Buffalo Central Terminal was built by the New York Central in 1929 to serve as a union station for the city that served as a gateway for so many railroads. The stock market crash the followed stopped any development, and the NYC was left in its big empty terminal all by itself (with a few exceptions). Never living up to its full potential, Amtrak abandoned the terminal in 1979, and Conrail closed its dispatching center in 1980. The Art Deco structure was vulnerable to vandals and salvagers until a group called the
Central Terminal Restoration Corp. took ownership in 1997 and began to clean up the site. The annual train show is just one of the many events that keep the old terminal busy and help raise funds for the organization. Here are a couple of photos from our visit on Saturday, September 11.
Photos by Otto Vondrak ('99).
