Lake Shore Train journey to Buffalo.

Here we go again, Tuesday, 18th September 2012. Another overnight on the train. The sleeper was a little better, wider with a loo and sink. I got up 5.18 am went all the way through the dining car to find a general population loo, which stank by the way. I think someone missed in the night. Then I came back through the dining car to the end of our carriage to the shower. The shower had no hot water, perhaps it was too early - the attendant was still in her pit. Anyway, can't wait as I would  rather get done whilst few people are about. The night before last I got up at 5.15 am on the Denver/Chicago overnight so today I got a 3 minute lay-in.  Breakfast is at 6.30 so I am ready. Much later James, Beth's Husband, showed me where a spare loo was in our own sleeper compartment: hence did not have the hike through the dining car any more!

We get off the train at 9 am at Buffalo, NY state, then board a coach to the Sheridan at the falls Hotel, NY.  We only get the rest of the day, one night and morning of the 19th to see Niagaria Falls then we will be on the last leg of our journey, which is 3 nights stay in New York. Pam booked us on the 6pm Ground Zero tour so we will meet them and have dinner with them afterwards. For the moment I am looking forward to seeing Niagaria.

The journey into Buffalo and Niagara had been really interesting - once it was light enough to see the country (this from Alan), and told you something about the state of  America at the moment.  There is still a Ford plant in the area,  but you didn't have to look very far to see abandoned railway lines and 

factory sites, and derelict bridges over the many crossings over waterways and canals which 

characterize the extraordinary industrial zone bordering Lake Erie. One of the saddest sights was a  

beautiful "art deco" style factory complex standing in disrepair with the windows of its ornate 

administration building boarded-up. I think Bethlehem Steel was once a big employer here and I 

wondered if the derelict plant was connected with that company.  Later  a short walk from our Niagara hotel found empty and vandalized shops, so I guess this region has been hit very hard by the 

economic mess the crooks have caused.  You have to conclude from what we have seen that this 

country manages its own affairs in a pretty brutal and inefficient fashion, and the waste of resources 

which you see so widely here is breathtaking! 
Just a bit of a correction from Alan. The extraordinary art deco factory spotted on the way into Buffalo turned out (after a bit of research) to be the old Buffalo Central Rail Terminal, which could be mistaken for an industrial plant because of all the old machinery cluttering the site. It seems incredible that so significant a building should be allowed to go to ruin like this, so it can only be hoped that something can be done with it.