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West siding phase two track construction underway!
In another great show of teamwork and after several months of hard work clearing and excavating the area for phase two of the installation of the siding west of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad, the volunteers of the R&GVRRM got to work installing the track for the second phase of the siding. By the end of the work day, 400 feet of ties were dropped and spaced on to the newly graded land. Additionally, 150+ feet of rail was placed with nearly 90 feet spiked completely on the east rail and at every other tie on the west. There is much more work to do and hopefully the weather will continue in the museum's favor.
In the meantime, please enjoy a slide show of the work done on 11/21/2009 along with some pictures of the results taken on 11/22/2009. And if you like what you see, please consider lending a hand or consider a donation to allow us to purchase all of the stone we need to complete this phase of the siding.
In the meantime, please enjoy a slide show of the work done on 11/21/2009 along with some pictures of the results taken on 11/22/2009. And if you like what you see, please consider lending a hand or consider a donation to allow us to purchase all of the stone we need to complete this phase of the siding.
Searching for the right color...
As you work on some restoration projects, you eventually have to start considering painting and the question, "What is the correct color to use?". In the case of our ex-New York Central 'Empire State Express' cars, the exterior paint/color answer is easy. Stainless steel. No paint required! Yet, the interiors for the cars are another question. For now, our focus is on the interior of NYC #2567, and what is the correct color to paint the interior. At 68 years old, the car has certainly seen several interior paint jobs. It has also seen two configurations; its original 56-seat long distance configuration and its current 80-seat 2-by-2 walkover seating configuration. For the R&GVRRM, we will be retaining the second configuration, but want to know what colors the interior was painted to allow us to decide how to properly restore the interior.
There are two ways to determine paint color and typically a combination of both can be very powerful. Having paint samples/drift cards or paint names/paint codes from the manufacturer or railroad is the first. Doing some careful detective work on the paint already in the car is the second. For the R&GVRRM, we currently are only able to investigate the paint in the car as we hope to find a source for paint information. That is what we did during our Tuesday evening work session of 11/17/2009.
Two areas of the car, the wall panel between two of the windows and the wall up near the ceiling of the car toward the end of the car, were investigated by careful sanding: Both areas showed the same layers of paint, so only the wall is shown here. The buff color paint on the surface is paint the museum applied which was close, but lighter to what was on the walls when the museum acquired the car. The darker buff color can be seen followed by a yellow under that followed by some primer layers followed by another layer of a buff colored paint followed by several primer layers. The assumption which the museum would love to have confirmed is that the buff color closest to the steel is probably the original color. The is corroborated in photographs taken by noted New York Central photographer, Ed Nowak. The colors after that are just a guess, but the assumption is that the yellow may correspond to the rebuilding of the cars into the commuter configuration and the buff would be a later repaint. Possibly the yellow may have come before the rebuilding to the commuter configuration. More investigation in areas of the car that would have been new to the car at the commuter rebuild may shed more light into the painting history of the car. The R&GVRRM would also certainly welcome anyone with information on the history of the cars to please contact us. It will be greatly appreciated.
There are two ways to determine paint color and typically a combination of both can be very powerful. Having paint samples/drift cards or paint names/paint codes from the manufacturer or railroad is the first. Doing some careful detective work on the paint already in the car is the second. For the R&GVRRM, we currently are only able to investigate the paint in the car as we hope to find a source for paint information. That is what we did during our Tuesday evening work session of 11/17/2009.
Two areas of the car, the wall panel between two of the windows and the wall up near the ceiling of the car toward the end of the car, were investigated by careful sanding: Both areas showed the same layers of paint, so only the wall is shown here. The buff color paint on the surface is paint the museum applied which was close, but lighter to what was on the walls when the museum acquired the car. The darker buff color can be seen followed by a yellow under that followed by some primer layers followed by another layer of a buff colored paint followed by several primer layers. The assumption which the museum would love to have confirmed is that the buff color closest to the steel is probably the original color. The is corroborated in photographs taken by noted New York Central photographer, Ed Nowak. The colors after that are just a guess, but the assumption is that the yellow may correspond to the rebuilding of the cars into the commuter configuration and the buff would be a later repaint. Possibly the yellow may have come before the rebuilding to the commuter configuration. More investigation in areas of the car that would have been new to the car at the commuter rebuild may shed more light into the painting history of the car. The R&GVRRM would also certainly welcome anyone with information on the history of the cars to please contact us. It will be greatly appreciated.
