This booklet, originally published in 1927, was issued by the Manufacturers & Traders-People Trust Company of Buffalo, New York in 1927. According to it's Forward message, "In presenting this booklet on the railroads serving Buffalo, we ask you to pause a moment to consider just what railroads mean to our city as a whole and to each of our citizens as an individual." 

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For lack of a better description, "The Railroads That Serve Buffalo" was intended to introduce the city to prospective manufacturing companies or large businesses who were considering Buffalo as a prime location for their headquarters or as a distribution point. Buffalo had much to offer due to its location on several major waterways, but it was the huge railroad presence that lured businesses into its gates. As a rail center, Buffalo was second only to Chicago in the amount of traffic that moved in, out, or through its rail facilities; both passenger and freight. 

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By providing prospective businesses a first-hand account of every rail line that operated in and around Buffalo and its suburbs, a major "selling point" was conveyed; if you conduct your business in Buffalo, NY, your company is guaranteed to thrive. 

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But this was 1927. By 1929, the Stock Market Crash occurred which would then plunge the country into the grips of the Great Depression. Buffalo, like most major cities in the United States, was not spared the economic crisis that ransacked every major company. Railroads suffered along with everything else... but the fact remained that rail traffic in Buffalo would remain steady for many years to come... until the bottom dropped out completely following World War 2.​​