The Tower

it looks a little like the empire state building, the pic is really nice, can you tell me where it is located maybe ill go see it myself?

A segment of the movie "Best Friends" was shot at the terminal in "82".
The building is in Buffalo.

This amazing building is on the east side of buffalo (ny) at 495 Paderewski Drive. See www.buffalocentralterminal.org for details and dates when the building is open for visitors.

shame the building is not used. the old b&o staion here in town is being used by the collage ,and it's great how they have maintained it.

according to the buffalocentralterminal site, it was built the same year as the Empire State Building. I imagine that could account for some of the similarities. They are both heavily Art Deco. I wonder who the architect was on this project?

Motts your photos are amazing. Next time in Buffalo you need to visit the old Wildroot factory on Bailey ave. overpass just north of Broadway. This plant has been closed 30 some years.

fellheimer and wagner were the architects; they had an office in nyc. they subsequently designed a terminal in cincinnati, which is now the cincy museum. the terminal was made for speed and ease of movement or railway traffic....but opening in june of '29, it never got a chance...

-b

We shot our first feature film here in November. A million dollar location for next to nothing. I got to wander about for almost two weeks. At the end of which I was still finding places I hadn't seen before. We could not get into the lower depths as that was flooded and we did not get into the catwalks above, but we were pretty much everywhere else. So sad what has been allowed to happen to this amazing bit of architectural artwork.

My father was employed by the architectural firm and did daily markups of the progress on sets of the plans, which were forwarded to their main office for review.
I remember arriving at the terminal on my way home from basic training at Fort Dix in 1966.
I visited the Conrail offices on one of the upper floors with a friend who worked for the Buffalo Sewer Dept., probably in 1970 or maybe 1972. Managed a short ride in one of the engines that day :-)
My wife and I went to a dance held in the main concourse some years after that. At that time some owner or other was trying to drum up interest in the building and the main concourse was in pretty good shape, but the side rooms were a shambles.
I wonder what ever happened to the huge statue of the Buffalo that used to be in the concourse? I hope it was saved.
Your site is an absolute treasure trove and I really appreciate your efforts.

I purchased a box of old documents, photographs and whatnot at a garage sale in Montana. In that box was an old photograph of this train station when the building was new.

Recently they made a very cool scary movie here at the terminal called Prison Of The Psychotic Damned. It is really good.

Well Clare, the statue of the the original buffalo was a real stuffed one and they had to remove it from the terminal because WWII soldiers would rub its fur for good look and the hide was coming off. It is now at the Buffalo Science Muesum. The bronze one that you knew smashed because the former owner backed up into it with his truck. Smashed in a million pieces.

i wish central terminal was open next year 2007 so my dad can take a peek sometimes

We just got alot of artifacts back that belonged to the Terminal. A drinking fountain, brass door knobs, and many different signs. Hope to find more artifacts. If you have any send it to the Buffalo Central Terminal. We would love to see lots of artifacts returned to our beloved Terminal.

I'm the treasurer of the CTRC and we are a non-profit group who owns the building and maintains it. We are going to be celebrating our 10th anniversary next year. We run events monthly during the late spring to early fall. Check www.buffalocentralterminal.org for details.

PS - It was designed by Alfred Fellheimer (co-architect of Grand Central) and Steward Wagner.

If anyone knows Youtube.com there is a very cool slide show of the Buffalo Central Terminal. It features some music by one of my favorite bands, NINE INCH NAILS. It is very cool. Motts I know that you would really like it.

weekly income for terminal! concert in the concourse presented by sponsors name here perferably radio station beer distributor etc. bring it on!

Hey Opacity fans, if you want to help clean up the terminal here is the date you can volunteer at. I'll be there to lend a hand and take photos for my future website. It won't be as good as Motts website though. Well, here is the info.

10th Annual Spring Clean Up - April 28th 2007, 9am to 1pm - Lend a hand cleaning up the Buffalo Central Terminal and grounds. All are welcome, tools and gloves are suggested.

For more info log on to there website.

see ya in spring !

Right on man. I'll be there to help out and explor. If you want to explor with me just leave a comment on this gallary.

cool ' i have talked to someone about restoring some of the baggage carts these would make great tabels to rent out for the toy train meet in the fall just one more idea to bring cash in!

I'm actually restoring baggage cart 13 with my fellow scouts.