A nice November day means progress...
Sixty plus degree sunny days in November are very few in Rochester so the volunteers of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum took full advantage of this rare day on November 7, 2009.
West siding excavation project
The west siding excavation project is drawing closer to being completed as the site is coming to grade. Some finishing work was being done by the museum's Huber-Warco road grader and the museum's Case 580 Super K backhoe. This day's work was built on work done on October 27th shown in this YouTube video with a nice surprise from the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad.
All of the progress can seen here in these two views looking from the south end of the excavation site toward the already installed siding seen to the right of the tree line in the distance. The magnitude of the dirt moved can be easily seen in the second view.
The work on the museum's ex-New York Central 'Empire State Express' cars continued in earnest, and it was nice to be able to work both inside and outside. In the museum's restoration shop, work on the interior refurbishment of NYC #2567 continued with some detail painting of the bracketry that holds the decorative stainless steel heater covers and the seats.
While the majority of the car is built from stainless steel, there brackets are carbon steel and thus required a solid coat of paint to prevent them from rusting.
Outside the shop, museum volunteer, Dave Peet, was busy installing one of the new reglazed window modules into another one of the coaches. The museum set a goal to replace all of the glazing in all five of its operating coaches. It has completed the reglazing and temporary replacement of the windows on four of the five cars. The museum still needs to go back and permanently install the window modules in all of the cars, but great progress has been made on this tough and tedious project.The museum always welcomes new volunteers to come and join us. We also need your financial support to keep these projects moving forward.
Fall Foliage at the Museum
The fall foliage is ablaze along the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's right-of-way. Locomotive 1654 heads north with our Erie and Penn Central cabooses in tow. Photo by David Scheiderich.
New volunteer open house - Sunday, October 25th 1PM
Interested in volunteering at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, but not sure where to start? Here is a great chance to learn more about the many ways you can help us preserve Rochester's railroad history, our new volunteer open house. During the open house, interested volunteers will get a tour of both the R&GVRRM and the New York Museum of Transportation with a trolley and train ride in between. At the R&GVRRM, you will get a chance to tour both our Industry depot and our restoration shop. You will also get to see both our railroad and heavy equipment collections.We welcome anyone that is interested with any skill set and any skill level. The open house starts at 1PM at the Industry depot at the R&GVRRM on Sunday, October 25th. The R&GVRRM is located at 282 Rush-Scottsville Road (NYS Route 251), Rush, NY 14543.
Unable to attend, but still interested... Please visit our volunteer page for more information on volunteering, and we always welcome people to visit and learn more about volunteering during our scheduled work session on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Have a question? Please contact us.
We look forward to seeing you at our open house!
Newsletter available online!
Interested to learn even more about what is going on with the Rochester Chapter NRHS and its Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum? Read the October issue of our newsletter, The Semaphore, online in PDF. And if you want to read more from years past, please check out our online newsletter archive.
Looking back - RG&E #1941 at BeeBee Station
A few weeks back, our Motive Power Superintendent, Joe Nugent, came upon a set of prints taken during the inspection of our ex-Rochester Gas & Electric GE 45-tonner #1941 at RG&E BeeBee Station in downtown Rochester across from the world headquarters of Eastman Kodak Company. It was nice to be able to look back at the engine and the place where it served just before its donation to the R&GVRRM in September 1991.
RG&E #1941 is in the R&GVRRM's restoration shop getting the last touches on a multi-year mechanical and cosmetic restoration. The museum plans to finish the last of the metal work this winter and finish paint the engine in the Spring of 2010 to have the engine ready for our 2010 operating season. The cosmetic restoration on the engine is in part supported by grants from the Amherst Railway Society, but we would welcome your donation to help us further offset the cost of restoring this piece of Rochester's railroad history.
RG&E #1941 is in the R&GVRRM's restoration shop getting the last touches on a multi-year mechanical and cosmetic restoration. The museum plans to finish the last of the metal work this winter and finish paint the engine in the Spring of 2010 to have the engine ready for our 2010 operating season. The cosmetic restoration on the engine is in part supported by grants from the Amherst Railway Society, but we would welcome your donation to help us further offset the cost of restoring this piece of Rochester's railroad history.
