What it looked like Wednesday: The Zamboni drives up Main Street, 1975

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

The City of Buffalo owned Memorial Auditorium and ran the day-to-day operation of the venue in a way that doesn’t happen with Erie County and First Niagara Center. This included apparently, changing the oil on the Zamboni.

Buffalo News archives

Buffalo News archives

So, as Sabres fever in Buffalo was hitting a high point in February of 1975 — as the Sabres where destined for the Stanley Cup Finals that year — Jim Lombardo took the Zamboni in for “routine maintenance.”

Buffalo News archives

Buffalo News archives

Whatever exactly that meant, it involved driving the Zamboni from Memorial Auditorium up Main Street to a city garage for repairs. The maximum speed for this vehicle — which is cruising the 600 block of Main in these photos — was 8 mph.

Likely the heads of a few lunch patrons at the Swiss Chalet’s original location (across Main from Shea’s) were turned, as The Aud’s ice resurfacer incongruously schlepped its way past the window.

The repairs must have worked. The ice was so great at The Aud the following night that the Sabres and Flyers combined for 12 goals in a 6-6 tie.

Buffalo in the ’70s: New NFT buses arrive at the Aud

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This former NFT bus, a 1967 GMC Model TDH-5304, was the wave of the future when it and 33 others started rolling around Western New York.

Buffalo News archives

This undated photo, likely from the late ’30s or early ’40s, shows those “Old Look” buses lined up for service along the Porter-Best route.

Buffalo News archives

By the time the Blizzard of 1985 struck, the NFTA was replacing “New Look” GMC buses with an even newer look — these 1983 GMCs were the first to arrive on Western New York roadways with the orange and brown color scheme that the NFTA used through the ’80s and ’90s.

Buffalo News archives

These three buses were fighting through the snow on Seneca Street at Stevenson as life began returning to normal after the 1985 blizzard.