Belt Line Railroad - Table of Contents

The Belt Line Railroad in Buffalo, NY


... and even when in the early twentieth century a sophisticated system of rapid transit was in place, Buffalo's immigrant working class tended to live within walking distance of their work. The construction of the Belt Line Railroad reinforced this tendency.

In 1883, in an effort to decentralize industrial development and to better link the factories of the city, the New York Central Railroad built the Belt Line Railroad, a freight and commuter line. This railroad, by circling the city around the unsettled sections of Buffalo, opened up whole new areas for residential and industrial development.

- Mark Goldman, High Hopes: The Rise and Decline of Buffalo, New York, 1983, p. 178
The Belt Line service, after many delays, began operating in July, 1883, with twelve small trains a day in each direction.  It carried only twenty-one hundred passengers in its first week, but thereafter its patronage increased slowly, but steadily for a long time.

In 1885, twelve trains ran counter-clockwise from Exchange Street beginning at 5:55 A.M., and thirteen clockwise ending at 7:45 P.M.. In those halcyon days one could circle the city for a nickel.

-  Edward T. Dunn, A History of Railroads in Western New York.  Canisius College Press, 200, p. 99
What might be called the city's first mass-transportation system was a branch of the New York Central Railroad known as the Belt Line. This 15-mile loop was originally constructed to transport passengers around the outskirts of the city. It proved so useful, however, that industries developed alongside its tracks, while residential areas soon extended far beyond the Belt Line.

Two trains an hour ran around the Belt Line each way, starting from the New York Central's Exchange Street depot. The route went west along the Niagara River, paralleling the Erie Canal, through Black Rock, across the northern part of the city, and back through the great area of railway tracks, factories, and working class homes known as the East Side. The trip took 45 minutes and included 20 stops.

- Richard C. Brown and Bob Watson, Buffalo: Lake City in Niagara Land. Windsor Publications, 1981, p. 151

Belt Line Stations as of 1887
Compiled by Peter Cammarata


North end -  moving west:

  • Villa Park Station (at Colvin Ave.)
  • Delaware Park Station (at Delaware Ave.)
  • Pan Am Stadium Station (added in 1901) 
  • Cross Cut Station (at Elmwood Ave.)

West End - moving south:

  • Austin Station (at Austin St.)
  • Amherst Station (at Amherst St.)
  • Black Rock Station (at Scajaquada Creek)
  • Clinton Station (at Clinton Ave. which became Potomac Ave.)
  • Ferry Station (at Ferry St.)
  • Water Works Station (at the entrance to The Front @ Mass. St.) 
  • Porter Station (at Porter St.)
  • Georgia Station (at Georgia St.)

South End - moving east:

  • Terrace Station (at Swan St.)
  • Union Depot (just beyond the Liberty Pole)
  • Seneca Station (at Seneca St., serving the Larkin Complex)
  • William Station (at William St.)

East End - Moving north:

  • Broadway Station (at Broadway
  • Genesee Station (at Genesee St.)
  • Driving Park Station (at Fillmore Ave.)
  • Main / Highland Park Station (at Greenfield St.)
  • Amherst (Bennett) Station (at Amherst and Starin) serving the Parkside and Central park neighborhoods
As was the case with most early rail lines, the earliest tracks were laid at street level. Early on in the history of railroads in Buffalo, concern grew as people were being injured and killed by trains as they crossed streets which intersected with the rail lines.

In 1852, the city began to investigate the issue of at-grade rail crossings ... The issue was picked up again in 1887 when the Common Council adopted a resolution which required the inspection by the Board of Railway Commissioners of the State of New York of the entire rail system “with a view to securing [the] recommendation of a comprehensive plan for elevating the tracks over the street crossings, or otherwise providing suitable remedies.” The Grade Crossing Commission made up of city officials and business leaders was formed, and after over a year of debate and study, in 1888 the Grade Crossing Act was established which would abolish all at-grade crossings in Buffalo. The following year a contract with the New York Central Company was signed to begin work on the crossings, but work was delayed further. Finally the city contracted all the major railroad companies, and work began on creating viaducts (spans used to carry a road over railroad lines) and subways (an underground passage enabling the road to travel beneath the rail lines) to prevent the intersection of roads and rail lines. Work on these structures began in 1895/96 and continued into the 1910s.



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