TH&B was Buffalo-Windsor(Detroit) VIA was Niagara Falls ON to Toronto ON now covered by Metrolynx(GOT)
The Land of Enchantment is not Flyover country!
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MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:57 am SA: There looks to be room for a second high platform at BFX - with the amount of current use is not necessary.Hopefully someday "upstaters" will get their due from NYS' much talked about HSR.
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StLouSteve wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:35 am Looks like a second platform would have to be staggered slightly up or down. When building St Louis' light rail system, they had to do that for one stop (Wellston) and you have to walk all the way down to the end of the platform and then cross the tracks (at grade) to access the other direction platform and parking lot (which is on the other side of a street crossing) so it can be done, although far from ideal.A staggered platform wouldn't really be *that* big of a deal, when you think about it. It's not as if many people are going to be transferring from a northbound to a southbound.
Roadgeek Adam wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:26 pm The second and the one I liked personally was the Larkinville station idea. The problem is, while best for building two platforms and an overpass, a third track/siding would have to be built due to the high amount of freights, resulting in the costs going up, not to mention the lack of room.Considering the Central ran four tracks down that stretch (from the current 437 to the Track 3/Niagara Branch split at Larkinville) and the Swan Street "Tunnel" was actually under the ends of the leads for the downtown yards (carrying at least 6 tracks, it almost looks closer to 8 in some historic aerial shots) I don't think room for a third track would have been a huge ordeal.
StLouSteve wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:35 am BTW, I also rode the connecting RDC from Buffalo to Toronto on the TH&B. One of my favorite Budd car memories. Customs boarded the train and interviewed folks while en route so it was not a big deal getting across the border. Took the Greyhound the other way and recall having to take luggage into the building and getting hassled quite a bit including searching through our clothes in our suitcases.StL and Everyone: This reply has two segments adding to the Buffalo-Toronto RDC train discussion
MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:43 am The perennial problem with Central Terminal has always been its location. Even though a BCT revival could meanHave said this in other threads, but-- Buffalo Central Terminal was built to serve a city of 570,000 people. The population had grown 60% in the three decades prior to its opening.
future improvements to the surrounding neighborhoods the trouble is that the area has deteriorated enough to
the point that it would discourage at least some ridership. Renovating BCT would have a very high price tag.
It could take a future project - such as a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills - to revitalize the East Side area.
In that case a relocated or added station option could make sense in the future - for now BFX and BUF
are sufficient especially now again with the opening of the new BFX facilities...MACTRAXX
Roadgeek Adam wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:59 pmThe city also didn't expand in the direction they imagined either.That seems to have been a common issue with some of those "late golden age of rail" projects. Downtown Detroit didn't expand toward Michigan Central Station; the business center of Manhattan never moved far enough north for the New York, Westchester & Boston's Harlem River Terminal to make sense....
Ridgefielder wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:47 pmThere's also the possibility of increased frequencies for the Empire Service, the eventual NY High Speed Rail on the corridor, and even GO Transit expanding to Buffalo; all of which would justify the use of a larger and grander station (of course being Central Terminal) that can hold more trains and represent the city's greatness.Roadgeek Adam wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:59 pmThe city also didn't expand in the direction they imagined either.That seems to have been a common issue with some of those "late golden age of rail" projects. Downtown Detroit didn't expand toward Michigan Central Station; the business center of Manhattan never moved far enough north for the New York, Westchester & Boston's Harlem River Terminal to make sense....
It's hard for me to think of a scenario where BCT would be a superior station location to Exchange Street. Even in the event of some sort of restored Buffalo-Erie-Cleveland service there's no reason a train couldn't make a reverse move after a station call. Or have power on both ends, for that matter.