Forgotten Buffalo: Historic & Hip...

Forgotten Buffalo: Historic & Hip...An Urban Explorer's Guide to the Buffalo-Niagara Region: Unique Landmarks, Historic Gin Mills, Old World Neighborhoods, History, Nickel City Oddities, Tours and More!

Welcome

Experience the Tour

Departure Board

Arrival Board

Tour Polish Buffalo

Buffalo Ethnic Tours

Tour German Buffalo

Tour Italian Buffalo

Tour Irish Buffalo

Last Fine Time Tour

Buffalo Brewery Tour

Classic Taverns-Awards

Classic Taverns-Buffalo

Dill's Tavern

Top Hill Grill

Talty's

Daren's Tavern

Scharf's Schiller Park

Pristach's

G&T Inn

Gene McCarthy's

Ulrich's Tavern

Artys Grill

Dick's Eastside Inn

East End Tavern

Sportsman Tavern

The Malamute

Taverns of Polonia 1910

Dalys

Eddie Brady's Bar

Ten-O-Won Grill

Classic Taverns-Travels

The Concertina Bar

Mels Bar

Club 505

Steve's Lounge

Classic Taverns-Last Call

Felong's Tavern

Billy O's Golden Swan

Big Joe Dudzick's Tavern

The Broadway Grill

Bramer's Grill

Concord Restaurant

Messner's Aero Bar

Ray Flynn's

Kutas Warsaw Inn

McBride's Pub

Strusienski's Restaurant

Private & Ethnic Clubs

Adam Mickiewicz Library

American Serbian Club

Corpus Christi AC

Croatian "Cro" Club

Dnipro Ukrainian Center

Dom Polski - N Tonawanda

Eldredge Bicycle Club

Polish Cadets

St. Stan's Athletic Club

Third Warders Club

Ukrainian-American Center

FBTV Video

Historic Polonia District

Central Terminal

Polish Home Museum Project

Broadway Market

St. Stanislaus Church

Corpus Christi Church

St. Adalbert's Basilica

Superman Corner

Polonia Views

Eckhardt Department Store

Polish Union of America

PPS Broadway Mkt Report

Polskie Kolo Spiewackie

Lucki Urban

Buffalo's Polonia History

A Polka Moment In Time

Vintage Polka Posters

Pulaski Parade 1962

Pulaski Parade 2006

Pulaski Parade 2008

Broadway Fillmore

Polonia Stories

1910 Maps of Polonia Buffalo

Buffalo Polonia - 1910

Preserve a Polish Home

Kaminski Meats

Polonia Scrapbook

Polonia On Parade

1965 Polka Convention

Polish Paintings

Power To Polonia

Beer Murals Nielsen

Forgotten Bflo Features

Kids & Wigilia Traditions

The Simon Pure Brewery

Lost Bflo Train Stations

New York Central at War

Pennsylvania RR at War

Talkin' Proud!

Buffalo Union Station

Bayliss-Oshei Residence

Niagara Falls Steak Sub

Buffalo Heights

The Statler Hilton

Metro Rail 1973

Bflo Before & After

Retro Chip Collection

Melody Fair - N Tonawanda

Buffalo Courier Express

History in Your Pocket

Corner Store Experience

The Fair

Most Endangered Sites

Re-Light the Rand

Pierogi @ St. Nick's

Whammy Weenie

Skateland - East Ferry

Jimmy Griffin 1929-2008

Jack Kemp 1936-2009

Sattler Theater

Masonic Lodge #846

Broadway Grill Reunion

Vintage Xmas Cards

Bocce Club- Clinton St.

Smiling Ted's

Buffalo Snow

Edsbyn, Sweden

Buffalo Drive-In

Buffalo 1969

Ray Bennett Lumber Co.