Siding excavation continues
The construction crews of the R&GVRRM have continued the excavation for the second phase of new siding west of the LA&L. Along with the D7E, the museum has put its cable Cat D8 to work as well. In this YouTube video, the two dozers work together toward the end of a Tuesday work session as they clean up the last of the dirt to move that day and backblade the excavation site to smooth it out.
The R&GVRRM hopes to be able to complete the excavation soon to allow for track construction to start. We welcome new hands to help construct the siding and welcome donations to offset the cost of the tons of ballast and other materials we will need to construct the track.
West siding excavation under way
A panoramic view of the siding excavation site just before the digging begun. The LA&L is to the right and the new siding will come from the north(right side) to the south (left side). The museum already has over 400 feet of the siding installed to the north of this image.
Panoramic photo by: Christopher R. Hauf
Panoramic photo by: Christopher R. Hauf
After a lot of hard work to clear the land that will hold the next 500+ feet of the museum's new siding west of the LA&L including the movement of RL&B 206 to the NYMT, it was time to get back into the dirt with the museum's construction equipment. With the need to move over 800 yards of dirt, there is plenty of work to do for the museum's equipment including a 1968 Cat D7E. On September 26, 2009, the museum's construction department got to work moving the dirt. Here are some images and a video of the work that day along with another pan of the results from a few days later.
Another panoramic view of the siding excavation site on October 1, 2009 after a few days work. The LA&L is to the right and the new siding will come from the north(right side) to the south (left side). A good portion of the goal has been rough graded with the museum's Cat D7E and Cat D8 bulldozers and now waits for finishing with the museums road graders. The museum will then start to install the track for the siding and welcomes your donations and/or your help.
Panoramic photo by: Christopher R. Hauf
Panoramic photo by: Christopher R. Hauf
RL&B #206 finds a new home at the NYMT.
The car body of Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo interurban #206 has called the R&GVRRM home for over a decade after the museum saved the car from destruction in 1998. As the museum looked at its collection and the need to move #206 from its storage location to allow for construction of the second phase of the museum's new siding west of the LA&L, the decision was made to ask the R&GVRRM's partner museum, the New York Museum of Transportation, if they would like to take ownership of the car originally built by the Niles Car Co. in 1908. Given the NYMT's focus on trolleys and interurbans, this just made sense and they agreed. Since the R&GVRRM had to move the car, it handled the job and covered the cost to load, move and unload the car at the NYMT.
This slideshow details the arrival and unloading of #206 in at the New York Museum of Transportation on Tuesday afternoon, September 22, 2009.
This slideshow details the arrival and unloading of #206 in at the New York Museum of Transportation on Tuesday afternoon, September 22, 2009.
Trolley & diesels to operate 'til season end!
Did you miss Diesel Days or any of our other trolley & diesel operations this year? The R&GVRRM and the NYMT are pleased to announce that starting this Sunday, September 27th until season end on November 1st, public train operations will feature NYMT's trolley meeting a diesel powered train from the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. The museums are open Sundays from 11AM to 5PM and all tours start at the NYMT. More information on visiting can be found here. We hope to see you out riding on both our trolley and our diesel powered trains this fall!
Small victories...
Not everything we do at the R&GVRRM is easily visible or on a grand scale. Many times, the work we do is a series of small jobs that we hope result in small victories when we are done. Saturday, September 19th was no different.
While working on ex-Eastman Kodak Company #9 this year, it was discovered that the rubber shock mounts that hold the low oil pressure switch on the side of the engine block had failed.
A search for replacements was started. In many cases, we find that parts for locomotives made over 50+ years ago are make from a unique material first documented by Howard Pincus of the Railroad Museum of New England. It is called unobtanium, a material that is impossible to find anywhere. In this case, we were lucky. A check of the McMaster-Carr website turned up the exact replacement parts needed and at a very reasonable price. Thanks McMaster! Two were ordered, were quickly delivered, and in a small victory, installed by museum volunteer, Chris Hauf, on Saturday, 9/19.
A small job hidden behind the engine's hood, but an important one to insure all of #9's safety systems are properly installed and properly working.
