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92-532: Memorial Auditorium may refer to: Buffalo Memorial Auditorium , Buffalo, New York Burlington Memorial Auditorium , Burlington, Vermont Greenville Memorial Auditorium , Greenville, South Carolina, 1958–1997 Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex ("The Aud"), Kitchener, Ontario Sacramento Memorial Auditorium , Sacramento, California Memorial Auditorium (Louisville, Kentucky) Memorial Auditorium (Moorhead, Minnesota) Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, part of

184-642: A WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping at the venue on June 2, 1987. The inaugural Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Show was held at the venue on June 7, 1996, and was headlined by The Giant defeating Sting to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship . DiPaolo had died the previous year after being struck by a car. It was the final sporting event at the venue, and set the venue's all-time record for professional wrestling attendance with 14,852. New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad ( reporting mark NYC )

276-609: A $ 1.5 million overhaul of the landmark theater's heating and cooling system. Asbestos removal and other environmental remediation took place in late 2008 and the expected $ 10 million demolition of the Aud began in January 2009. On February 9, 2009, the "Buffalo Memorial Auditorium" entablature above the main entrance fell and much of the front façade met the same fate soon afterward. The "Farewell Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Ceremony" took place on June 30, 2009, at 1:30 pm when officials opened

368-488: A bypass around Rochester. The Terminal Railway 's Gardenville Cutoff, allowing through traffic to bypass Buffalo to the southeast, opened in 1898. The Schenectady Detour consisted of two connections to the West Shore Railroad, allowing through trains to bypass downtown Schenectady. The full project opened in 1902. The Cleveland Short Line Railway built a bypass of Cleveland, Ohio, completed in 1912. In 1924,

460-478: A classification yard and livestock pens on 300 acres of land (known as West Albany). Facilities included locomotive shops, freight and passenger car shops, and roundhouse terminals. These were the New York Central's primary back shops until the end of steam in 1957. The Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened later that year, connecting Troy south to Greenbush (now Rensselaer ) on

552-759: A game attended by NHL President Clarence Campbell that began with a ceremonial faceoff between Sabres captain Floyd Smith and Montreal Canadiens captain Jean Béliveau . The Sabres' Roger Crozier made 53 saves in a 3–0 loss. The arena hosted games three, four, and six of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals , where the Sabres faced the Philadelphia Flyers . Eventually, the Flyers would win their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship in game six at

644-575: A line between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. It was leased to New York Central Railroad in 1853. Also in 1855 came the merger with the Lewiston Railroad , running from Niagara Falls north to Lewiston . It was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1837, without connections to other railroads. In 1854, a southern extension opened to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad and the line was leased to the railroad. The Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad

736-453: A memorial to the Aud. The salvaged items include art deco flag holders, limestone eagles, a time capsule as well as a number of blue and orange level seats, which were sold at auction. The city also salvaged ten cylindrical stainless steel "ice tanks" that helped maintain chilly conditions at ice level during hockey season and cooled spectators during warmer weather. In 2007, the city moved them to Shea's Performing Arts Center as part of

828-682: A memorial to the Auditorium. A statue of the chain's founder and namesake , who played at the arena during his time with the Buffalo Sabres, occupies the corner of the site facing the restaurant. Before the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League came to Buffalo, college basketball was Memorial Auditorium's most popular sporting event. On December 11, 1940, the Auditorium hosted its first college basketball game when Canisius College played

920-576: A network of commuter lines in New York and Massachusetts. Westchester County, New York had the railroad's Hudson, Harlem, and Putnam lines into Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan (Putnam Division trains required a change at High Bridge, New York), while New Jersey and Rockland County, New York were serviced by the West Shore Line between Weehawken and Kingston, New York, on the west side of

1012-631: A way for freight and especially passengers to avoid the extensive and time-consuming locks on the Erie Canal between Schenectady and Albany. The Mohawk and Hudson opened on September 24, 1831, and changed its name to the Albany and Schenectady Railroad on April 19, 1847. Until the 1840s it used an inclined plane and pulley system at either end of the line to pull passenger cars up the steep hills in Albany and Schenectady. As locomotive technology progressed,

