New engines arrive!

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum was very fortunate to receive the donation of two new locomotives which previously served Rochester Gas & Electric's Russell Station in Charlotte, NY. With the plant closed, RG&E was very generous to donate the locomotives to the R&GVRRM where the join RG&E #1941 which once served RG&E's BeeBee Station generating plant in downtown Rochester. It took new fewer than four railroads to deliver the engines to the museum in Rush. Here we see delivery day by the ALCOS of the Livonia, Avon & Lakville Railroad shown here roaring past the engines post delivery on the R&GVRRM's new passenger car siding.


With a north facing switch, the LA&L decided to take the locomotives south past the R&GVRRM on December 3 and deliver them as part of a northbound freight on December 4. Here we see the engines passing the new Barilla Pasta plant just north of Avon.


The switch for the R&GVRRM's new siding is located approximately 2000 feet north of the museum's Industry depot. Here we see #1950 and #8 being shoved into the siding by the ALCO Centuries of the LA&L.


With the LA&L headed north, here we are looking south at the new locomotives on the siding along with the museums two ex-New York Central flat cars which are being used for rail and track material storage for the continued construction of the siding project.

Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum featured in Railpace

Pick up a copy of the November 2008 issue of Railpace to find a two-page spread on our 10th annual Diesel Days this past August! Volunteer Otto Vondrak authored an informative article about our event, complimented by photographed contributed by our members and visitors. A great plug for our museum!

New "Midway" Station

New York Museum of Transportation car #161 pauses at the compact new “Midway” station at the current end of wire at Scanlon’s Curve. The new platform also involves a plank walkway to help our visitors safely cross from one side of the rails to the other. The platform was built by volunteers from NYMT, and will help facilitate transfers between our two operations over our shared demonstration railroad.

New volunteer crew training continues at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Musuem. Hands-on training is an important part of the process. At left, Brakeman Rick Israelson poses in front of his train led by the museum's former Lehigh Valley RS-3m 211. Below, Fireman Ron Amberger operates the 211 as part of his hands-on training. After his qualifying runs, he will have to pass a qualfying test before he can become an engineer on our museum railroad.

Time to work

Museum volunteer Dan Waterstraat has the controls of the museum's Cat 225 grader has he works to complete the grading for the first phase of LA&L siding. This is the smallest of the three graders the museum rosters as part of its historic construction equipment collection. Having a fleet of construction equipment and volunteers trained to operate them helps speed along our many excavation and grading projects, reducing the need for outside contractors. Photos by Christopher Hauf

Siding earthwork underway

On this morning, the grading for the first phase of the LA&L siding install is looking very good and close to subgrade. One of museum's Cat graders and its D-7E bulldozer sit ready to go to work later that day to complete the grading work. This first phase of the project will give the museum about 350 feet of new siding with the goal of installing 1,400 feet.

Loaded up

With the new siding switch installed on the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville mainline, it was time to start to gather and deliver materials for the job of installing the siding. To bring some of the needed ties, the museum's custom built ex-Army 6x6 flatbed truck was loaded with three bundles of ties and sits ready to deliver them to the work area once some additional grading is completed. Completion of the new siding will allow us to store our string of ex-New York Central stainless steel coaches and free up space in our museum yards.

What the F?

While Lehigh Valley Railroad Alco RS-3m #211 had most of its lettering since its restoration, one small detail that was missing was a the 'F' on the sides of the frame at the end of the long hood. The "F" denotes what is the front of the locomotive. The practice dates to the transition from steam-to-diesel during the postwar years, when it was clear which end was the front of a steam lcomotive, but not always clear on early diesels. Based on photographs of 211 in service, replica F's were added to the engine to complete this detail of the locomotive's continued restoration. Knowing which end is designated "front" is important when communicating direction of movement between crew members and trains. Photo by Christopher Hauf

Window replacement progress

One of the largest ongoing projects the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum has been undertaking in 2008 is the replacement of all of the glazing in all six of its ex-New York Central "Empire State Express" coaches. Here we see NYC 2571 which has had all of its windows completed. The results can be seen in the close up with the ability to see the other coach sitting on the next track through the windows on BOTH sides of the car. The museum still has many more windows to go and each window costs about $200.00 to rebuild. Want to Adopt-A-Window? Please consider a donation via PayPal today!

Fitting the pieces together

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum owns a '39 Ford Railway Express Agency truck which has been slowly getting mechanical attention over the years. Now it was time to put all of the sheet metal together on the front of the truck to see how it fit. Some of the sheet metal is original while some pieces like the fenders are replacements. This truck is part of a multi-year restoration program, and eventually will become part of the Museum's farm-to-market interpretive display. Photo by Christopher Hauf

Plow in primer

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's ex-Wellsville, Addison & Galeton (nee-Boston & Maine) wooden Russell snowplow is getting some attention with new primer and one rebuilt window on the east side. This unique piece of equipment has been a project of the Charlie and Jesse Marks for many years now. Photo by Christopher Hauf

Ready to Ship!

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's ex-New York Central Pullman PS-4 flatcar #506102 sits south of the restoration building with its load of 90lb. rail ready to be pulled north through the building and "shipped" over to the new LA&L siding. The rail will be used to construct the siding and using the flat car was the easiest way to ship this large amount of material. Photo by Christopher Hauf

More from the NYMT night photo session

The July meeting of the Rochester Chapter NRHS featured several night photo setups at our sister organization, the New York Museum of Transportation. The first setup took place at their carbarn. For the second location at Giles Crossing, a little extra was added with the inclusion of a Rochester Chapter member's 1940 Buick Eight nicknamed "Modene." Thanks to volunteer Jeremy Tuke for sharing his classic with us! A nice addition to an already fun evening. Photos and lighting by Christopher R. Hauf.