At the same time, more work was being done around the museum. RG&E #8 had just had all of its brake cylinders cleaned, rebuilt with all new rubber parts and reinstalled the Saturday before. Here we see one of the rebuilt cylinders waiting for the new pins to be installed to hook the piston push rod to the brake rigging. Rebuilding brake cylinders is another job that most would not be able to see that it took place, but an important job to insure #8's brakes are in perfect working condition.
While one may wonder on successive visits to our museum if anything changed or if any work was done, sometimes the work we do and the small victories we achieve are not easily seen, but are just as important to the success of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.
While working on ex-Eastman Kodak Company #9 this year, it was discovered that the rubber shock mounts that hold the low oil pressure switch on the side of the engine block had failed.
A search for replacements was started. In many cases, we find that parts for locomotives made over 50+ years ago are make from a unique material first documented by Howard Pincus of the Railroad Museum of New England. It is called unobtanium, a material that is impossible to find anywhere. In this case, we were lucky. A check of the McMaster-Carr website turned up the exact replacement parts needed and at a very reasonable price. Thanks McMaster! Two were ordered, were quickly delivered, and in a small victory, installed by museum volunteer, Chris Hauf, on Saturday, 9/19.
A small job hidden behind the engine's hood, but an important one to insure all of #9's safety systems are properly installed and properly working.At the same time, more work was being done around the museum. RG&E #8 had just had all of its brake cylinders cleaned, rebuilt with all new rubber parts and reinstalled the Saturday before. Here we see one of the rebuilt cylinders waiting for the new pins to be installed to hook the piston push rod to the brake rigging. Rebuilding brake cylinders is another job that most would not be able to see that it took place, but an important job to insure #8's brakes are in perfect working condition.
While one may wonder on successive visits to our museum if anything changed or if any work was done, sometimes the work we do and the small victories we achieve are not easily seen, but are just as important to the success of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.
Sunday 9/20 public operations to feature trolleys and diesels!
Did you miss Diesel Days? The R&GVRRM and the NYMT are pleased to announce that this Sunday's (September 20th) public train operations will feature NYMT's trolley meeting a diesel powered train from the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. The museums are open Sundays from 11AM to 5PM and all tours start at the NYMT. More information on visiting can be found here. We hope to see you out riding on both our trolley and our diesel powered train on this special Sunday!
History visits history...
Photo by Christopher R. HaufUpon arriving for a Tuesday evening work session, volunteers were met by a nice late summer surprise, a piece of history parked next to the R&GVRRM's Industry depot. A classic LaSalle owned by one of the museum's volunteers basked in the late evening sun showing what probably was at one point in our museum's past. It was nice for this piece of history to visit history in the form of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum on this early September evening in 2009!
Night photo session at the R&GVRRM a success!
The night photo session held as a part of the Rochester Chapter NRHS August membership meeting was a success. Over a dozen photographers participated as Chapter member, Chris Hauf, provided the flashbulb lighting. Thanks goes out to the R&GVRRM's Operating Department for running and positioning the trains for the session.
Erie C254 & R&GVRR #1654 waits at a rural interurban waiting room.
Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Lehigh Valley Railroad #211 and Penn Central caboose #18526 takes its turn in front of the museum's ex-Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo Railway rural interurban waiting room.
Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Lehigh Valley Railroad #211 and Penn Central caboose #18526 has its front brakeman on board and is ready to depart.
Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Lehigh Valley Railroad #211 passes the Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo Railway rural interurban waiting room.
Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Erie C254 & R&GVRR #1654 waits at a rural interurban waiting room.Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Lehigh Valley Railroad #211 and Penn Central caboose #18526 takes its turn in front of the museum's ex-Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo Railway rural interurban waiting room.Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Lehigh Valley Railroad #211 and Penn Central caboose #18526 has its front brakeman on board and is ready to depart.Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
Lehigh Valley Railroad #211 passes the Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo Railway rural interurban waiting room.Photo & lighting by: Christopher R. Hauf
August Museum News
It's been a busy summer at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum! Read more Rochester Chapter and R&GVRRM news in the August issue of The Semaphore (You'll need the free Adobe Reader software to view the PDF file).DOWN THE ROAD: Time to clean house and dispose of items we can no longer put to use. Our Diamond Reo truck tractor has gone to a good home in Byron, New York, and was already featured in the Batavia Antique Truck Show at the Fairgrounds on August 2! Our walk-behind forklift has been recycled as scrap salvage. Our Case Terra loader, Lull forklift, old bucket truck, and Ford cab and chassis are in the process of being sold through various means.