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1104-559: Is coming back to life. The massive new hall will be the mainstay, but city planners also want to improve the section with a boulevard in the old canal bend, waterfront parks and relocation, if not removal, of the New York Central tracks. Visible proof of these good intentions is construction of the new hall, which is being watched daily by hundreds of citizens. Built for $ 2.7 million, Memorial Auditorium's grand opening celebration took place on October 14, 1940. The dedication event

1196-530: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Buffalo Memorial Auditorium The Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was a public works project designed by Green & James to replace the aging Broadway Auditorium and Fort Erie 's recently collapsed Peace Bridge Arena . In June 1938, city officials sent a loan and grant application to the Public Works Administration for funds to build

1288-625: The Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge was constructed as part of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad 's Castleton Cut-Off, a 27.5-mile-long freight bypass of the congested West Albany terminal area and West Albany Hill. An unrelated realignment was made in the 1910s at Rome, when the Erie Canal was realigned and widened onto a new alignment south of downtown Rome. The NYC main line was shifted south out of downtown to

1380-677: The CBC Television Hockey Night in Canada broadcast of the 2008 NHL Winter Classic showed the arena's seating bowl and floor were virtually untouched. Notably, the advertisements on the boards from the final Sabres game in 1996 against the Hartford Whalers and the scoreboard above center ice remained. The door to the Sabres' penalty box was gone, as it had been presented as a memento to notable Sabres enforcer Rob Ray . The city abandoned its plans to repurpose

1472-752: The Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium , Chattanooga, Tennessee Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Stanford Memorial Auditorium , Stanford University, Stanford, California Utica Memorial Auditorium , Utica, New York War Memorial Auditorium (Nashville, Tennessee) , Nashville, Tennessee See also [ edit ] Veterans Memorial Auditorium (disambiguation) War Memorial Auditorium (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

1564-685: The Harlem Line ). The surviving sections of the West Side Line south of 34th Street reopened as the High Line , a linear park built between 2009 and 2014. In 1867, Cornelius Vanderbilt acquired control of the Albany to Buffalo -running New York Central Railroad, with the help of maneuverings related to the Hudson River Bridge in Albany. On November 1, 1869, he merged the railroad with his Hudson River Railroad to form

1656-658: The Los Angeles Clippers . The NBA retained a presence at the venue by staging an annual series of preseason exhibitions called the NBA Classic : The basketball events of the World University Games were held at the venue in July 1993. The United States defeated Canada in the gold medal game 95–90 before a crowd of 11,000. The American Hockey League 's Buffalo Bisons played 30 seasons at

1748-669: The NHL All-Star Game on January 24, 1978. Two members of the Sabres' " French Connection " line— Gilbert Perreault and Rick Martin —played for the Wales Conference . Both had a significant impact: Martin scored a goal with 1:39 remaining in regulation to tie the game at 2–2 and force overtime, and Perreault scored the game-winning goal 3:55 into overtime to defeat the Campbell Conference 3–2. The Edmonton Oilers ' Wayne Gretzky made NHL history at

1840-490: The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie and Boston and Albany Railroads in 1887 and 1900, respectively, with both roads remaining as independently-operating subsidiaries. William H. Newman, president of the New York Central lines, resigned in 1909. Newman had been president since 1901, when he replaced Samuel R. Callaway (who had replaced Depew as president in 1898). In 1914, the operations of eleven subsidiaries were merged with

1932-476: The Quebec Nordiques and refusing to sign with the team. The Sabres occupied the Auditorium through the 1995–96 season , when they moved to nearby Marine Midland Arena, now known as KeyBank Center . Michael Peca scored the last in-game goal at the Aud while Pat LaFontaine put in a ceremonial goal after the 4–1 win over the Hartford Whalers . It was the last arena where the ice sheet fell short of

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2024-579: The Rochester and Syracuse Direct Railway was chartered and immediately merged into the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad on August 6, 1850. That line opened June 1, 1853, running much more directly between those two cities, roughly parallel to the Erie Canal. The Tonawanda Railroad , to the west of Rochester, was chartered on April 24, 1832, to build from that city to Attica . The first section, from Rochester southwest to Batavia , opened May 5, 1837, and

2116-531: The University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College , other teams such as Cornell University took part. Over time, the rivalry among the " Little Three " colleges—Niagara, Canisius, and St. Bonaventure—came to dominate the Auditorium's college basketball schedule. Throughout the 1950s, the three schools were all national powers, and their games at Memorial Auditorium drew strong local and national interest. The National Basketball League 's Buffalo Bisons were