Ray H. Bennett Home

Ultra Cool: 70s Buffalo

Buffalo Bowling Shirts

Great Northern Elevator

Pullman / Wagner Complex

Pierogi Capital of US

North Park Theater

Zywiec Brewery

Buffalo Beer Trays

1964 Campaign For Pres

Heritage Discover Ctr

Tale of Two Roundhouses

Brand Names Catalog

Trolley Lobby BCT

Mentholatum, Hyde, Smythe

Chez Ami 311 Delaware Ave

Schreiber Brewery

Forgotten Buffalo Sounds

Sounds of Buffalo Beer

Sounds of Buffalo

Sounds of the Hound

Utica Club Beer Song

Forgotten Buffalo-Lost

Gramza's Cigar Store

Burczynski Bakery

St. Gerard's Parish

The Polish Village

Rudas Record Store

Tondrowski's Shoe Store

The DL&W Terminal

Buffalo Gas Works

S.S. Aquarama/Marine Star

Aquarama - Final Chapter

Sattlers 998

Rivoli Theater - Broadway

H-O Elevator

Riverside Men's Shop

Mastman's Kosher Deli

Crystal Beach

Department Stores

CLASSIC PHOTOS

Bevador/Beerador Coolers

Parkside Candies

Buffalo's Last Roundhouse

Wildroot Factory

Buffalo Stockyards

Chicago Iron Works

Spolka Clothing

Forgotten Ontario

Tim Hortons #1

TH&B Train Station

Ivor Wynne Stadium

Canadian National Station

Minojijikum Island 1076

Forgotten Rochester

Retro Wegmans

Polonia Rochester

Spittoon Water Troughs

Forgotten Buffalo & Genny

Genesee Brewery Tour

Forgotten Bflo Roadtrips

Perreca's Bakery

F.X. Matts - Utica Club

Forgotten Buffalo-Media

Ch. 2: WGR & WGRZ-TV

Rocketship7

Commander Tom Show

Dialing for Dollars

Ed Tucholka

Polonia Media

Greg Chwojdak, WXRL

Tour of Bflo Broadcasting

WKBW Radio

WKBW Top 40 Celebration

KB Goes Kaboom! WKBW

1430 Main St - WKBW RADIO

A Thing of the Past 2006

WKBW's Tommy Shannon

George Hound Dog Lorenz

1420 Main St - WKBW TV

Forgotten Bflo Orchestra

R & L Lounge, 23 Mills St

Union Stock Yards Bank

The Think Bank

The Natural Tour

Preservation Corridors

Broadway

Fillmore Avenue

Lombard Gibson Mktplace

Project Paderewski

Forgotten Buffalo News

Despensata Corporation

Marketplace Kitchen

Buffalo Broadcasting

DL&W TERMINAL

The following is a collection of maps, pictures and articles concern the Lackawanna Terminal...One of Buffalo's most forgotten landmarks.


Click image to view map

LOCATION?

Click image to enlarge and focus. D.L. & W Terminal is located behind HSBC Arena. Scroll down to see Google Earth views of site in 2005.


Main waiting room inside Buffalo's Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Terminal, 1917

AT A GLANCE

What: Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal

Location: Foot of Main Street; South Park to Michigan Ave.

Architect: Kenneth M. Murchison, NYC

Built:  1917

Railroad Served: DL&W (Lackawanna) & Nickel Plate. Later Erie Lackawanna.

Partial Demolition: 1979 (Waiting room, passenger concourse, railroad offices)

Reuse: 1982-1995 (Train shed; storage and maintenance facility for Metro Rail system.)

Current Interest: 2005; possible site for waterfront development.


It is a forgotten Buffalo landmark for anyone 40 years old or young…but during the last few weeks, the remaining train shed of Buffalo’s Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad station has become a hot topic of conversation. Here is a quick primmer on one of Buffalo’s lost treasures. If you are to visit the site today, a two-story reinforced concrete train sheds is all that remains of the Lackawanna Railroad Terminal in Buffalo. Built in 1917, the complex served rail passenger & freight traffic as well as lake ships that would dock alongside. The DL&W’s property extended all the way to the present day Erie Basin Marina was a large coal trestle and loading dock was located.