How are restoring the cart Bill? Do you think you will give it back to the CTRC?

when will it be finished hopefuly by may isint there like 50 of them i would like to do a few

Flal you are the coolest person on this site. I better see you at the spring clean up and I will personaly take you around the building. It is very easy to spot me, I'm 15 years old and I'll have a camera on me and I will be in the main concourse taking pictures.

We are restoring the baggage cart as part of an Eagle Scout project. We are almost done. It just needs paint.

As a matter of fact, we are restoring it INSIDE the Central Terminal. I was the with the troops freezing for the past month.

The baggage cart is in the hands of the CTRC, and will be in the Dyngus Day parade in April. Just to note we are restoring the "best"
cart. It has significant rot and there may only be 2other good ones.

I am 16, and will also be at the spring clean up taking pics. Question Ozzy: Have you ever been in the tower? I've been up to floor 17.

Good job Bill. I'm in the Boy Scouts and I plan to do my eagle project at the Terminal. Do you know there are a whole bunch of carts in the old employee parking lot. Just talk to Mike Miller or some other person that works there, they'll tell about them.

DARKNESS IS YOUR FRIEND

I never went up to the 17th floor. I bet my grandpa did. He worked there between 1955-1960. He saw all the cool engines like the Empire State Express, 20th Century Limited, and the famous Hudson engine. But he only saw them for only a little while because they took the steam engines out the same year he started working for the NYC Railroad. They were replaced with diesals. I prefer the old NYC Steam engines than the NYC Diesals.

My best friends father works there. I've seen all the other carts. Going there tommorow to paint cart. At spring clean up maybe you could join our group on an "unofficial tour".

I will be honored, Bill. I'll be at the clean up and you will know when you see me. I'll have a camera and I'll probably be wearing black. Or you can just yell my name, Ozzy. I'll maybe even have my grandpa with me. If you see a 15 year old dude with a tall older guy, that would be me.

Also fill free to ask me any questions about the terminal when you see me.

Whoops forgot to ask, how did you discover a homeless guy in the building? Was it in the main building or the REA building where you commented?

He was in the REA building. Just saw a raggy dressed guy, and I got the hell outta there. How far have you been up in the tower? When were you at the terminal last?

I only got up to the 5th floor. Oh by the way, You know those carts you are restoring, in the REA building there is a big yellow machine that took those carts around. To find it, you will have to go near the end of the building. If you look at the building straight ahead, walk left and there would be a open gauge with the machine inside.
Maybe you can restore it someday. I'm thinking about restoring it. If you are confused where it is, I will take you to see it.

Please respond back.

Yes, I know how to get there. Our baggage cart is now finished. It looks great.

Just by looking at the baggage cart, it takes you back in time. You can imagine NYC workers hauling luggage on it.

What the heck! Motts deleate that fricked up comment. So Bill, do you want to check out that yellow machine that used to carry to luggage carts around? It is currrently in the REA Building. Also the luggage carts you restored, are they they old fashioned ones or are they the ones that are featured on this site.

Write back man.

It is the full sized, old fashioned cart. For some wheel bearings we needed, I actually had to go in the terminal's sub basement and search through some old work rooms with hardware. Luckilly no water got to it, and they fit perfect.

I can't wait to wander around the place in a couple weeks. Bill and flal better be there or I'll get mad.

Yes! I will be at the clean up 100% sure. Not sure of the inside tasks yet, but they will be fun!

Okay Bill and flal, it would be very easy to spot me, I'll be wearing all black, I'll have a camera in my hand, and I'll be with my grandpa who worked there in the 50's. He is very tall like around, 6'5. Fill free to walk over and say hi.

If you want, I'll take you two on my own "tour" such as REA Bulding and Passenger Concourse Section. So write back if you can and read carefully.

Motts you are the king and keep up on this site.

ONE DAY TILL CLEANUP!! I'll be there at 9. We must watch for "trip" wires in REA.

Buffalo Central Terminal clean-up was very succesful. We cleared out a lot of crap from various rooms from the concourse. It is really starting to look much better.
At the clean-up I finally met Bill. He is VERY COOL and he knows the place pretty good. He took be to the 2nd floor where Tony Fedele lived. It was in very bad shape.
Hey, Bill maybe next time we can go to the REA building. I know were everything is. I don't think one homeless guy will scare us away.

Thank you Bill for a great time and I hope to see you at the next event. Also, fl al I did not see you there.