2208-423: The University of Oregon . Interest in college basketball grew after World War II, and the first college basketball sellout crowd occurred in the 1946–1947 season when 11,029 spectators saw Canisius lose to Notre Dame . Ten days later, a record 11,891 watched Canisius defeat Niagara 52–44. While the teams were typically from Western New York, including Canisius, Niagara University , St. Bonaventure University ,

2300-521: The 1950s that began to deprive NYC of its long-distance passenger trade. The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 helped create a network of government subsidized highways for motor vehicle travel throughout the country, enticing more people to travel by car, as well as haul freight by truck. The 1959 opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway also adversely affected NYC freight business: container shipments could now be directly shipped to ports along

2392-533: The 1974 Soviet league and European Cup champions was the worst defeat ever for a professional Soviet hockey club. The thing about that building was that everyone was so close that you could recognize people just by looking up. You don't get that in a lot of places today. The people felt like they were a part of the team and we felt like they were a part of our success. That was the special thing about Memorial Auditorium. I don't think anything like that can ever be replaced. — Lindy Ruff Memorial Auditorium hosted

2484-545: The 77th goal was exciting for me as a NHL player, I think the biggest thrill was watching Gilbert Perreault play. I'd come down to the Aud with my dad or a friend and watch the Sabres play with the French Connection line ... There was a great atmosphere in this building, it was always a hockey atmosphere, and it was always fun to watch the Sabres play. During a game at the Memorial Auditorium between

2576-869: The Aud against the Philadelphia Fever on December 7, 1979. The team played in the venue until 1984. Soccer legend Eusébio notably finished his career playing for the Stallions in their inaugural season. The Aud was home to the Buffalo Blizzard of the National Professional Soccer League from 1992 to 1996. In 1974, the Toronto-Buffalo Royals of World Team Tennis called the Aud home for one season. The Auditorium has hosted numerous notable figure skating events: The first sporting event at

2668-547: The Aud as a Bass Pro Shops store on March 29, 2007, when Bass Pro announced it would construct a new building on the site after the auditorium's demolition. In December 2007, the city sold the Aud to the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation for $ 1 in hopes it would lead to asbestos removal and demolition. All salvageable items were to be removed and sold or stored. The sales of these artifacts, especially of seats, would help pay for

2760-628: The Aud home from 1994 to 1995, winning the league championship in their first season. The Buffalo Bandits of Major Indoor Lacrosse League played in the Aud from the 1992 season until the arena's closure. Winners of the MILL title in 1992, 1993 , and 1996 , the Bandits are now a member of the National Lacrosse League and play at KeyBank Center . Major Soccer League 's Buffalo Stallions attracted 11,028 to their home debut at

2852-534: The Aud on February 24, 1982, when he scored a natural hat trick during the game's final seven minutes to help defeat the Sabres 6–3. Gretzky broke Phil Esposito 's record for goals in a season (76) with the hat trick's first goal, his 77th of the season. In March 2009, Gretzky visited Buffalo as the Phoenix Coyotes ' head coach and recounted his memories of Memorial Auditorium in an interview with Buffalo News hockey reporter Mike Harrington: As much as

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2944-429: The Aud's original design included: The Aud's seats were mostly made of white ash, but the gold seats were converted to padded cushion seats. From top to bottom (floor level), the seating colors went orange, blue (originally grey), red and gold. In 1974, the city added five seats, increasing capacity for hockey in the 1974–1975 season to 15,863. After the hockey season, the city removed the walls and aisle that separated

3036-621: The Auditorium's first year attendance was 1.3 million. An $ 8.7 million renovation took place after the 1970–71 inauguration of the Sabres and Braves franchises, making it a more suitable home for the NHL and NBA . The arena's roof was raised 24 feet (7.3 m) to make room for an upper level that increased the arena's capacity from 10,449 for hockey to over 17,000 for basketball and 15,360 for hockey in 1971–72, to 15,668 for hockey in 1972–73, and to 15,858 for hockey in 1973–74. Other changes to