WATER WELL: Plans submitted by our engineering contractor have been approved by Monroe County Health Department, giving us permission to proceed digging our new well. We have notified our contractor to proceed in late August (after Diesel Days). Meanwhile, we are clearing the area around the well-head for access by the contractor. Two cranes and a rail pile will have to be relocated.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT: The Form F700 knuckleboom crane flatbed truck is back in service hauling ties and switch timbers for our new siding. Bob Mader, Art Mummery and Rand Warner repaired the brakes, allowing the truck to return to active service. Joe Scanlon, Art Mummery, John Redden and others have installed a new dozer blade on our Caterpillar D-8. It should see active service soon. Our Huber road grader is working again, thanks to a repair by Dan Waterstraat. Our Army 4x4 diesel pickup needs yet another starter repair... stay tuned.
SALVAGE AND RECOVERY: Cleaning up around the yard pays off! We have sent out two roll-offs full of steel to the recycler. We have also sent out a trailer load of miscellaneous metal building materials. Our treasury will benefit greatly from the resource recovery efforts of the last few weeks.
LA&L DRAINAGE: The Livonia, Avon & Lakeville has done drainage ditching along the east side of their track, north of our yard switch. We have procured and placed gabion boxes at the base of the slope where we have had the worst of the landslides. We will next fill and place the boxes to help prevent further deterioration.
RL&B 206: Scott Gleason, Dan Waterstraat, Chad Timothy and Dave Scheiderich have been clearing access around the former Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo interurban trolley body, so we can get under it with a lowboy trailer. Pete Gores will supervise the lift, using four locomotive jacks. The body will be delivered to the neighboring New York Museum of Transportation for evaluation and eventual restoration.
EXCURSION TRAINSET: Work continues on our fleet of former New York Central Budd stainless steel coaches that were once part of the Empire State Express fleet. Don Wawrzyniak is sewing up quantities of new seat cushion covers with our industrial-grade sewing machine. Robert Burz is doing interior trim touch-up painting. Chris Hauf and Rand Warner are removing rusted steel trim, and Robert Burz is picking up new replacements. Dave Peet, Bill Blaesi, Bob Mader, Lynn Heintz and Don Wawrzyniak are working on further window replacement. All internal air brake hoses on the trucks have been replaced by John Redden's crew. Dale Hartnett is replacing window screws (a seemingly never-ending task).
IN THE PAINT: The trucks on our heavyweight Lackawanna baggage car have been cleaned by Chris Hauf, and painted by Dave Scheiderich. Chris Hauf also worked on cleaning the trucks of Lehigh Valley 211, followed by a coat of paint by Mike Dow. The fresh coats of black paint sure look great.
—Compiled by Rand Warner
Video from July Chapter Meeting... in HD!
Chris Hauf put together an excellent video of railroad operation during the Rochester Chapter meeting at Industry Depot on July 16. For your viewing pleasure, this video is available in HD format! Enjoy...
If you missed the train rides this time around, please join us for our last Chapter Meeting at the museum will be August 20! See all of our videos at the museum's YouTube site.
If you missed the train rides this time around, please join us for our last Chapter Meeting at the museum will be August 20! See all of our videos at the museum's YouTube site.
Join us for Trolley Time on July 19!
We have two exciting events coming up at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. On Sunday, July 19, please join us for "Trolley Time," hosted by the New York Museum of Transportation. Ride the only electric trolley ride in New York State, which connects to our museum's diesel-hauled trains throughout the day. Tour NYMT's exhibits and learn how electric trolley lines transformed cities at the turn of the century. Guides will take you through NYMT's modern electric substation, the source of the "juice" that makes trolley travel possible at our museum. Special Event pricing applies throughout the day.Click here to learn about all our museum's Special Events! We look forward to seeing you at the museum this season!
A busy month of train operations
The Operations Department of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum was quite busy this month operating trains for three special events: A Volunteer Open House for National Train Day on Saturday, May 9, Opening Weekend on Sunday, May 17, and Varnish Day (an unpublicized event where one of our Empire State Express coaches replaced our traditional caboose accommodations) on Sunday, May 24. Thanks to all operating crews for your participation this month! June’s operations will include the Rochester Chapter NRHS Membership Meeting on Thursday, June 18, Hands-on Training on Saturday, June 20 and 27, and Despatch Shops Remembered (featuring Penn Central caboose #18526) on Sunday, June 21.
