Photo gallery: The new Niagara Falls train station

But for Albert McFadyen, of Lockport, who grew up in Niagara Falls, the train was the thing.

McFadyen, 70, an admitted train enthusiast, was wearing a blue Amtrak cap and carrying a sack lunch in the station. He said he told his Facebook friends he wanted to have a ticket on the first train to pass through. So he bought a ticket to ride the Amtrak roughly 25 miles to Depew, and then planned to head back hours later to Niagara Falls on an Amtrak.

"I want to be a part of the good history of Niagara Falls - there's so many detractors," said McFadyen. "I understand the negativism, to some degree, but this is one city that needs a decent Amtrak station."

Unlike some of the other visitors he had a lot of perspective, noting the now closed station at 2701 Willard Avenue, off of Lockport Road, was once a freight warehouse.

"It's night and day. It's like comparing a Model T Ford to a modern day Cadillac Escalade or a Camaro Z-28," said McFadyen of the two stations.

And at least Niagara Falls has a new train station. Buffalo is millions of dollars and perhaps years away from getting a new train station.