3128-609: The Auditorium. The Swords won the Calder Cup with a 5–1 win over the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in front of 15,019 fans—the largest playoff crowd in AHL history at the time. The Rochester Americans also played several games at the Aud after they became the Sabres' affiliate, including several during their 1987 Calder Cup championship season. The Buffalo Sabres made their Memorial Auditorium debut on October 15, 1970, in

3220-761: The Big Four, was formed on June 30, 1889, by the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway , the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway and the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway. The following year, the company gained control of the former Indiana Bloomington and Western Railway . By 1906, the Big Four was itself acquired by the New York Central Railroad. It operated independently until 1930; it

3312-512: The Boston and Albany. This influenced a great deal about the line, from advertising to locomotive design, built around its flagship New York-Chicago Water Level Route. A number of bypasses and cutoffs were built around congested areas. The Junction Railroad 's Buffalo Belt Line opened in 1871, providing a bypass of Buffalo to the northeast as well as a loop route for passenger trains via downtown. The West Shore Railroad, acquired in 1885, provided

3404-490: The Erie Canal and serve Rome, and so the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad was chartered on January 26, 1853. Nothing of that line was ever built, though the later West Shore Railroad , acquired by New York Central Railroad in 1885, served the same purpose. The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was chartered on May 1, 1834, and opened mostly in 1838, the remaining 4 miles (6.4 km) opening on June 4, 1839. A month later, with

3496-625: The Great Lakes, eliminating the railroads' freight hauls between the east and the Midwest. The NYC also carried a substantial tax burden from governments that saw rail infrastructure as a source of property tax revenues – taxes that were not imposed upon interstate highways. To make matters worse, most railroads, including the NYC, were saddled with a World War II-era tax of 15% on passenger fares, which remained until 1962: 17 years after

3588-610: The Hudson River Railroad, the West Side Line was built in 1934 in the borough of Manhattan as an elevated bypass of then-abandoned street running trackage on Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The elevated section has since been abandoned, and the tunnel north of 35th Street is used only by Amtrak trains to New York Penn Station (all other trains use the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad to reach

3680-688: The Hudson River. The New York Central, like many U.S. railroads, declined after the Second World War. Problems resurfaced that had plagued the railroad industry before the war, such as over-regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), which severely regulated the rates charged by the railroad, along with continuing competition from automobiles and trucks. These problems were coupled with even more-formidable forms of competition, such as airline service in

3772-543: The Memorial Auditorium, beginning with the 1940–41 season . The Bisons won five Calder Cup championships, with the last coming in 1970 during the franchise's final game. The team folded in 1970 after the National Hockey League awarded Buffalo an expansion team. On May 15, 1973, the Cincinnati Swords , then the Sabres' AHL affiliate, played the final game of the 1973 Calder Cup Finals at

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3864-518: The Mohawk River, paralleling the Erie Canal, to Utica . Of the ten early railroads bordering the Erie Canal, the U&;S was the most profitable. It was headed by Erastus Corning , future president of the consolidated New York Central. On May 7, 1844, the railroad was authorized to carry freight with some restrictions, and on May 12, 1847, the ban was fully dropped, but the company still had to pay

3956-645: The NYC from opening. This was a connection between Syracuse and Rochester, running from the main line at Lyons to the Auburn Road at Geneva. It was merged into the NYC in 1890. In 1885, the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway , a competitor since 1883 with trackage along the west shore of the Hudson River and on to Buffalo closely paralleling the NYC, was taken over by the NYC as the West Shore Railroad and developed passenger, freight, and car float operations at Weehawken Terminal . The NYC assumed control of

4048-515: The NYC's eastern trackage and NS acquiring most of NYC's western trackage. Extensive trackage existed in the states of New York , Pennsylvania , Ohio , Michigan , Indiana , Illinois , Massachusetts and West Virginia , plus additional trackage in portions of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec . At the end of 1925, New York Central Railroad operated 11,584 miles (18,643 km) of road and 26,395 miles (42,479 km) of track; at

4140-659: The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, re-forming the New York Central Railroad. From the beginning of the merger, the railroad was publicly referred to as the New York Central Lines. In the summer of 1935, the identification was changed to the New York Central System, that name being kept until the merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968. The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway , also known as