This is a busy operating season for us, and we are always in need train crews, so if you’re interested in operating on any of these days (especially if you’re a new trainee), please contact the Operations Department at (716) 474-2833 and we'll do everything we can to get you started!
Lehigh Valley 211 and ESE Coach #3 await the first passengers of the day next to our preserved Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo waiting room at Midway on "Varnish Day."
Museum volunteer Chris Hauf addresses his daughter’s birthday party group after arriving at Industry on Opening Weekend.
Conductor Jeremy Tuke poses in front of his train at Industry on Opening Weekend.
This is a busy operating season for us, and we are always in need train crews, so if you’re interested in operating on any of these days (especially if you’re a new trainee), please contact the Operations Department at (716) 474-2833 and we'll do everything we can to get you started!
Lehigh Valley 211 and ESE Coach #3 await the first passengers of the day next to our preserved Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo waiting room at Midway on "Varnish Day."
Museum volunteer Chris Hauf addresses his daughter’s birthday party group after arriving at Industry on Opening Weekend.
Conductor Jeremy Tuke poses in front of his train at Industry on Opening Weekend.
Restoration continues on ex-NYC coaches
The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum has been working to refurbish their set of ex-New York Central stainless steel coaches, getting them ready to carry passengers once more. These cars were part of a 1941 order with Budd to re-equip the "Empire State Express" (ESE), which debuted that fateful December 7. Since the museum acquired the cars more than 20 years ago, the coaches enjoyed a second career in seasonal excursion service. The cars were then moved our museum restoration facility in 2007, where we have been working on them ever since. Over the past several weeks, the work on the interior restoration of ESE Car #1 (NYC #2567) has continued in earnest. Progress has included:- East lower wall was removed including window sills and arm rest.
- Removal of steam heat on east side of car.
- Removal of 95% of the arm rest angle iron on both sides. There is only a 4' section left at the northeast corner left to remove.
- Grinding smooth of all of the welds on the west side.
- The channel where the heat goes on both sides has been scrubbed and cleaned removing 68 years of accumulated dirt. The job is 90% complete with just some touch up required on both sides of the car at the north end and in the restroom.
Museum opens May 17 with train and trolley rides
With the recent extension of the museum trolley line, visitors now can enjoy a unique ride experience with a 2-mile round trip interurban trolley excursion that connects to a diesel train on this special day. The combined ride links the New York Museum of Transportation with the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's country depot and railroad equipment collection. The trolley portion of the ride is the only such operation in New York State, and the diesel train ride adds a special thrill for railfans young and old. The diesel connection will operate on special event days this summer. On other Sundays, authentic track cars that once served "gandy dancers" connect with the trolley. No reservations needed. Come out and visit the only two railroad museums in America linked by their own private railroad! Trips run rain or shine, hope to see you soon!
New Volunteers Open House - May 9
Ever wanted to work on the railroad? Here's your chance! The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum needs your help to preserve our local railroad history for the next generation. Attend our New Volunteers Open House!. If you've ever had an interest in railroads, equipment, or operation, then consider joining our team!- Our fleet of historic vintage railroad equipment needs to be kept in top operating condition.
- We also have a collection of heavy construction equipment that helps us maintain and expand our facilities.
- It's not just trains! Learn how we build tracks, maintain our signal system and more!
- Learn how you can join our regular train crew or become a depot tour guide!
- Volunteer opportunities are open to all ages, all interests, and all skill levels (we ask that volunteers under the age of 16 be accompanied by an adult).
Attend our New Volunteers Open House on Saturday, May 9. We ask that you please register for this event, beginning at 9:30am. Tour runs from 10:00am until lunch is served at 12:30. Think you might want to join our all-volunteer crew and give something back to the community? We look forward to seeing you there!
