Buffalo to Detroit via VIA

I am planning a trip to see some of the cities in the Great Lakes area and want to go from Buffalo to Detroit via VIA. I have some questions about how to do this trip and am also seeking some advice/tips for this route if anyone has taken it before. I've been on Amtrak numerous times but never VIA (other than the short Mahalat route).
I take it VIA is a better way to go between Buffalo and Detroit than Amtrak via Cleveland and Toledo to Detroit Thruway Bus.

I will spend several days in Buffalo. Is it worth taking Amtrak from Buffalo-Exchange to Niagara Falls or to take a local NFTA bus to Niagara Falls station and board VIA?

The Niagara Falls Station is shared by VIA & Amtrak or do they both have their own seperate stations?

The Niagara Falls station(s) is/are in Ontario or New York State?

What kind of food service is there on VIA between Niagara Falls and Windsor (I realize I have to switch trains in Aldershot)?

Are there any major issues with delays on these routes that I might want to know about?

Thanks

There are two stations in Niagara Falls; one in New York State and one in Ontario. However VIA trains only stop at Niagara Falls Ontario.

As for food on the Toronto Windsor trains, snacks and drinks are served by circulating carts.

I will spend several days in Buffalo. Is it worth taking Amtrak from Buffalo-Exchange to Niagara Falls or to take a local NFTA bus to Niagara Falls station and board VIA?

As the Maple Leaf arrives rather late into Buffalo, you would do best to take a bus across the border. There are many departures from the central bus station in Buffalo. I didn't notice how near the bus goes to the VIA station. I stayed on the bus to Toronto.

Bus ride from Buffalo to Toronto was not that bad. This is actually one bus/train combo I would do again if I had to. There were just more options for me at Buffalo heading eastbound than the Maple Leaf if I were to do a train only option out of Toronto. Toronto train station to the bus station is not that far - but it is definitely worth seeks a cab for. I cost me under $10 if I recall. As for VIA to a point where you'd have to make a connection to Detroit, I couldn't help you on that one. Although there are many that say the bus or even a cab can be done between the two cities.

Windsor Via to Detroit Amtrak would be an adventure in route planning; Windsor runs a bus through the tunnel, but it doesn't go very far on either side of the tunnel, so you'd probably have to change twice (assuming Detroit Amtrak is a 1-bus ride from somewhere downtown). I don't know if cabbies can traverse the tunnel and take you any distance beyond customs at the portal either....

There's some useful information about crossing between VIA/Windsor and Amtrak/Detroit here (as well as other stuff about a trip from Chicago to Toronto via Windsor.
http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.p ... opic=20841

BrianN