GIVE ME A BRAKE!!

George Westinghouse

       The first series of tests of the new Westinghouse air-brake for freight cars was made on the main line of the Erie near Alden,  November 4, 1887, which was witnessed by over 100 railroad men and other gentlemen of Buffalo.  The test was made with a train of fifty freight cars of the Pennsylvania, standard style, thirty eight feet and 4 inches long, and weighing about 30,000 pounds each.  The entire train was 1,900 feet long with an enormous weight of 2,000,000 pounds.

The Old Style Brakeman had to set 
brakes on each individual car 
by hand

    In 1869, George Westinghouse patented his first air brake. Prior to this development, mechanical brakes were used which had to be individually applied to each car by brakemen.  The problem with the first straight air brake, it applied braking pressure to the front cars sooner than the rear.  By 1873, he developed the triple valve, the key component in the creation of an "automatic" air brake. Instead of using compressed air directly from the locomotive,  his system placed a reservoir of air under each car and charged them from a continuous brake pipe linked to the locomotive.  That way if the air pump failed or the train parted, air stored on each car could apply the brakes automatically-- an especially useful fail-safe feature.      

     Although the plain automatic air brake 
was a great improvement over the straight air brake, in an emergency the system still applied the brakes to the last cars in a train later than to the first cars in a train. To remedy that condition, George Westinghouse invented the quick action triple valve in 1887. It automatically vents air from the brake pipe locally on each car, which applies the brakes more quickly.  During competitive trials in 1887 - 1888, the Westinghouse design proved so superior that it was made the universal standard.  The air brake was perhaps the most important single railroad invention of the period.

            

Fire Department "Shorts"

AMOSKEAG HORSELESS FIRE ENGINE

Amoskeag Horseless Engine

  In 1897 it was suggested in Buffalo to run a horseless fire engine.  Fire Commissioners Davis, Malone and Grattan accompanied by Chief McConnell departed for Boston December 5th to witness a test of the Amoskeag horseless fire engine.  The Commissioners did not regard it as a desirable thing. It weighed 17,000 pounds and ran on wheels with iron teeth which, it was thought, would ruin some of the fine asphalt pavement.
   The membership of the Fire Department in 1889 was 275 men. The equipment included, twenty one engines(including fire boat), 20 hose wagons, four chemicals, and six hook and ladder trucks, with two steamers and one chemical in reserve.
  In October, 1837, in accordance with a prayer of petition long before presented to the common council by Millard Fillmore and others, a bell was bought and placed on the terrace market, to be used for fire alarms and other emergencies.  This is all that was used until the telegraph fire alarm system was put into use in 1865.
  September 10, 1895, Edward Gardner was the first person in Buffalo to be convicted of turning in a false fire alarm. Fined $50 by Justice King. In November of 1816 a special meeting of trustees was held. The meeting directed the trustees to adopt measures for securing a supply of water for fire purposes, "by means of water courses, aqueducts, reservoirs or otherwise." At the same meeting they were directed to "obtain twenty ladders and two fire hooks;"  and every occupant of a house was required to "provide himself with a good leathern fire bucket, and all chimneys were required to be cleaned every two weeks."

Fire Boat in Action on Buffalo Waterfront

   Like a swan the fire boat W.S. Grattan, September 1, 1900 sped on it's initial trip from it's cradle at Nixons Ship yard, Elizabethport  NJ.  The fireboat was christened the W.S. Grattan, in honor of the Fire Commissioner, as little Miss Lucia Grattan stood at the bow and smashed a bottle of wine on the nose of the boat as it slid down the ways amid the cheering of 1,000 people, and the blowing of many whistles in the Harbor. The Fire Commissioners were all present on the stand, as was also Chief McConnel. The boat is 118 feet long and is built entirely of steel.  She is able to make over fourteen knots, and will crush ice twenty inches thick.