The last two shots of the night featured Car 161 alone at the crossing. Car 161 has seen extensive restoration by the NYMT including an all new canvas roof, new windows, and a lot of interior work as well. Thanks to the NYMT crews for a great night of photography! Photos and lighting by Christopher R. Hauf.

Night Photo Session at the New York Museum of Transportation

As part of the Rochester Chapter's July membership meeting, a night photo session was held for all interested participants at the New York Museum of Transportation featuring their former Philadelphia & Western "Strafford" steel interurban cars. Several setups were done both at the NYMT's carbarn and along the electrified portion of the joint NYMT/Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum demonstration railroad. Another night photo session featuring both the trolleys and diesels from the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's collection is planned for the August Rochester Chapter membership meeting. All interested photographers are welcome. Please see our Events section for more details. Photos and lighting by Christopher R. Hauf.

Getting ready for Caboose Day

With a rather wet summer, both the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum and our sister operation the New York Museum of Transportation have been fighting back the weed population along our two-mile demonstration railroad. Here we see the weed spray "train" keeping up the good fight as it departs Industry yard on its return trip to the NYMT. Vegetation control is important to maintaining a trouble-free right of way.


The buffing out of LV211's paint continued through July, and here we see the results shining in the summer sun. Even though the locomotive was repainted in 1990, the paint retains its original strength and lustre. An afternoon of buffing out the finish with automotive finish wax brings back the shine like it was painted yesterday.



With special event Caboose Day rapidly approaching, museum volunteer Dave Scheiderich power washes the museum's Penn Central transfer caboose #18526. This caboose proves to be popular with our museum guests, as the large platforms allow a greater number of people to safely enjoy an open-air ride along our demonstration railroad.

South with the sunset

Lehigh Valley 211 departs south into the setting sun on a return trip to the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum as part of the July Rochester Chapter NRHS membership meeting. On this evening, we find museum volunteer Mike Roqué at the controls of LV 211 as the train prepares to head south to Industry depot. During the summer months, Chapter meetings are held at the Museum, giving our members the chance to enjoy the results of their hard work throughout the year! Won't you join us?

Trolleys in twilight at NYMT

In twilight, we find the New York Museum of Transportation's two former P&W Strafford cars nose out of the NYMT car barn as they prepare to be the subject of a night photo session which was held as part of the events for the July Rochester Chapter NRHS membership meeting. Our two-mile demonstration railroad is shared with NYMT, with almost one half of the line under wire.

Headin' south on the mainline...

Another Livonia, Avon & Lakeville road train pulled by their signature Alco Centuries heads south. The train had just passed over the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's newly installed switch which will lead to a new siding our volunteers are building. This siding on the west side of the LA&L mainline will allow us to store our stainless steel passenger excursion set.

New switch for our new siding

And here we see the new switch the LA&L track department had just completed installing that day. The switch had been built as a panel back in January. This switch is located approximately 1700' north of Route 251 where the Industry depot is located. Now the hard work for the museum starts as it constructs the 1400' siding this switch connects to. Help is needed. New volunteers are always welcome and donations to the museum's 'Building Tracks to the Future' Capital Fundraising Campaign which has been providing the funds to install this switch and siding.

A nice evening for a ride!

To allow for some crew training as part of the museum's monthly Railroad Operations Department meeting, we find Lehigh Valley 211 up near milepost 0.8 on the museum's demonstration railroad. The recently installed bracket arms on the poles for the electrification project being undertaken by the R&GVRRM's partner museum, the NYMT, can be seen overhead along with the moon rising in the distance. You can enjoy scenes like these! Plan a visit or consider joining our volunteers.

Out on the main...

On the west side of Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's Industry depot is the former Erie Railroad Rochester Division which is now operated by the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad. Here we see a northbound LA&L road train approaching the museum and passing the depot.

Polishing the apple... LV 211

Painted over sixteen years ago, our Lehigh Valley "Hammerhead" RS3m is looking a little faded as it sits on display in Industry yard. The museum invested in a durable paint job, so let's see what a little elbow grease can do...


Not a bad start, already she's looking better. After a fair amount of elbow grease by museum volunteer Chris Hauf, the #211 is looking much shinier with a lot of more of the engine to go. Amazing what a little wax can do!


Looks even better, now! With the "Hammerhead" short hood and long hood complete, #211 is looking really good. You can see the difference in the picture since the frame paint had yet to be buffed out.

Construction around the museum

Loading up...a different way... With more excavation still to take place northeast of the museum's restoration building, more dirt is moved using the museum's Trojan front loader and one of the museum's ex-US Military 6x6 dump trucks.


Steady at the controls... Museum volunteer, Scott Gleason, has steady control of the Trojan loader as he loads another bucket full of dirt into the dump truck.

A new tool... The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum was recently offered the opportunity to purchase a new-to-us flat bed boom truck for a very reasonable price to aid in projects around the museum. The museum made the purchase, and here we see the truck just after delivery being moved. Several donations to the museum made this purchase possible. Can you help us be ready for future opportunities with a donation today?

Loading up our flatcar

Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum Track Foreman, Luther Brefo, moves a rail in place after loading on to the museum's ex-New York Central Pullman PS-4 flat car #506102. The material being loaded is the rail which will be used for the new siding the museum is building west of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad. Instead of trucking it down, the museum is shipping the rail by rail! Our new siding will allow us to safely store our set of stainless steel passenger cars, which we are preparing for future planned excursions. Stay tuned!