So, how did Western NY people a hundred years ago travel a thousand or more miles to Florida for retirement and vacations? The interstate highway system wasn't built yet, although by 1925 there were newspaper reports about people traveling long distances by car. Boat travel would have been exceedingly time-consuming. Commercial airplane travel was around as early as the mid-1920s (the Buffalo International Airport was built in 1926), but planes then were relatively small, routes were limited, and fares were expensive.

After ruling everything else out that leaves us with trains. Railroads have been around since the early 1800s. By 1850, the Eastern US had railroad lines connecting most major cities. A traveler could board a train in Buffalo and ride to New York City or Cleveland, then board another train to Jacksonville, Tampa/St. Petersburg, or even Miami, Florida. This explains why numerous old newspaper articles mention people leaving for, returning from, and retiring to those cities. People seemed attracted to Tampa since it's close to the no-freeze line. Also, Florida wasn't the only place people traveled to on trains.

Passenger train travel during the 1880s generally cost two or three cents per mile. So the 1,200-mile trip to Florida was roughly $24 to $36, in today's prices from $620 to $930, taking about 2 or 3 days with overnight travel in sleeper cars. Of course, this meant poorer families couldn't regularly or ever afford trips to Florida. While maybe not cheap, train travel was at least possible, faster, and more convenient than the alternatives. Train stations in large cities in the 1880s to the 1940s looked like airports today with many people arriving and departing every day and hour. Once interstate highways were built after WWII and commercial airplanes became larger with cheaper fares and more routes, railroad travel faded although it's still viable for various types of commerce.

NIAGARA DISCOVERIES: Union Station was an architectural gem --Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Jul 12, 2014

Excerpt: In the late 19th century, in the years before the automobile, train travel was the fastest way to get from one place to another. It didn’t matter if you were going across the country or the county, you could get there on a train. Railroads were also big business, being owned by the captains of industry such as the Vanderbilts and the Goulds. Train stations in most major cities embraced the opulence of the families who owned the railroads they served.

In the late 1880s Lockport was still a busy stop on the Erie Canal and a hub for train traffic. The New York Central Railroad, owned by the Vanderbilts, decided that Lockport’s train station should reflect its importance as a major city.

Incorrectly attributed to architect Stanford White, the Richardson Romanesque building was actually designed by John D. Fouquet. Construction began in 1888 and the station was opened to the public in late 1889. Immediately, it became a gathering place for Lockportians who commuted to Buffalo or Niagara Falls for work.

In its heyday, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 10 passenger trains a day passed through the station. The station served both commuter and long-distance lines. Today, many older people still have fond memories of the old station. By the 1940s, however, train travel was declining in favor of the automobile and the New York Central closed the station.