4232-450: The New York Central Railroad were optimized for speed on that flat raceway of a main line, rather than slow mountain lugging. Famous locomotives of the system included the well-known 4-6-4 Hudsons , particularly the 1937–38 J-3a's; 4-8-2 World War II–era 1940 L-3 and 1942 L-4 Mohawks ; and the 1945–46 S-class Niagaras : fast 4-8-4 locomotives often considered the epitome of their breed by steam locomotive aficionados ( railfans ). For

4324-549: The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. This extended the system south from Albany along the east bank of the Hudson River to New York City, with the leased Troy and Greenbush Railroad running from Albany north to Troy . Vanderbilt's other lines were operated as part of the railroad included the New York and Harlem Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway , Canada Southern Railway , and Michigan Central Railroad . The Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad

4416-410: The Sabres, Bandits and Blizzard moved to Marine Midland Arena . After 1996, the building remained vacant, although members of Studio Arena Theatre used the floor as a surface for painting backgrounds. During the 2001–02 season , Sabres officials and the city moved items from the Aud's main concourse to the new venue, by then renamed HSBC Arena , including a sign for the "Pour Man's Aud Club" which

4508-460: The Syracuse and Utica Railroad by building a more direct route, reducing travel time by a half-hour. The company was merged before any line could be built. Albany industrialist and Mohawk Valley Railroad owner Erastus Corning managed to unite the above railroads together into one system, and on March 17, 1853, executives and stockholders of each company agreed to merge. The merger was approved by

4600-613: The Tonawanda Railroad was authorized to build the connection, and it opened later that year. The Albany and Schenectady Railroad bought all the baggage, mail and emigrant cars of the other railroads between Albany and Buffalo on February 17, 1848, and began operating through cars. On December 7, 1850, the Tonawanda Railroad and Attica and Buffalo Railroad merged to form the Buffalo and Rochester Railroad . A new direct line opened from Buffalo east to Batavia on April 26, 1852, and

4692-597: The Water Level Route, could complete the 960.7-mile trip in 16 hours after its June 15, 1938 streamlining (and did it in 15 1 ⁄ 2 hours for a short period after World War II). Also famous were the NYC's Empire State Express , which traveled from New York City through upstate New York to Buffalo and Cleveland, and the Ohio State Limited , which ran between New York City and Cincinnati. At various times, beginning in 1946 and continuing into

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4784-511: The arena. This was the only Stanley Cup Finals appearance made at the Auditorium. On January 4, 1976, the Sabres played Krylya Sovetov as part of the " Super Series " of exhibitions between the Soviet Union's two best club teams— CSKA Moscow and Krylia Sovietov (named "Red Army" and "Soviet Wings" respectively, during the series) and eight of the NHL's top teams. The Sabres' 12–6 victory over

4876-415: The better. Prominent New York Central trains: Trains left from Grand Central Terminal in New York, Weehawken Terminal in Weehawken, New Jersey , South Station in Boston, Cincinnati Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Michigan Central Station in Detroit, St. Louis Union Station , and LaSalle Street Station and Central Station (for some Detroit and CincinnatI trains) in Chicago. The New York Central had

4968-439: The city to agree to build a new venue ( Marine Midland Arena ) and keep the Aud functional until the new arena was complete. The 1990 renovation added designated handicap-accessible seating areas (lowering the seating capacity to 16,325 for hockey), new air conditioning and elevators. The money the city borrowed for these improvements was not repaid until 2001, five years after the Aud closed. The Aud closed in 1996, at which time

5060-470: The copper box time capsule. The structure's final pieces came down in early July 2009. In February 2010, Bass Pro Shops announced that it was no longer pursuing a store in Buffalo, leaving the site vacant. After the Bass Pro Shops decision, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation began to convert the site (known as the Aud Block) into an extension of Canalside with the junction of the old Erie Canal and Main-Hamburg Canal re-dug (although shallower than

5152-408: The east side of the Hudson River. The Hudson River Railroad was chartered on May 12, 1846, to extend this line south to New York City; the full line opened on October 3, 1851. Prior to completion, on June 1, it leased the Troy and Greenbush. Cornelius Vanderbilt obtained control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, soon after he bought the parallel New York and Harlem Railroad . Along the line of

