BONUS: The Grandest of Openings

Let’s travel back to June 22, 1929. Buffalo has been abuzz with excitement for the last few months, and the moment is finally here: The grand opening of the New York Central Terminal! You overheard a Buffalo Volksfreund reporter call today “the largest public event in Buffalo’s history,” and you can believe it. There’s got to be at least 2,000 people here, all braving the summer heat to see this engineering and architectural marvel open. The Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce pulled out all the stops for this: The parade from Polonia, the delicious noon meal catered by the Hotel Statler and the Hotel Buffalo. For land’s sake, they even have a lady aerialist!

The crowd is pushing and shoving a bit. You can already feel the train coming through the rumble in the ground. There’s a throaty roar in the air … look! It’s that, what-do-they-call-her … aviatrix, Mary Daly, doing honest-to-gosh loop-the-loops in the air like she’s driving a Coney Island roller coaster! Everybody’s screaming, and here’s the train, chugging down the track from downtown, with Miss Mary’s plane high above it!

And the train …You remember your parents talking about Engine #999 becoming the fastest steam locomotive in the world. It hit about 112 miles per hour back in 1893 while pulling the Empire State Express. Now, here she is, in all her glory, looking like she’s ready to take on the world. 

This is the best day ever!

Photo courtesy of the Collection of the Buffalo History Museum. Goldome/ Nagle photograph collection, Picture .G65, Buildings - Transportation & storage – Depots.