Driver John H. Downing of Engine 13 
Answers an Alarm

Be sure to visit my other fire fighting links: FIRE FIGHTING IN THE HORSE DRAWN ERA post, and the the fire fighting in the horse drawn era special Video Page in the EXTRA EXTRA SECTION in the right hand column.

Look Ma, No Horses!

  The first public test of the 

Elieson Motor in the United States was made on the tracks of the 

Buffalo Street Railroad Co. March 10, 1888 

The Commercial Advertiser March 4, 1888

The accompanying picture shows the electrical locomotive which it is proposed to test soon off the tracks of the Buffalo Street Railroad Company. This car is a reproduction of a photograph showing a locomotive which was-and is believed still is-at work on the lines of the North Metropolitan Tramway Co., London.  It was built under the patents of the Elieson Electric Company Limited, of No. 31 Liverpool Street, London. A locomotive like the one in the picture has arrived in New York from London, destined for Buffalo. In use an ordinary street car is hitched to it. It is understood that the motor will reach Buffalo in a few days, when the test will be made, and the public, no doubt, be given a chance to judge of its suitability for Buffalo Streets.

It is not claimed that the new motor is cheaper than steam, but it is noiseless, and can therefore be used in the streets. It is claimed to be cheaper than horses, and both cheaper and more trustworthy than the cable system. The motor was shipped to this country at the expense of the Elieson Electric Co., of London, England, who have had their system in successful operation at home for several months.

Buffalo Morning Express  March 11, 1888

     If anything were needed to convince the Buffalo Street Railroad Company that the city is ripe for rapid transit, conclusive proof was furnished yesterday in the general outpouring of the population to witness the exhibition trip of the new electric motor. A regular circus-day crowd lined the main street sidewalks from Seneca Street to The Genesee, and never was the triumphal chariot at the head of a glittering cavalcade hailed with greater demonstrations of delight than were seen on all sides when the imported precursor of better street car facilities finally made its appearance. We are looking forward with longing to the time when we can sell our horses, put in a big engine and a lot of dynamos, and become an electric railway from end to end, said President Watson. But such radical changes ought not, on Elieson as a matter of business policy, to be made until it is conclusively proven that electricity can be economically used as a substitute for horse-power.

 “Do not expect too much of it. In the first place, the wheels are lighter and the flanges much narrower than our standard car wheels, and for this reason it is apt to jump the tracks unless great care is exercised. This will materially reduce the possible speed. Then, again, Mr. Robison, the expert electrician, who will operate it, is wholly unacquainted with the route over which it will travel, and has had no experience in running it over our tracks. So, from beginning to end it will be a cautious trip, with no attempts to make the possible 12 miles an hour.”  The Press party, President Watson, and some of the street railway employees took their places in the car, the starting-bell was rung, the lever thrown over, and the exhibition trip was begun.

Main Street Buffalo

    A crowd of from 200 to 300 had gathered at the barns, and the teams standing in the street and hitched to the fences suggested a country fair. The small boys ran along on the sidewalk on either side shouting and gesticulating, fresh recruits taking the places of those who fell out, thus keeping up the excitement. At every street corner a large assemblage was gathered, and as the first exponent of coming rapid-transit swept by,  the men cheered and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs. It was more like the march of an army with banners than a simple test of a new propelling device.

   Electrician Robison stood in the front door of the motor cab with his right hand upon the speed regulator, while with the other he grasped the cord of the warning bell.  While rounding curves and crossing switches, as well as at the intersections of the principal streets, the speed was brought down to a snail's pace as a precautionary measure; but while traversing the long blocks where the track is in excellent condition, the Motor was permitted to bowl along at the rate of eight or nine miles per hour for short distances, to show what it was capable of doing in actual service. Up and down the grades it moved at about the same rate of speed, the power being shut off wherever gravity would give the requisite propulsion. The motion of the car was pleasanter and less jerky than where horse power is used, particularly in starting and stopping, while the noise was reduced sufficiently to permit of easy conversation without raising the voice.  

