2011 G SHOCK WATCHES

An old shot from Buffalo Central Terminal.

In 1925 the New York Central RR, the City of Buffalo, the Grade Crossing and Terminal Station Commission signed an agreement to allow Central Terminal to be built in its present location, 2-1/2 miles from the downtown business district. The architectural team of Fellheimer and Wagner were commissioned to design the building, and after having all the legalities settled, construction began on the new terminal in 1927. The City of Buffalo demolished nearby homes and rerouted streets. Peckham St and Lovejoy St(later renamed Paderewski St) were widened, and a new 100 foot long street was created along the old West Shore railroad tracks and named Lindbergh Drive (later renamed Memorial Drive). Curtiss Street was moved so that the terminal would straddle it like a bridge and it could serve as a way for services to enter the building such as mail and baggage. Construction of the 17 floor combination office and terminal building was completed in 1929. The Grand Opening of Central Terminal occured on the 22nd of June, 1929. Approximately 200 daily trains began using Central Terminal that midnight.
However, Central Terminal opened five months before the beginning of the Great Depression. From its opening date the Terminal did not make money.

World War Two saw some mild prosperity for BCT, never before had there been the amount of traffic generated by the war effort and because of its location, Buffalo was one of the largest rail centers in the world. However at the end of the war Central Terminal had a quieter atmosphere as fewer and fewer people crowded into its concourse to take the train. In 1949, the City of Buffalo got what it had always wanted; a downtown train station. As the 1950's came to a close, the New York Central Railroad was experiencing a drastic drop in profits. Realizing that they were over extended, the NYC began to sell off many of its assets. At that time Central Terminal was abandoned by its parent company because the costs in taxes and maintenance were too high. In August of 1959, Buffprop Enterprises signed a 25 year lease with the Central with the intention of converting the terminal into a shopping plaza and offices. The NYC held on to the train concourse for its remaining passenger trains, but it scaled down its ticket offices and baggage facility. The rest of the building began to shut down. In 1960, Buffprop defaulted on their lease and the NYC regained ownership of the terminal.

By the mid 1960's traffic at Central Terminal was down to only 22 trains a day. In 1966, the Central demolished the Pullman service center, ice house, and coach house to help save on taxes. The final blow came in 1968 when two of the biggest rivals in railroad history, the New York Central and the Pennsylvania, merged to form the Penn Central Corporation. In 1971, the Federal Government formed Amtrak as a way of securing what little passenger services remained in the country. Amtrak continued to use Central Terminal, but cut the service to only two trains daily to New York. In 1976, the bankruptcy of Penn Central forced the formation of Conrail which used the Terminal as its Buffalo headquarters. Amtrak was discovered that Central Terminal was just too much for the amount of traffic that was coming in and out of the city. The building was finally sold in 1979 to Anthony Fidele for $75,000. Mr. Fedele planned on converting the Terminal into a hotel/recreation center, althought it never was.
By the 1980's Buffalo's east side, the home to Central Terminal since 1929, was becoming an area of decay and abandonment. People were now afraid to go out to the Terminal because it was becoming quite clear that the East side of Buffalo was not a safe place to be.

In the mid 1980's Conrail gave up its interest in the building and pulled out all of its operations. To make matters worse, a fire destroyed the mezzanine level where Conrail was located, and where Mr. Fedele's apartment was located. Mr. Fedele gave up ownership of the building in 1986, and several more private owners took over after that. But with no one to police the building, it became wide open to vandals and mother nature. By 1990, 75 percent of its interior had been pillaged. Artifacts were removed and sold at architectural auctions, memorabilia was stripped by curious railfans, and anything made of copper and brass was ripped out and sold for scrap. The roof of the building was destroyed when vandals pulled the copper flashing off thus letting in all the snow and rain. As the seasons changed, water would seep into cracks, freeze, and crack the brickwork of the building. Water began to pour into the building, bringing down ceilings and walls, buckling floors, and rusting metal. The mail and baggage area suffered the worst, every wall was leveled by the water. Down in the basement, a water main broke and flooded the entire section of the workshop and boiler room with 8 feet of water. Unable to get to the l

(Cue bigger time warp- after death of Cryptid)
After we lost Maine, we moved up into Canada, helped out there for a while, and continued missions as usual. To be honest, I don't really remember everything that happened. It was business as usual, until the Chief called the squad to a mission. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go due to helping out with another squad. My mission was a breeze, and we returned long before schedule. I waited until I saw the column of dust thrown up by my real squad. I watched them file in, for some reason feeling muted. And then I saw it- only two came out of the truck. My eyes met Klip's, and he shook his head. I sat down, stunned. Could he really be dead?
A few hours later, I was standing muted in the memorial service. Despite myself, I felt a tear leak out. He was really gone. Somehow, the world didn't seem as bright anymore. The service ended, and we went our separate ways...
Many days passed, and I couldn't get my mind off Cryptid. The Wolves Den, which often seemed cozy and friendly, seemed to be cold and empty now. And so I sat there in my tent, pistol in hand, thinking what to do next. I looked at the pistol, looked down it's barrel, fit my thumb into the trigger guard...
I sighed, and put the gun away. It wasn't worth dieing for the death of a friend; Cryptid wouldn't want that. Instead, stood up, and headed to the CO's office. I had made up my mind on what to do next. An hour or so later found me with all my gear in hand, walking away from camp. I'd find what I was looking for elsewhere, maybe start my own group. I walked towards setting sun, which lay between two mountains. As I walked away, I felt refreshed; a new start.
This is 1st Lieutenant Michael "Dagger" Traviss, signing out. I may be back, eventually, if Humanity needs me. Goodbye. *Log ends*