be written on the New York Central System (the “System” was included to recognize the markets the railroad served and the number of railroads which comprised it) and its history ranging from its famous passenger trains (like the 20th Century Limited) and commuter operations to its fast, efficient, high-speed freight services. For history’s sake you cannot really speak of the New York Central System without also mentioning the PRR (and vice versa). It’s quite amazing how similar, outside of operations, both were. They were institutions, two of the largest railroads in the country, and the class of the industry for decades.

The New York Central System is remembered for many things but perhaps the railroad’s crowning achievement was its Grand Central Terminal located in downtown New York City. Opened in 1913, three years after the Pennsy opened its Pennsylvania Station<, GCT replaced the earlier Grand Central Station and held an impressive 48-tracks below ground. The terminal was beautifully adorned inside and out (as only the Vanderbilt family would allow), and it served NYC trains through the end. Today it thankfully still stands and not only continues to haul commuters (intercity trains stopped calling to the station years ago) but is also a National Historic Landmark and one of New York’s best-recognized landmarks.

While the end of WWII signaled the beginning of a traffic decline that would result in the entire Northeastern rail market bankrupt and in shambles by the 1970s, the New York Central System actually began to see a reversal in fortunes beginning in mid-1950s when new president Alfred Perlman was elected. Under his guidance the railroad began an aggressive campaign to upgrade the railroad and make the NYC as efficient as possible. In doing so he completely dieselized the locomotive fleet, built new classification yards, and introduced new innovative marketing schemes such as Flexi-Van service (the trains themselves were known as Super Vans), an idea far ahead of its time, which was the first successful application of Container-On-Flat-Car service (or COFC).

In the end and despite a long search for another partner it was eventually decided that a merger with the PRR was the only option for the New York Central System. Surprisingly the ICC approved the merger that virtually allowed for a monopoly in the Northeast and the ill-fated Penn Central Corporation was born on February 1, 1968.

Buffalo Central Terminal was built and paid for entirely by the New York Central System. The NYC’s decision to build this new station was to replace two aging and cramped structures, which were located in the downtown area of Buffalo, the Exchange Street Station and Terrace Station. The idea of placing the new station over two miles away from the downtown area was to not only allow for more efficient train operations but also in the hope that the City of Buffalo, which was growing at the time, to eventually spread out to the eastside area where BCT was to be built.

The architects chosen by the NYC for the new station were Fellheimer & Wagner of New York City, which would also build the famous Cincinnati Union Terminal a few years after Buffalo Central Terminal. The new station was built in the Art Deco style, which was the defining fad of the 1920s and the 1930s and featured a magnificent 15-story tower (used for offices) along with a five-story main concourse area. The concourse area itself was nearly sixty feet tall and measured some 225 feet long by 66 feet wide. Other features of the station included restaurants, a Pullman Company maintenance facility, icehouse, and even its own power plant! Opened to the public in June of 1929 it was hailed as a Buffalo landmark.

However, the beauty of Buffalo Central Terminal is hard to imagine today as the structure has sadly been stripped over the years of nearly every valuable and ornate decoration built into it. The station was constructed during the end of the “Golden Age” of passenger rail travel in this country and while a brief upturn in traffic followed during World War II after the Great Depression BCT never saw its full potential (it was built to serve 200 passenger trains a day) and as previously stated was grossly overbuilt. Still, it played host to Central’s most famous passenger train, the 20th Century Limited along with trains from the Pennsylvania Railroad and Canadian National.

As early as the 1950s the NYC was attempting to rid itself of Buffalo Central Terminal but could find no buyers. So, it continued on under NYC, and then Penn Central ownership following the 1968 merger with PRR. In 1971 Amtrak took over passenger operations to the station and Conrail acquired the building in its 1976 startup. From this point, things only got worse. Around 1980 both Conrail and Amtrak moved out of the building and although it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 this did not guarantee the building’s future.

From this time through the 1997 restoration beginnings the Buffalo Central Terminal fell on very hard times. Various owners used it for storage and stripped nearly every valuable piece of decoration from the building. Along with years of vandalism by the 1990s the station was nothing more than an eyesore on the city and in real danger of being demolished.

This is when a group of Buffalo preservationists stepped in and purchased the building for a mere $1 in 1997. Since then the group has formed the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation to preserve the historic structure. Over the last several years they have been successful at shoring up the building and stabilizing it to allow for further restoration efforts (in that time they have been able to secure $1 million in state grant money as well as thousands in donations). For more information on the ongoing restoration efforts with Buffalo Central Terminal please visit the group’s website by clicking here.

For more reading about railroad stations you might want to consider a copy of Railroad Stations from author Brian Solomon. While the book is just a very general overview of some of the great stations that once stood in this country it is quite good with lots of historical photographs, including that of Grand Central Terminal and the late Pennsylvania Station (it also gives a history of the thousands of small depots that existed in most communities). All in all if you’re interested in stations and depots you’re sure to enjoy Mr. Solomon’s book on the subject.