 

Passengers used an entrance near

Ohio Street
. A long wide portico protected those going to and from the station. Passengers arriving by boat entered the station from the south side which fronted the Buffalo River. The building was three stories high and built of brownstone. There were waiting rooms on the ground floor and on the second floor. The ground floor had one ticket office and checking counter with benches along the sides. A double stairway led to the second waiting room which was fitted with accommodations for about 200 persons. There were long rows of seats back to back with shaded lights on the back.


 

Off the waiting room was the women's parlor, furnished in soft brown and furnished with wicker furniture. There were rugs on the floor and a writing desk invited correspondence. In a corresponding corner on the other side of the stairs was a smoking room. The middle of the east side of the waiting room afforded entrance to the train concourse. Opening off the waiting room was the customary news stand, telegraph and parcel booths, and restaurant. On a mezzanine floor were rooms for the railroad employees, waiting room for immigrants, and room for railroad business mail. On the third floor were various offices, including those for the superintendent and the train dispatcher.

 

In 1963, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad merged with the Erie Railroad. The new company, the Erie - Lackawanna Railroad abandoned majestic terminal at the foot of Main Street soon after. The head house with its grand staircase was finally demolished in 1979 during construction of Buffalo's light rail rapid transit system. Although passenger terminal was razed, the terminal's brick train sheds were converted into servicing facilities.


View of DL&W toward eastern end of property from South Park Avenue showing concrete access ramp to second level. Signal tower and smoke stack portions of Boiler Room structure are at left, and towers of Michigan Avenue Bridge over the Buffalo River are in background of photo.
View of DL&W toward eastern end of property from South Park Avenue showing concrete access ramp to second level. Signal tower and smoke stack portions of Boiler Room structure are at left, and towers of Michigan Avenue Bridge over the Buffalo River are in background of photo.
Interior of larger DL&W passenger building showing main concourse on upper level, with stairway from street level at right of photo and passage to trains at left. Skyway can be seen through large window facing Buffalo River. Matching window is directly opposite.
Interior of larger DL&W passenger building showing main concourse on upper level, with stairway from street level at right of photo and passage to trains at left. Skyway can be seen through large window facing Buffalo River. Matching window is directly opposite.
View of DL&W complex from across Buffalo River. Two passenger buildings are at center, with train shed extending toward right. Skyway shows at top left, with Naval Park construction below.
View of DL&W complex from across Buffalo River. Two passenger buildings are at center, with train shed extending toward right. Skyway shows at top left, with Naval Park construction below.
View from the Foot of Main Street
View from across the Buffalo River
Nickel Plate Railroad locomotive at DL&W Terminal. Note Skyway in background.
Terminal in 1979.
Postcard view from 1919.
The most famous train to call the terminal home... the Phoebe Snow. Express service between Buffalo and New York City.
Google Earth view in 2005
The main waiting room at time of opening in 1917.
THE DL&W TODAY
Pictures taken on Saturday, October 1, 2005. Although the station house was rasied in 1979, the trainshed is still a majestic structure. 
Image: 
Marvin Street looking towards HSBC Arena.
South Park and Marvin Streets
Irish homes on Marvin Street. Building at corner is the Fulmar Tavern (Fulton & Marvin Streets)
HO Oats Building and Elevator..
The classic Malamute Tavern. Owner has been offered money for site. South Park at Michigan Ave.
DL& W Terminal. Photo taken from Michigan Ave. lift bridge. Oct. 2005
Buffalo's DL&W Terminal Reborn in Scranton
Ted Straub sent along the following images from Steamtown, NHS. In the mid-80s, the ticket counter of Buffalo's DLW Terminal was recreated from station plans. This full-scale relication is made out of marble, sandstone and brass. These pictures give you an idea how any re-use of the DL&W complex could be enhanced by restoration of key elements. Thanks Ted for taking a trip to Scranton, PA to share these pics. 
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