    Finally, just at five o'clock, the excursionists reached the waiting-room at the corner of Niagara and Main Streets once more, and the party dispersed, pleased and happy in the thought that the feasibility of rapid transit, so far as the public is concerned, has been demonstrated at last in the streets of Buffalo. Yes, the people turned out March 10, as they might be expected to a circus parade, as the mayor and aldermen enjoyed the first trip in the United States on the street railroad tracks of Buffalo by motor power.

Rapid Transit Moving Up & Down Main Street Around 1900

    The motor is of the storage battery style, carrying a charge of electricity lasting four hours. It is about 10 ft. long, nearly 11 ft. high, and weighs 6 tons. It takes four hours to charge the battery, which contains 90 secondary cells, each, one inch long, 12 in. wide and 5 or 6 in. thick. Each cell contains from 10 to 13 metal plates. The whole battery weighs about 2 tons. It is placed in the motor between double floors. As soon as the motor has ran its four hours the battery is taken out and another, ready charged, slipped into place. 

  The electricity is transmitted by means of a cog wheel 4 ft. 6 in. in diameter, which runs horizontally. This controls a series of smaller cogs, which in turn drive a crank that imparts the motion. It is not claimed that the new motor is cheaper than steam, but it is noiseless, and can therefore be used in the streets. It is claimed to be cheaper than horses, and both cheaper and more trustworthy than the cable system. The trial trip of 21 miles was made in half an hour, and was a decided success. While rounding curves and crossing switches, as well as at the intersections of the principal streets, the speed was brought down to a snail's pace, but, while traversing the log blocks, the motor was permitted to run at the rate of eight or nine mile per hour for short distances. If the Buffalo company is satisfied with the experiments which it will make daily, the question of putting the electric machinery in its own cars will be considered, for it can be placed in any car.

PEOPLE COUNT - Making Sense Out of the Census

                                          Herman Hollerith,

At 20 years of age

    American inventor, born February 29, 1860 in Buffalo, New York, and graduated  from Columbia in 1879. Through a friend he got a position at the Census Bureau as a statistician to help solve problems analyzing the enormous amounts data generated by the 1880 census. He joined MIT in 1881 where he taught Mechaniclal Engineering and devised a system of encoding data on cards through a series of punched holes. He left MIT in 1883 and worked at the U.S. Patent office  as an assistant patent examiner. He resigned a year later and received a patent for his machine in 1884. 
  Following the 1880 census, the Census Bureau was collecting more data than it could tabulate. As a result, the agency held a competition in 1888 to find a more efficient method to process and tabulate data. Contestants were asked to process 1880 census data from four areas in St Louis, MO. Whoever captured and processed the data fastest would win a contract for the 1890 census.
  Three contestants accepted the Census Bureau's challenge. The first two contestants captured the data in 144.5 hours and 100.5 hours. The third contestant, a former Census Bureau employee named Herman Hollerith, completed the data capture process in 72.5 hours.
  Next, the contestants had to prove that their designs could prepare data for tabulation (i.e., by age category, race, gender, etc.). Two contestants required 44.5 hours and 55.5 hours. Hollerith astounded Census Bureau officials by completing the task in just 5.5 hours!
  Herman Hollerith's impressive results earned him the contract to process and tabulate 1890 census data. This system proved useful in statistical work and was important in the development of the digital computer. Hollerith's machine, "read" the cards by passing them through electrical contacts. Closed circuits, which indicated hole positions, could then be selected and counted. 

  Each Hollerith tabulator was equipped with a card reading station. Clerks opened the reader and positioned a punched card between the plates. The 1890 Hollerith tabulators consisted of 40 data-recording dials. Each dial represented a different data item collected during the census. A sorting table was positioned next to each tabulator. After registering the punch card data on the dials, the sorter specified which drawer the operator should place the card. The clerk opened the reader, placed the punch card in the designated sorter drawer, reset the dials, and positioned a new card to repeat the process. An experienced tabulator clerk could process 80 punch cards per minute.

