Railfan viewing platform at Buffalo Central Terminal

From the Central Terminal Restoration Corp.:

"If a railfan platform was to be made available on the Buffalo Belt Line, at the Buffalo Central Terminal would you be willing to use it?"

Cast your vote... this poll will remain active for 30 days.

-otto-

Absolutely!!

Otto and Charlie:Why not? Is something finally being done with BUF CT? It is about time - I was up there in 2002 and it looked like hell. My question is where is the big bison sculpture that was in the main entrance hall? Goodwill to railfans is a step in the right direction knowing the history of the place. MACTRAXX

Are you referring to the original bronze sculpture? Unfortunately it was accidentally destroyed by the previous owner of the terminal. Very sad story. He was removing valuables from the building, when he backed a dump truck right into the statue, knocking it off its pedestal, and destroying it. Regardless to say, that guy isn't very popular among the BCTRC!

The stabalization of BCT is well documented here, and has been discussed elsewhere on this forum.

http://www.buffalocentralterminal.org/

This thread regards the poll subject at hand.

-otto-

Some problems regarding this location:
1. Tough part of town, high crime area in a high crime city. Would be
quite concerned with a camera, scanner and whatever. Might be a
bit concerned with leaving a car around here too.
2. Main line tracks are somewhat back from the old station itself.

I have not explored everywhere in Buffalo but it seems to me that there
could well be better locations.
Noel Weaver

Noel- access to BCT is now controlled, and access to this platform would be controlled. This area is not the war zone many people remember.

-otto-

I would definitely use it. Sounds like a great idea to me! (What does CSX think of this plan?)

I have consulted a few people who work for CSX and they all agree that CSX doesn't need to be contacted. The platform is on BCT property, and is theirs and theirs alone to use as they want. The original dead end track that was layed along the platform is gone, so there is a good buffer between the platform and live trains. An interesting side note I found out from one of the employes I ask - The end of the platform in question is still used as a recrew point.

How would access to the platform be granted?

-otto-

The platform is at the end of a dead end street, Curtis Street. This platform is not adjacent to the rest of the platforms, it was a special platform used for celebrities, and dignitaries. Here is a map from Yahoo!, the star represents the exact location of the platform:

http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=1G ... name=&qty=

Access and parking are no problem, as it is a dead end, and the platform is the only thing at the end of this street.

Here are some pictures of the platform is question:

Oh that platform. I thought maybe "platform" might have meant the actual platforms where passengers got off the trains, which would be much closer to the main line. I wonder how many trains a day pass along the two tracks adjacent to the Terminal that can clearly be seen in the photos. Can't be nearly as many as on the main line. Anyone know for sure?

There is a steady stream of traffic along there. A lot of power transfers, which I love too see!! Also, trains coming down from Canada, heading into frontier, or going south, come right by there.

Otto and Sim: BCT has a good site - I looked there and got some info that I wanted. Lets hope that these guys can save this neglected structure - in my opinion BCT was a classic from the heyday of passenger trains. I was a little shocked to read of the demise of the bison sculpture but glad to read about its rebirth. Is anything going to be done with the tracks and platforms? - I remember that the concourse was severed to allow stack trains to pass next door. MACTRAXX