5244-414: The end of 1967, the mileages were 9,696 miles (15,604 km) and 18,454 miles (29,699 km). The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was the oldest segment of the railroad's merger and was the first permanent railroad in the state of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States . It was chartered in 1826 to connect the Mohawk River at Schenectady to the Hudson River at Albany, providing

5336-418: The equivalent in canal tolls to the state. The Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered on May 11, 1836, and similarly had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse via Rome (and further to Auburn via the already-opened Auburn and Syracuse Railroad ). This line was not direct, going out of its way to stay near

5428-399: The first professional basketball franchise to call Memorial Auditorium home. The team featured center Don Otten and coach Nat Hickey , but on December 27, 1946—only 13 games into their inaugural season—owner Ben Kerner moved them to Moline, Illinois . After the 1949 merger of the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America and stops in Milwaukee and St. Louis ,

5520-417: The first two-thirds of the 20th century, New York Central Railroad had some of the most famous trains in the United States. Its 20th Century Limited ( Century ), begun in 1902, ran between Grand Central Terminal in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago , and was its most famous train, known for its red carpet treatment and first-class service. Its last run was made on December 2–3, 1967. In

5612-416: The league-mandated 200 feet (61 m) by 85 feet (26 m) size (though Maple Leaf Gardens had irregularly shaped corners). College hockey made its modern debut at Memorial Auditorium on January 23, 1972, when the University at Buffalo Bulls met the Central Collegiate Hockey Association 's Ohio State University . Ohio State won the game 5–2. Roller Hockey International 's Buffalo Stampede called

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5704-422: The line is currently operated as the Falls Road Railroad . The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was chartered on April 27, 1852, to build a branch of the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls from Lockport towards Buffalo. It opened in 1854, running from Lockport to Tonawanda , where it joined the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad , opened in 1837, for the rest of the way to Buffalo. The Mohawk Valley Railroad

5796-413: The mainline was extended to the Mohawk River in downtown Schenectady and the Hudson River waterfront in Albany. The Utica and Schenectady Railroad was chartered April 29, 1833; as the railroad paralleled the Erie Canal, it was prohibited from carrying freight . Revenue service began on August 2, 1836, extending the line of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad west from Schenectady along the north side of

5888-477: The mid-1930s, many railroad companies were introducing streamlined locomotives; until the New York Central introduced the Commodore Vanderbilt , all were diesel-electric. The Vanderbilt was the NYC's first streamlined steam locomotive. The railroad hosted the streamlined steam-powered Rexall Train of 1936, which toured 47 states to promote the Rexall chain of drug stores and to provide space for company conventions. The steam-powered Century , which followed

5980-561: The mid-1950s, the Century and other NYC trains exchanged sleeping cars in Chicago with western trains such as the Super Chief and the City of San Francisco . The cars, which contained roomettes , double bedrooms and drawing rooms , provided through sleeper service between New York City and Los Angeles or San Francisco ( Oakland Pier ). Despite having some of the most modern steam locomotives anywhere, NYC's difficult financial position caused it to convert to more-economical diesel-electric power rapidly. The Boston and Albany line

6072-492: The old line between Depew (east of Buffalo) and Attica was sold to the Buffalo and New York City Railroad on November 1. The line was added to the New York and Erie Railroad system and converted to the Erie's 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) broad gauge . The Schenectady and Troy Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1842, providing another route between the Hudson River and Schenectady, with its Hudson River terminal at Troy . The Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad

6164-431: The opening of the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, this formed a complete line from Albany west via Syracuse to Auburn. The Auburn and Rochester Railroad was chartered on May 13, 1836, as a further extension via Geneva and Canandaigua to Rochester , opening on November 4, 1841. The two lines merged on August 1, 1850, to form the rather indirect Rochester and Syracuse Railroad (known later as the Auburn Road ). To fix this,

6256-401: The original canals) and new bridges. The canals that opened in 2014 are frozen for skating and other winter activities by an underground refrigerant plant housed in a rebuilt sub-basement that was part of Memorial Auditorium. In addition, a marker on the canal ice denotes center ice's former location. Across Main Street at LECOM Harborcenter is the one-of-a-kind Tim Hortons restaurant with

6348-407: The rest of the line to Attica opened on January 8, 1843. The Attica and Buffalo Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened on November 24, 1842, running from Buffalo southeast to Attica. When the Auburn and Rochester Railroad opened in 1841, there was no connection at Rochester to the Tonawanda Railroad, but with that exception there was now an all-rail line between Buffalo and Albany. On March 19, 1844,

