The Public | Looking Backward: DL&W Terminal, 1975

This is a Widelux photograph of the DL&W terminal at the foot of Main Street in 1975, taken by The Public’s Bruce Jackson. The access ramp under the Skyway is already in an advanced state of deterioration. The large building in the center of the photo—the waiting room, passenger concourse, railroad offices, ticket counters—would be torn down in 1979. (Contemporary photographs and more data on the terminal at the Forgotten Buffalo website.)

The terminal, designed by Kenneth M. Murchison, was built in 1917. Since 1982, it has been used as a train shed and storage facility ny the Niagara Frontier Tranist Authority. In January, Congressman Brian Higgins announced his support for a $43 million plan to turn the first floor of the terminal into a Metro Rail station and to open the second floor to commercial activity, with a pedestrian bridge linking to the First Niagara Center.