Railroad Express Terminal - Is quickly returning to the place from once it sprang. Around 90 years ago, rail service was the end to the means. Cartage, waterways, and shipping had controlled the movement of goods for most of history. Countries and governments lived and died by their ability to control seaway commerce; Carthage, Greece, Venice, Portugal, France, Great Britain. Wars were fought over the trade of raw materials and finished goods. Even American freedom was borne in retaliation for what was deemed unfair trading practice.
The "Iron Horse" replaced "good ol' Sal" in a way that no one could have foreseen. Travel to reach frontier outposts that originally took months was now completed in days; months reduce to days, and days reduced to hours.
Everything was being moved by rail; people, money, raw material, mail, and finished goods. No longer would purchases through the mail-order catalogs need to be made out-of-season. Christmas gifts didn't need to be ordered in July. And the quality of goods improved with manufacturing centers and their economies of scale.
And while Buffalo may have had 14 different railroad lines servicing the area, and each with its own station, a majority of goods still moved through the larger depots and terminals. This one, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Express Terminal, was one of the largest. During its "hay-day", movement of wagons and trucks was continuous, 24 hours a day. Measuring nearly one-quarter mile in length, it appears that it serviced no less than 4 different railroad spurs.
The "Iron Horse" replaced "good ol' Sal" in a way that no one could have foreseen. Travel to reach frontier outposts that originally took months was now completed in days; months reduce to days, and days reduced to hours.
Everything was being moved by rail; people, money, raw material, mail, and finished goods. No longer would purchases through the mail-order catalogs need to be made out-of-season. Christmas gifts didn't need to be ordered in July. And the quality of goods improved with manufacturing centers and their economies of scale.
And while Buffalo may have had 14 different railroad lines servicing the area, and each with its own station, a majority of goods still moved through the larger depots and terminals. This one, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Express Terminal, was one of the largest. During its "hay-day", movement of wagons and trucks was continuous, 24 hours a day. Measuring nearly one-quarter mile in length, it appears that it serviced no less than 4 different railroad spurs.
Now, it sits idle, awaiting its final collapse. No longer able to fight the elements, lacking a roof, walls, windows and solid foundation, pieces fall away daily. Columns slide apart under the water-weight. Roof panels disintegrate from lack of care. Cantilevered overhangs, that once protected dock men and teamsters, have long since surrendered to the inevitable rot and decay.
Except for this section. New life is supporting what was once hundreds of feet of awning. Here are 3 sections that have not given in.
Oh, to be that tree and hold on to the past as well.
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