Operating Rules & Air Brake Classes Sunday, May 3
The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum will be holding its last annual operating rules and air brake/train handling classes for this year on Sunday, May 3, 2009 in room A-400 of the RIT Wallace Library (Building 5). The Operating Rules class will be held from 9AM to 11:30AM, and the air brake/train handling class will be held from 12:00PM to 2:00PM. For each type of class (Operating Rules or Air Brake), you only need to attend one classroom session. You’re certainly welcome to attend all the classes if you like, but once you’ve passed a particular class, you don’t need to attend that same class again. So if you’re planning to be involved in operations in any capacity this year, you only need to attend one Operating Rules class and pass the required exams. If you’d like to become a Conductor and/or Engineer, you must also attend one Air Brake class.
All volunteers who plan to participate in train operations at the museum must pass the operating rules class. Engineers, Fireman, and Conductors must also pass the air brake/train handling class. Please bring a pen, paper, and your current rulebook or a three ring binder with rings no smaller than 1" to hold the rule books and bulletins that you will receive. If you have the current rule book, please bring your copy, but rule books will be available if you don’t. Class sizes will be limited, so if you plan to attend, please RSVP to opsdept at rgvrrm.org or 716-474-2833 as soon as possible. The best option for parking is in U Lot, located on the south side of the campus near the Library. RIT campus maps are available at http://facilities.rit.edu/campus/maps/.
Industry Yard, 1983
Some 1983 photographs from the Curt Boyer collection, supplied by Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum volunteer Mike Dow. This series of photos shows some of our early progress as our volunteers constructed the yard at Industry depot. Among the equipment already spotted on our property is Eastman Kodak #6, B&O baggage car #633, and our Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh caboose #280 (wearing B&O #C2631). The B&O baggage car has been spotted on Track 1, which has already been disconnected as volunteers are already busy building the switch lead. Thanks to Mike Dow for the interesting look back at our origins!
Tuesday work sessions...
For many years, the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum has held volunteer work sessions on Tuesdays along with Saturdays. Originally held only on Tuesday evenings, the work sessions now last from the morning all the way into the evening with some crews working during the day and others coming in the evening after work.Tuesday, March 24, 2009 was no different than any other Tuesday although the volunteers were starting to take advantage of some of the nicer Spring weather. With some grading to take care of near Switch #6 where the lead to the museum's restoration building yard diverges from the main, the volunteers had the museum's Huber-Warco grader working along with the museum's Case backhoe. As the grading was taking place, the museum's new GE 110-tonner was building air in preparation for a test run later in the evening. The 110-tonner had been delivered to the museum a few months earlier and stored on the museum's new siding west of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville tracks. It had only been moved over to the museum's railroad the weekend before after the museum's Industry yard lead was temporarily rebuilt. So please check out a few more pictures and a video of the evening's work.
We are always welcoming new people to come and join us to help volunteer around the museum so please stop on out some Tuesday or on a Saturday when we also volunteer. Photos by Chris Hauf
Museum volunteers Mike Dow and Dan Waterstraat work aboard the grader. A lot of learning at the museum is hands on and Mike was getting to learn a little about how to run the Huber.
Progress is always fun!
The museum's Case backhoe scoops up extra dirt left after a pass from the grader.
Dan starts another pass with the Huber as R&GV #8 builds up air.
The Huber is the largest of the museum's 3 operable road graders.
R&GV #8 waits to depart Track 6.
Eden Station at Gardenscape 2009
Welcome to "Eden Station," a display garden put together by Rochester landscaper, R.J. Schickler Inc., at the recent Gardenscape garden show from March 12-15, 2009. The landscape designers from R.J. Schickler approached the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum to see if the museum would be willing to partner with them to create a railroad themed garden for the 2009 show. They needed help to perfect their design and needed items to make their railroad themed garden authentic. The R&GVRRM agreed to help and in the end, loaned R.J. Schickler several pieces of the museum's maintenance-of-way equipment, its ex-New York Central crossingman's shanty, its REA baggage cart and other small items from around the museum. Once transported from the R&GVRRM to the Dome Center in Henrietta, NY, the crew from R.J. Schickler did their magic to create "Eden Station" starting with a bare floor on Monday morning and ending two and a half days later at noon on Wednesday with a complete garden. Over the course of the show, volunteers from the R&GVRRM manned the garden to help explain the items on display and to publicize the museum's upcoming operating season. The Museum would like to thank R.J. Schickler Inc. for this great opportunity and partnership. So sit back and enjoy a few more photos of "Eden Station" since it now only exists in photographs. The show is over and the concrete floor is again bare. Photos by Chris Hauf
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