   The Hollerith system was clearly a great leap forward. It took years of hard, patient work to complete the invention. He joined the Census Office in 1879, but didn't file his first patent until 1884. He first put his machines to work in 1887 in Baltimore—just about the time the Census Office was limping through the final stages of manually tabulating the 1880 census. At that rate, the 1890 census would be out of date by the time it was completed. 

   The population was growing about 25 percent a decade, to more than 60 million in 1890. And more information was needed on each of those 60 million people.  It really proved itself in the real census of 1890. Complete results were available two years sooner than the previous census. The data was more thoroughly analyzed, too, and at less cost—an estimated $5 million less than manual tabulation, nearly ten times greater than the predicted saving and a smaller amount of manpower than would have been necessary otherwise. The system was again used for the 1891 census in Canada, Norway and Austria and later for the 1911 UK census.

   In 1896, Hollerith formed the Tabulating Machine Company, opening a shop in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. This international company leased and sold tabulation machines to census bureaus and insurance companies.  He provided machines for the 1900 census count, but had greatly raised his leasing prices. Hollerith, secure in his monopoly over the technology, knew that the Census Office would have to pay whatever he demanded. It did, but when the office became the permanent Census Bureau in 1902, it began to explore other options.   Barely skirting patent restrictions, Census Bureau employees were able to create their own tabulating machine, more advanced than Hollerith's, in time for the 1910 census. Census Bureau technician James Powers was able to secure the patent for this machine, and he started his own machine tabulation company in 1911.

   Hollerith's company continued to grow as it adapted its machines to do more jobs. For example, in 1906, Hollerith added a plugboard control panel so that new machines would not have to be rebuilt to do new tasks. Business continued to grow, and so did the company. In 1911, Herman Hollerith merged Tabulation Machine Company with three other companies to create Computing Tabulating Recording Company. In 1924, the company was re-named International Business Machines Corporation, better known as IBM today. Modified versions of his technology would continue to be used at the Census Bureau until replaced by computers in the 1950s. 

   Although Hollerith worked with the company he founded as a consulting engineer until his retirement in 1921, he became less and less involved in day-to-day operations. Hollerith retired to his farm in rural Maryland, where he spent the rest of his life raising Guernsey cattle.  He died of a heart attack in November 1929 in Washington D.C. and buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.
    

   

Horsing Around in Buffalo

N.Y. Times  Dec 30, 1873

THE EAST BUFFALO STOCKYARDS

   BUFFALO, N.Y., DEC. 29

Auction Sale of Horses at East Buffalo

   The receipts of livestock at the East Buffalo Stockyards for 1873 exhibit a flattering increase over those of previous years, footing up 409,758 head of cattle, 733,400 head of sheep, 1,662,500 head of hogs, and 28,326 head of horses. The estimated value of this stock exclusive of the horses is $47,517,750.  The shipments for the year to Eastern markets were: 381,191 head of cattle, 695,000 head of sheep, 1,458,100 head of hogs, and 27,239 head of horses.

THE HORSE MARKET

A Typical Group of Workhorses

Buffalo Illustrated Express     
Sunday April 26 1891   
   

One of Buffalo's institutions which is fast receiving national fame is it's horse market.  It was hardly a year ago that the horse sales at East Buffalo were a very small item in business done there, while now they include the exchange of large sums of money and the disposal of about a thousand horses a week... The strength of the market has indeed been many when the short time in which the market has taken place is considered.  It is estimated that not more than 13 or 14 carloads of horses were sold at the Crandell House Auctions, and at that, the Crandell House Auctions were the only ones conducted at East Buffalo.  A big jump in the sales took place the following year when it is estimated over 500 carloads representing about 10,000 horses were sold.  Nor did the increase stop at the end of the year.  Already over 10,000 horses have been sold during the four months of the year 1891, and it is safe to say at least as many more, or even twice as many more will be sold before January 1892.