Here is a old photo of this place.

http://www.buffalocent...y/historicimages/aad

Well I have to say that the CTRC have done a great job cleaning up the place. Next time when your in Buffalo, please stop in at the Terminal. The Main Concourse looks a lot better than when you came in. You can only explor the main course because the stairs are closed off to the public and you can only come in at a event or contact them on there website for permission to take photos of the other areas. Just say Ozzy sent you.

Is this place paranormal? see any shadows, voices to name the few?

This place was recently featured on the hit TV show Ghost Hunters. They found lots of paranormal evidence here. I've been working here for awhile and I never saw or heard anything. I've also been studying the paranormal for many years. When I heard the Ghost Hunters came here, I was very skeptical. When I saw the episode and seeing the evidence, I was really freaked out. They got two voices of an old man who could be the former owner Anthony Fedele who lived on the 2nd floor after the station closed. He bought the building in 1980 and payed alot of money on making an apartment on the second floor. They also got a whisper in the mail room and got on film a thermal image of a man waling around on the second floor where Fedele lived. The strange thing was that there was a camera next to the thermal camera and they did not pick up anyone fooling around.
So if anyone goes to the Buffalo Terminal and goes to the second floor, be on your toes because you might run into the former owner. Also when you go there you can see the remains of this destroyed apartment. It is very spooky.

Hi Ozzy: I watched that episode of GH it was very interesting. I've been watching there show for sometime now. I have to say that it was one of the best shows...to me not alot has been happening/boring you could say. It was werid what they caught on the 2 cameras and the EVP's. So with the clean up what are all the above floors going to be used for? After its all done. Just wondering. Its just nice to know that someone is restoring it. Unlike our depot here in downtown Detroit. What a total waste. If only someone could've restored that one after it closed. I just don't understand why we have to waste so much stuff in this country. It is a shame and I guess we all do it in one form or another. (That is waste something right....)...just some thoughts.....I don't know if I'd want to explore floor #2.

Well blue lamp, we would use the cleaned out floors for tours and events. Sadly, most of the floors still have to be cleaned out. You see the volunteer organization I'm apart of has a goal to restore this station back to its former glory. I heard it may cost over 160 million dollar to bring this station back to life. It may take awhile but it is worth it.
Besides, we already saved this place from the wrecking ball over 10 years ago.

PS: Floor #2 is amazing, I always loved that floor and when I found out it was haunted now I just want to live on that floor. Just like the former owner Anthony Fedele.

Can we just walk in or do we need permision.
Our school would love to film somthing there.

You would have to get permission from the head guys of the restoration corporation and talk it over with them. This is one of those buildings where it is fenced in and has alarms. Also the cops love to patrol the area of the building.

They have clean ups there every Sunday
You can come in and take a look around, as long as you help out.

hey ozz, i just drove up from boston a couple weeks ago and did the investigation with taps. i actually got quite the collection that night! not only did i get pics but a/v as well. i will openly admit in the face of criticism that the place has a few para occupants. whether it be from the houses that were torn down for the construction of the terminal or the term itself. they are there. the structure alone was amazing! i was hoping to go up in the tower but it was off limits. i was awed by what i did get to explore though. its magnificent.

I did the investigation with TAPS too. I did the investigation on May 23rd. It was the greatest time of my life. I have to say after 4 years of working here and checking out verious floors and rooms, I thought it was not haunted. Until that night, alot of creepy stuff happened, I saw black figures, I heard somebody breathe behind me, and I saw white balls of light appear on Tony Fedeles apartment floor.
I think it may be haunted by WWII soldiers because many people entered that building to go to war and they never came back. A former employee told me that they brought there coffins back here through the building. Also an man named Tony Fedele bought the building and lived in it for awhile. He really loved the building but he was forced to move out. I he passed away 15 years ago and he may still be in the building because he cared about the building and it was his home for a long time.

Here is a picture of me and my cousin meeting TAPS. There are also many pictures of the building that I took as well.

Link
http://www.flickr.com/...ductions/3560721617/

The BCT is in flux right now as it appears and then disappears off the list of potential high speed rail hubs that are being proposed. If the BCT gets on the list, and the HSR plans for New York State are approved and funded, then it might be finally (!) fully renovated and opened for rail passengers. Stay tuned...

i like how they actuly decided to restore some of it instead of letting it rot

If anyone has been in the mail room, does it still" say "liza loves john" and "randy loves his mom" on the black board?