6440-435: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Memorial Auditorium . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Memorial_Auditorium&oldid=1223145421 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

6532-445: The south bank of the new canal. A bridge was built southeast of downtown, roughly where the old main line crossed the path of the canal, to keep access to and from the southeast. West of downtown, the old main line was abandoned, but a brand-new railroad line was built, running north from the NYC main line to the NYC's former Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad , allowing all NYC through traffic to bypass Rome. Steam locomotives of

6624-467: The state legislature on April 2 and, on May 17, 1853, the New York Central Railroad was formed. Soon the Buffalo and State Line Railroad and Erie and North East Railroad converted to 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge from 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) broad gauge and connected directly with the railroad in Buffalo, providing a through route to Erie, Pennsylvania . The Rochester and Lake Ontario Railroad

6716-526: The structure. The approval of the $ 1.2 million grant was announced in Washington, D.C., on October 7, 1938. Construction at the junction of the Erie Canal and Main-Hamburg Canal began on November 30, 1939. The Auditorium's construction brought a great deal of activity to downtown Buffalo. On December 31, 1939, Buffalo Evening News reporter Nat Gorham wrote: As if overnight the Terrace once more

6808-532: The team became the Atlanta Hawks . Professional basketball returned to the Aud in 1970 with the National Basketball Association 's Buffalo Braves . The Braves were a modest success but often found the competing interests of the Sabres and the Little Three college teams made it difficult to schedule home games. The Braves moved to San Diego in 1978 and then to Los Angeles in 1984, where they are now

6900-488: The upper gold and red seating sections. The 570 gold seats the city installed in the vacant space raised the arena's capacity to 16,433 for hockey and over 18,000 for basketball. In the late 1980s, the Buffalo Common Council and mayor James D. Griffin scaled back plans to renovate the Aud after the Sabres' owners made it clear the franchise's long-term viability depended upon a new arena. A compromise led

6992-409: The venue in 1948. Don George would later sell the promotion to his matchmaker, Ignacio "Pedro" Martinez, in 1955. Ilio DiPaolo , the son-in-law of Martinez, was the promotion's biggest star. WGR-TV broadcast Upstate Athletic Club's cards from the venue in 1956 as Wrestling from War Memorial Auditorium . Martinez would continue booking shows at The Aud until 1968, when he ran into financial trouble and

7084-423: The venue was a Great Lakes Athletic Club professional wrestling card on October 18, 1940, that was headlined by Ed Don George defeating Joe Savoldi . Great Lakes Athletic Club owner Jack Herman continued booking shows at the venue before selling the promotion in 1947 to Ed Don George, who changed the promotion's name to Upstate Athletic Club. WBEN-TV would regularly broadcast Upstate Athletic Club's cards from

7176-499: The visiting St. Louis Blues and Clint Malarchuk's Buffalo Sabres on March 22, 1989, Steve Tuttle of the Blues and Uwe Krupp of the Sabres crashed hard into the goal crease during play. As they collided, Tuttle's skate blade hit the right front side of Malarchuk's neck, severing his carotid artery and partially cutting his jugular vein.[2] The venue hosted the 1991 NHL Entry Draft , notable for Eric Lindros being selected first overall by

7268-753: Was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest , along with the intermediate cities of Albany , Buffalo , Cleveland , Cincinnati , Detroit , Rochester and Syracuse . New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building , adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal . The railroad

7360-656: Was a luncheon attended by 3,000 people, including the mayors of more than 60 local communities. The building was dedicated as a war memorial to those who had perished in World War I . The arena originally seated 12,280 for ice hockey , with an additional 2,000-3,000 seats in the floor area for basketball and other events. Memorial Auditorium's first event—a rally for Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie —took place on October 14, 1940. In its first seven months, events such as auto shows, roller skating, circuses and dog shows drew nearly one million spectators. All told,

7452-712: Was chartered in 1851. The first stage opened in 1853 from Canandaigua on the Auburn Road west to Batavia on the main line. A continuation west to North Tonawanda opened later that year and, in 1854, a section opened in Niagara Falls connecting it to the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge . New York Central Railroad bought the company at bankruptcy in 1858 and reorganized it as the Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua Railroad, merging it into itself in 1890. The Saratoga and Hudson River Railroad