  Chicago is still the largest horse market in the united states, but if the Buffalo market increases at anything like the present rate, it will soon leave Chicago far behind..... Local buyers form a very small percentage of the buyers at East Buffalo. The many advantages of Buffalo as a shipping point attract horsemen from all the Eastern States. Hitherto they have been in the habit of going to Chicago to get their horses, but now they find the savings of two days time, traveling expenses and half the freight on horses shipped East, is made by buying in Buffalo.

Horses About To Be Transported

  Prices range about the same in the two cities, and at times Buffalo prices have been even lower than Chicago prices.  Thus it is evident that as long as the demand for horses in eastern cities increases, the Buffalo horse sales will increase proportionately, and will eventually exceed those of Chicago.

  The East and the West meet at the Buffalo Horse Market. Buyers come from the New England States..... and the shippers hail from all parts of the wooly West.....The horses comprise all grades and estates.  The ordinary hack and the draught horse of course, predominate.  Many fine work horses are sold every day.  Stylish carriage horses, cobs, riding horses and driving horses are also to be found in plenty. The Mustang from the West and the Kentucky-bred horse often stand side by side awaiting their turn to be sold. The lowly but useful mule finds as ready a eulogizer in the auctioneer as the high-bred trotter.....

    As most of the horses are bought by out of town men, and are shipped away as soon as possible, they are usually tied together in blocks of five and led to the cars as shown in one of todays pictures.  They make a picturesque sight as line after line of them is lead down the street, each horses tail being bound with a bright red flannel fillet.

EDITORS NOTE:   In the next couple of years Buffalo did indeed become the largest horse market, not just in the U.S. but the world!  Oh yeah, and the largest sheep market in the world? Buffalo too! I'll bet the auctioneers always slept well at night, counting those sheep all day long. :)  Would you believe I have film I took of the Buffalo Horse Market in July of 1897? I've been around longer than you think!  

                    

                              

Why is it called - "MILITARY ROAD"?

    Because it was Built 216 years ago by soldiers.  One of the first roads

 in the country planned for military purposes by the Federal Government

Military Road, The long Arching Line From 
Lewiston to Black Rock

        Military Road was laid out originally by United States soldiers, under the direction of General James Wilkinson, who was called upon by Alexander Hamilton, then inspector-general of the army, to make recommendations for the protection of the frontiers along the Great Lakes. Writing to Hamilton, on February 12, 1799, General Wilkinson thus referred to the need of a roadway between Lakes Ontario and Erie. "The want of a road within our own limits, and a place, of deposit near Lake Erie, obliges us to carry our stores and merchandise, public and private, through the British dominions from Newark to Chippewa Creek by land, and from the last place to Fort Erie, in bateaux, which involves much delay and expense, and 'exposes our citizens to undue constraints and, impositions."  The Military Highway would replace the old Portage Road which followed too closely the winding course of the Niagara River. 

     General Wilkinson arrived upon the Niagara Frontier in May 1801, with a commission to open the much needed roadway. His headquarters were at Black Rock, with a corps of surveyors and soldiers for laborers. In locating the new road he had the valued help of Joseph Ellicott, surveyor and agent of the Holland Land Co. Major M. Porter and soldiers from Fort Niagara opened the road during 1801 and 1802 from the fort to the brow of the ridge at Lewiston, and from there to a mile west of Tonawanda Creek the timber was cut down, but not removed. Bridges were built across the Tonawanda and Cayuga creeks. In 1809 the state appropriated $1,500 for improvement of the road, this amount to be collected from purchasers of land upon the "Mile Strip," which ran the length of the Niagara River. A passable wagon road was made from Black Rock to Niagara Falls. 

