Despite the coverage surrounding the D.L.& W.’s former terminal on Buffalo’s waterfront, there is very little information on this unique station’s history. Prior to being considered a potential casino site or public market, the structure was a forgotten utilitarian maintenance building for the NFTA’s light rail system.
The structure’s name originated from the constructing railway: the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (also referred to as the D.L.& W. or Lackawanna Railroad).
Incorporated in the 1830’s, the D.L.& W.’s predecessors moved steadily westward from the port of New York at Hoboken eventually connecting to Buffalo. Although the railway was neither the most direct nor the fastest route in the highly competitive New York to Buffalo market, the Lackawanna fielded a number of passenger trains, including the premier train, the Phoebe Snow.
As passenger traffic increased, the need for a new terminal in Buffalo had become desperate. The old station had been built with platforms and tracks right in the street. Transfers to other railroads was a difficult multi-block haul. Carriages, horses, carts, and people jockeyed with locomotives and coaches for space on the crowded waterfront, sometimes with dire consequences.
Negotiations began in the hopes of constructing a joint Union Station for all of Buffalo’s passenger rail lines. However, in an oddly familiar course of events, talks with the city and other railroads failed to produce any concrete results after years of talks.
Deciding to act independently, the Lackawanna Railroad’s answer was unique and practical. Architect Kenneth Murchison created a state of the art waterfront facility that elevated the passenger rail platforms to the second floor, and connected passenger ship service on the lower level. An approaching train would climb a concrete viaduct along South Park Avenue to reach the second floor and pull in to the canopy that provided protection to travelers. Other railroads were also tenants at the terminal, and a traveler was able to easily transfer to a west bound train.
At the station’s opening 90 years ago, a passenger could arrive and transfer by rail, or complete their travel by ship or nearby streetcar. Clearly this facility was multimodal transportation center well before the term existed.
Unfortunately for the terminal, Postwar railroad passenger service continued to suffer from declining revenues due to increased (and government subsidized) air and highway competition. Eventually, the Lackawanna Railroad merged with the Erie Railroad in an effort to consolidate duplicate facilities. The station was closed in 1962 in an effort to further reduce soaring expenses. What little passenger service which remained on the line was moved east to an unremarkable railroad siding. The new Erie-Lackawanna Railroad continued intercity passenger service until 1969, two years before the creation of Amtrak.
Years of neglect and vandalism had led to massive deterioration of the structure’s the passenger waiting room and station office building. When the facility was converted into a maintenance facility for Metro Rail, these areas were demolished.
If anyone is interested, you can see the entire entry of Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record at American Memory Finder
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Post Script: Is the Terminal a development opportunity in the shadow of the casino, a potential multimodal transportion hub, a railroad museum in waiting, a convention center, or a future public market? All? None? Some?
Photos: Library of Congress