7544-467: Was chartered in 1864 and opened in 1866 as a branch of the railroad from Athens Junction, southeast of Schenectady, southeast and south to Athens on the west side of the Hudson River. On September 9, 1876, the company was merged into the railroad, but in 1876 the terminal at Athens burned down and the line was abandoned. The primary repair shops were established in Corning's hometown of Albany along with

7636-502: Was chartered in 1869 and opened in 1871, providing a route on the north side of the Harlem River for trains along the Hudson River to head southeast to the New York and Harlem Railroad. Trains could head toward Grand Central Depot , built by NYC and opened in 1871, or to the freight facilities at Port Morris . From opening, it was leased by the NYC. The Geneva and Lyons Railroad was organized in 1877 and opened in 1878, leased by

7728-467: Was chartered on January 21, 1851, and reorganized on December 28, 1852, to build a railroad on the south side of the Mohawk River from Schenectady to Utica, next to the Erie Canal and opposite the Utica and Schenectady. The company didn't build a line before it was absorbed, though the West Shore Railroad was later built on that location. The Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad was chartered in 1853 to rival

7820-482: Was completely dieselized by 1951. All lines east of Cleveland, Ohio were dieselized between August 7, 1953 (east of Buffalo) and September 1953 (Cleveland-Buffalo). Niagaras were all retired by July 1956. On May 3, 1957, H7e class 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotive No. 1977 is reported to have been the last steam locomotive to retire from service on the railroad. But, the economics of northeastern railroading became so dire that not even this switch could change things for

7912-446: Was established in 1853, consolidating several existing railroad companies. In 1968, the NYC merged with its former rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad , to form Penn Central . Penn Central went into bankruptcy in 1970 and, with extensive Federal government support, emerged as Conrail in 1976. In 1999, Conrail was broken-up, and portions of its system were transferred to CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), with CSX acquiring most of

8004-506: Was forced to promote outside the area. He returned in 1970 with his National Wrestling Federation , but the promotion folded in 1974. Jim Crockett Promotions debuted at the venue on July 19, 1980, with a show headlined by Ric Flair and Sweet Ebony Diamond defeating Greg Valentine and The Iron Sheik . The Honky Tonk Man defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship during

8096-441: Was organized in 1852 and opened in fall 1853; it was leased to the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad , which became part of New York Central Railroad, before opening. In 1855, it was merged into the railroad, providing a branch from Rochester north to Charlotte on Lake Ontario . The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was also merged into the railroad in 1855. It had been chartered in 1834 and opened in 1837, providing

8188-422: Was originally incorporated on April 24, 1834, to run from Lockport on the Erie Canal west to Niagara Falls ; the line opened in 1838 and was sold on June 2, 1850. On December 14, 1850, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, and an extension east to Rochester opened on July 1, 1852. The railroad was consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853. A portion of

8280-501: Was reincarnated at the new venue. In 2003, the Sabres filmed a 30-minute infomercial inside the Aud to promote season ticket sales. While the production showed the arena was intact, it was without utilities and the crew had to supply all light and electrical sources. The Aud continued to deteriorate after the 2003 production visit. Water pipes ruptured, moisture began to take its toll and the city's lax monitoring led to graffiti, vandalism and theft of many artifacts. A segment aired during

8372-551: Was switched out from steam to electric at that point as trains approached New York City. The generally level topography of the NYC system had a character distinctively different from the mountainous terrain of its archrival, the Pennsylvania Railroad. Most of its major routes, including New York to Chicago, followed rivers and had no significant grades other than West Albany Hill and the Berkshire Hills on

8464-591: Was then referred to as the Big Four Route. In 1930, New York Central Railroad acquired a 99-year lease of both Michigan Central and the ''Big Four'' (Cleveland, Chicago Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad). The back shops at West Albany, New York were unable to keep up with repairs to rolling stock, so additional shops were established east of Buffalo at Depew (1892), Croton-on-Hudson (Harmon Shops, 1907), and Oak Grove, Pennsylvania (Avis Shops, 1902). The Harmon Shops were particularly important as locomotive power

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