 General Wilkinson's plan for Niagara Frontier protection included a fort at Black Rock, but the state legislature and national government differed as to payment for the land and the fort was never built. Although a small one was built in Black Rock in 1807 and enlarged into Fort Tompkins in August of 1812. The road served a useful purpose to many settlers, as well as to soldiers. However, by 182o Military Road was overgrown with weeds and bushes, and only sections of it were used by local farmers. Wet weather made the roadway almost impassable at times between the Tonawanda and Scajaquada creeks, which prompted an appeal to the Black Rock highway commissioners to spend money for its improvement. It was not until 1832 that the surface of the road was cleared and repaired.  On September 18, 1848, Black Rock authorities declared Military Road a public highway.      Few modern motorists speeding over its smooth surface, know that it was originally hewed out of the forests by soldiers axes, and for specific military purposes.            

Jerry M. Malloy - Buffalo History Gazette

  .

On center Median, Sheridan Drive at
Military Road.

1010 Niagara Street

It's a Byrd! It's a Plane!........

Buffalo Evening News - August 29 1928

NEW BUFFALO-MADE BYRD PLANE LEAVES

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Bernt Balchen Pilots the Aristocrat on Flight to New York

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Admiral Richard Byrd

    The newly christened monoplane, "Aristocrat", made in Buffalo by the General Airplanes Corporation for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, took off Wednesday for New York, with Bernt Balchen, transatlantic flier and chief pilot of the expedition, at the controls. G. Maclean Gardner, General Airplanes factory manager, was the only passenger.  The plane, painted a bright green and with the words "Byrd Antarctic Expedition," vivid on its sides, was towed to the airport Tuesday and groomed for immediate departure.  The Propeller which did not arrive from Detroit via plane until late in the afternoon, forced postponement of the takeoff until Wednesday morning.
    When the blade had been mounted by mechanics under the direction of John D. McPhail, a former Fokker chief field mechanic, the plane was wheeled out of the hanger. After a short warming, Balchen  entered it and started it down the runway for a short test flight.  It slid gracefully into the air within 70 ft of it's starting point....  The order was placed with the Buffalo firm, following a report by Balchen on a similar model which he flew on its test flight six weeks ago. Mr. Gardner which supervised building of the plane, also supervised construction of the machines which carried Byrd to the North Pole and across the Atlantic.

          

Alone -- The Classic Story of His [Admiral Richard E. Byrd] 

Greatest Adventure -- 50th Anniversary Edition

American Experience: Alone on the Ice (The Story of Admiral Richard Byrd) [VHS]

Hey ABBOTT!!

Abbott (right)  & Costello

In 1930, Harry Abbott was known as "Silk Hat Harry Abbott" and headlining a song and dance review at the local Gayety Theatre. Lou Costello was doing a comedy act on the same bill. There they met John Grant, Mutual Burlesque chain executive.  He persuaded Bud Abbott to include Lou Costello in his Revue. After many great  performances in Buffalo, they became known as "ABBOTT & COSTELLO"!

Gayety Theatre - Huron &  Pearl St.

  

Its Time To Go To Crystal Beach!

Crystal Beach advertising Jingles

Video compilation by Jerry Malloy

Sound tracks courtesy of  staffannouncer.com

MOONLIGHT ON THE LAKE - To Crystal Beach, the Coney Island of Buffalo. Nothing more delightful. The magnificent stmrs. PEARL and GAZELLE leave the foot of Main Street at 7:00 and 8:00 P.M. arriving at the Beach in time for the entertainments. Returning, last boat arriving at Main Street 11:30 P.M. where street cars connect for all directions. Buffalo Enquirer   August 11, 1892

Boat Landing At Crystal Beach Canada

    The first pier at Crystal Beach was built around 1890. A rush of visitors kept 17 ferry boats busy to the state of New York, beginning with the Dove. Boats other than the Dove that plowed the turbulent waters between Buffalo and Crystal Beach, included the Superior, Premier, State of New York, Cole, Idlewild, Timon, Pilgrim, Puritan, GAZELLE, Argyle, White Star and The Pearl, Later renamed The Crystal.

