The North Tonawanda Street Railroad - Circa 1893

An American Railway transport wagon on Webster Street. Circa early 1920's.

The Buffalo-Niagara Falls Electric Railway was the most successful electric railway on the Niagara Frontier and one of the most profitable lines in the United States. It made its initial run in 1895. The company built a power house (#4) and trolley barn at 184 Sweeney Street in 1895 which is still an existing building. The electric railway ran between the Exchange Street station in Buffalo to Niagara and Tonawanda Streets, Amherst Street to Military Road, which joined Main Street in Tonawanda. It proceeded to Minerva Street to William Street and then Broad Street to Delaware and Young Streets. It crossed Ellicott Creek and the Erie Canal into North Tonawanda and ran down Sweeney Street to Payne Avenue and on through Gratwick. It then crossed a trestle that went over the railroad tracks for the steam-powered trains and continued down River Road. Proceeding through the LaSalle section of Niagara Falls, it ended at the Niagara Falls station on Buffalo Avenue. The trolley cars that ran on that route were painted yellow, contrasting with the reds and greens of the Buffalo city cars. Their slogan at the time was, "Take the yellow car to Niagara Falls." The car above was a smoking car and was photographed at the Gratwick barns. The sign in the window to the left of the door advertised a round trip fare from Niagara Falls to the Canadian Exhibition in Toronto for $2. Original reference material on this car may be read in "Trolley Days in the Tonawandas," by Robert H. Lloyd, published by the Historical Society of the Tonawandas.

Emery Tooke stands by his bus. He was one of the first bus drivers in the city. Circa 1922. At the time, there were two bus routes in North Tonawanda, one which went past the Wurlitzer plant in Martinsville and the Gratwick run which went to the end of Oliver Street. Bus fare was a nickel. Photo originally contributed by Lloyd Tooke, Sr.