Buffalo, NY: 1917 NFTA/DL&W Terminal

(HAER; Satellite)

NFTA = Niagara Frontier Transit Authority

HAER NY,15-BUF,22--8
8. 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. - Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, Lackawanna Terminal, Main Street & Buffalo River, Buffalo, Erie County, NY

HAER NY,15-BUF,22--1
1. View of DL&W Terminal complex from Main Street looking southeast. Train shed is at far left in photo with two passenger buildings flanking it the larger abutting the elevated skyway at extreme right. Naval Park is under construction directly beneath Skyway.

HAER NY,15-BUF,22--14
14. Aerial view of terminal from northeast. Note Bush type train shed.

"Significance: The terminal's double deck train shed, attributed to Lincoln Bush, is considered to be significant as an early example of the innovative use of reinforced concrete." [HAER_data]

Postcard via buffaloah

The buildings between the train shed and the Skyway were torn down in 1979. The train shed was reused for commuter service maintenance in 1982. "The DL&W’s property extended all the way to the present day Erie Basin Marina where a large coal trestle and loading dock was located." The terminal served rail passenger & freight traffic as well as lake ships that would dock alongside. [buffaloah] 

Street View, Jun 2025
(The grain elevator in the middle background is General Mills.)

I researched this terminal because this post taught me that the B&O/Buf­falo, Rochester & Pitts­burgh also used it.

Stan Carlson posted
Train 251 with P-6a Pacific 5243 is departing the DL&W terminal in Buffalo for points south (eastbound in the B&O timetable) in 1954.
[Some comments indicated that Reg Nugent took this photo. The grain elevator in the background of this view was the Connecting Terminal.]

I got this map to analyze how B&O connected with the DL&W. The B&O came in from the south while the DL&W came in from the east. I note that Erie next to DL&W on the east side. That is significant because buffaloah states that Erie built the terminal in 1917.

1948/58 Buffalo Quad @ 62,500

dlandwbuffalo

The ter­mi­nal served as union passenger sta­tion for sev­eral rail­road com­pa­nies, cementing Buffalo’s role as a critical transportation pivot in New York state:

New York, Chicago and St. Louis Rail­road (Nickel Plate Road)

Buf­falo, Rochester & Pitts­burgh Rail­way (Ac­quired by Bal­ti­more & Ohio in 1932)

Pere Mar­quette Rail­way (only until 1932)

Wabash Railroad

Norfolk & Western extensions:

City of Chicago (westbound, picking up carriages from Phoebe Snow for Hoboken-Buffalo-Chicago service) 

City of Cleveland (eastbound, connecting with the New York Mail for Chicago-Buffalo-Hoboken service)

WESTERN NEW YORK RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY posted two photos with the comment: "[We] feature some of the historic photos from the Society's collection.  Several years ago, we received a package in the mail from an architectural firm in NYC.  Inside were several pictures from their files of the construction of the DL&W Terminal that they thought we would like for the collection."

DL&W Terminal shared with the comment: "Awesome construction images."

1

2

When I write this in Aug 2025, they are in the middle of a construction project to transform the second level of the train shed into a public space.

dlandwbuffalo

BuffaloRising_market
The plan is to open in 2027.

Also, NFTA is building a new commuter station at the DL&W Terminal. It should be finished in 2026. [nfta]