    These boats differed from the Americana and the Canadiana.  They did not venture out if the weather was bad.  The Idlewild, for example, had her smokestack ripped off by rough seas at Windmill Point. While the Timon, rolled so badly that it was only kept one year.  The GAZELLE was worthy of her name being a particularly frisky boat whenever heavy seas rolled over Lake Erie.  She was safe and easy to handle so she was kept in service for many years.

The Gazelle leaving Buffalo Harbor for Crystal Beach - 1894

CRYSTAL BEACH - Extra trips Sunday, July 26th. Stm. PEARL will leave North Tonawanda at 10:30 A.M., South Tonawanda at 10:45 A.M., Stm. GAZELLE will leave the foot of Austin St., Black Rock at 2P.M., stopping at Ferry St. 30 minutes later.   Buffalo Morning Express  July 26, 1896

Canadiana Leaving the Foot of Main Street

The Crystal Beach Co. has announced the appointments of Capt. James McKarty to the PEARL, and Capt. George Swift to the GAZELLE for the season.  Buffalo Enquirer  April 27, 1894 

The excursion stm. GAZELLE of the Crystal Beach line made her last trip of the season last evening. She arrived from Crystal Beach about 8:00, and, after unloading her passengers at the foot of Main St., went to Black Rock where she will layup for the season. The pleasure resort business has been unusually large this season and a number of lines have made money.  Buf Morn Ex  Oct. 1, 1899 

Steamer Garden City

The excursion stm. GAZELLE came out of winter quarters yesterday afternoon and went to the fuel dock. She will go on the Crystal Beach route this morning. The GARDEN CITY, which has been running to the Beach since Decoration Day, will lay off today, in order to be tested, after which she will go into commission again. The GAZELLE will begin to run regularly as soon as the business warrants it.  Buf Morn Ex  June 5, 1896

 The excursion season here will open on Decoration Day, May 31st. The stm. PURITAN will start the season on the Crystal Beach Run, making 5 trips daily. On June 10th the PEARL and GAZELLE will be put on the run. The RIVERSIDE and the IDLEHOUR will run to Elmwood Beach*. The NIAGARA will go to Woodlawn Beach, while the SILVER SPRAY will go between Ferry St. and the Bedell House. A small yacht, the ADRALEXA will run between Crystal Beach and Pt. Amino this summer.   Buf Morn Ex   May 20, 1900

Editors Note:  *Beaver Island State Park first opened in 1935 with few facilities. It was once a privately owned amusement park known as ELMWOOD BEACH


Editor Suggests:

   Steamers of the Crystal Beach Line

Amusement Insiders

Published on Dec 30, 2018

 

Raptor Alex 

Published on Feb 13, 2018

CRYSTAL BEACH, THE GOOD OLD DAYS by Ernie Rossie

Buffalo's First International Airport - The Outer Harbor!

Buffalo-Toronto Airplane Service to Be Opened  Today.  Giant Passenger Air Liner to Fly From Local Harbor Over Lake, River, Cataract to Canada

Courier Express June 29, 1929

  Inaugurating the first international aerial passenger service out of Buffalo, a giant amphibian air liner of the Colonial Western Airways, will take off from Buffalo Harbor this morning to wing its way to Toronto---another link in the city's chain of air lane contacts. At 9:50 o'clock the big twin motored carrier will glide down the ramp from the new terminal at the foot of Georgia St. with a full load of private passengers and newspapermen...  The take off will be witnessed by prominent city officials and others. Traveling to Niagara Falls, the big ship will circle the cataract before continuing to Lewiston, from where it will fly across Lake Ontario to Toronto Harbor, the trip taking 45 minutes. 

   The service will be a regular travel route with a morning and afternoon trip daily. the schedule is designed to make connections with the important trains out of Buffalo as well as Toronto. The ships that will be in permanent service over the run are two Sikorsky amphibians, which have been Christened Neekah and Nonokas. Ten passenger carriers, they are ultimate in luxurious appointment and safety and capable of being brought down with equal ease on land or water...

Buffalo Evening News   June 29 1929

Air-Minded Watch First 
Buffalo-Toronto Passenger Airline Take Off

BIG AMPHIBIAN PLANE MAKES 

QUICK VOYAGE

Covers distance between two cities in 45 minutes flying time.  Eight passengers carried on first trip are enthusiastic over flight

Courier-Express  June 30 1929

by ANNE MURRAY McILHENNEY

      With a deafening roar and an angry churning of the waters, the Hummingbird, known in the Indian dialect of Tamigani as Nonokas, skimmed over the Niagara River yesterday morning as the clock pointed to 11:05 and took off on the maiden voyage of the passenger air line route of Colonial Western Airways, between Buffalo and Toronto.  Just 45 minutes later the giant Sikorsky amphibian, after an exciting and momentous trip filled chock full of scenic wonders, pointed it's nose down over beautiful Toronto Island, whizzed by the spar of a sailing boat, and taxied up to the Toronto Harbor Dock.....

Crowds  Await  Start      

   In both cities the start of the passenger airline service was an event.  In Buffalo crowds hailed the start of the initial cruise, lining the temporary ramp at the foot of Georgia St. at an early hour and waiting an watching with interest as workers tugged to get the great airfish floated.  Passengers for the first flight arrived at the Buffalo starting place promptly at 9:30 o'clock, and nearly 500 persons attended the start. 

     First Passengers

  Passengers on the maiden trip were: Mr. and Mrs. George N Crouse of Syracuse, veteran air passengers and first-flighters: Cyrus Coffman, John Daniels Jr. of the Hotel Statler; H. Ralph Badger and representatives of the Buffalo press, Stephen B Kane of the Buffalo Times; Charles Mickey of the Buffalo News, and Miss Anne Murray McIlhenney of the Buffalo Courier Express. Piloting the trip was Charles H. Maris, a young flier of the Colonial Western Airways, who has piloted the air mail for quite some time..... The airline inaugurated yesterday will operate daily and holidays on the following schedule:  Leave Buffalo 9:50 a.m., arrive Toronto 10:35 a.m.;  Leave Buffalo 5 p.m., arrive Toronto 5:45 p.m.: Leave Toronto 11:15 a.m., arrive Buffalo 12 noon; Leave Toronto 6:30 p.m., arrive Buffalo 7:15 p.m.

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Buffalo Evening News   July 16 1929

FIRST PLANE ARRIVES WITH TORONTO MAIL

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FORMER SENATORS WIFE CHRISTENS CRAFT ON NEW 

INTERNATIONAL POSTAL ROUTE

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    When the Sikorsky amphibian, Neekah, rolled up the landing ramp at the foot of Georgia St. Wednesday evening at 7:15 o'clock, she carried 600 lbs of mail matter from Toronto---the first international shipment over the Buffalo-Toronto route of the Colonial Western Airways.....The mail was specially stamped and more than 2000 flight covers were received at the Buffalo Post office commemorating the inauguration of the new line, according to government officials......

 EDITORS NOTE:  Wandering around Lasalle Park did you ever notice that concrete ramp going into the water at the south end of the park, between the park and where the high rise condos begin? Most people assumed it to be a boat launch.   In reality, it was Buffalo's first International Airport!

    

Aerial view of ramp in 1932

Ramp viewed from Lasalle Park

Ramp view looking north

Explorer's Air Yacht: The Sikorsky S-38 Flying Boat 

(Click here)

Passenger Steamers of the Great Lakes

"The twin steamers Eastern States and Western States, owned by the Detroit and Buffalo line, are among the largest, handsomest and fastest passenger ships on the Great Lakes. They are licensed to carry 3,500 passengers, have a speed in mid-lake of 20 miles an hour and make the 290 mile trip over the Buffalo-Detroit run in 14 hours, practically carrying all passengers between these ports during the summer months."