More progress across the museum...

While the major focus over the past few weeks has been the install of the floor in the museum's shop, other progress has been made across the museum.   Here are some photos of other work that has taken place over the past two weeks.

Progress has continued on the interior restoration of NYC #2567.  Museum volunteer, Joel Shaw, paints a window surround.  Once the surround is dry, the interior gasket is reinstalled and then the reglazed window module will be permanently reinstalled in the car.   Nearly all the windows on one side of the car has been prepped, painted, and windows permanently installed this fall.

 

The museum has acquired an RTO Cummins diesel to replace the damaged engine in ex-Rochester Gas & Electric GE 45-tonner, #1950.   The engine was just delivered and was soon placed in storage out of the weather.

 

With our dual museum operating season over, it was time to address some track work.   Two of the switches in Industry yard along with the switch on top of the hill that allows access to the museum's shop have seen both tie and ballast work over the past two weeks.   This work builds on previous work done a few years back.

 

With stone coming in for the trackwork, additional ballast was also brought in for sub-ballasting for the recently excavated extension to the museum's Empire State Express siding west of the LA&L.  Some of it can be seen spread here in anticipation of track installation as the Rochester weather permits.

We would also like to remind people that we continue to raise more funds for the ballast needed to complete our new siding.   If you can, please Donate-A-Ton.   Just $20 donated buys a ton of ballast, but any amount smaller or larger is welcome.   Donation mailing information along with links for online donations are available on our R&GVRRM Support page.   Thank you!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum has a lot to be thankful for in 2010.   We would especially  like to thank our members & volunteers along with all of our visitors and supporters for making 2010 such a great year!   And it is not over yet...

We hope you have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

From the archives... Take a trip on the Erie from Rochester to NYC on May 2, 1899

The broadside poster was once the staple of railroad special trip advertising.   Here we find one from the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's archives advertising a May-Day trip from Rochester, NY to New York City for "Only $7.00 Round Trip!"   It helps that this poster is for May 2, 1899, and to get this price, you need to return before May 7, 1899.  Departures were 6AM or 5PM from Rochester, and you needed to see the Passenger Agent if you wanted to make Pullman accommodations.   Jump ahead 111 years, the cost as of November 23, 2010 for a coach round-trip ticket for May 2, 2011 on Amtrak is...  $114.00.

 

The finished product...

Two days after it was poured, the new floor has had all of the forms removed, has been sealed, and some of the protective plastic removed from the surrounding equipment.   It will be a month before it is fully cured, and we can start to use the center section to work on our various museum support vehicles.   When that time comes, it will be a very nice change and should allow us to do much more much faster and safer.

On the east side of the shop, the new slab will allow us to create a more permanent place for our tools and the install of a new shop air compressor.

Finally, it was nice to finally have a real use for one of these inside our shop.  I had to borrow this one from our depot!  We continue to look forward to the day we will be able to use it across the entire shop.   We will soon be releasing details on a new fundraiser to help raise the needed additional funds to complete the rest of the floor and our inspection pit in 2011.   Please stop back soon for details...

The shop floor...

For twelve years, there has been dirt...

For one day, there was stone...

And finally there was concrete!

While only the first phase, the install of this piece and another piece of the floor to the left of the RG&E #1941 (shown below) marks a major milestone in the completion of the interior of the museum's restoration shop.    Kudos to all who helped make this portion a reality and here is looking forward to the coming phases and completion in 2011!

More progress on the west ESE siding.

On a very nice mid-November day, the museum's heavy equipment crews went to work excavating and grading for the next extension of the new siding west of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad which will hold the museum's ex-Empire State Express cars.    This is in addition to all of the progress made earlier in the year.    First the area on the east side of the area was graded for a haul road and then the crews set out in the afternoon to grade for the next portion of the siding using the museum's equipment and a rented Cat D4 dozer.    Here are some images of the progress.

Unable to see the slideshow, check it out the images on Flickr here.

Latest newsletter available - November 2010

Interested in learning more about what is going on at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum?   Please read the November 2010 issue of our newsletter, The Semaphore, online in PDF.    If you would like to read more, please check out our online newsletter archive.  We have nine previous years currently available.

From the archives... Three ways to Rochester

At one time in Rochester's history, a passenger who found themselves in Syracuse, NY had at least three choices of how they could come to the Rochester area by rail...   Just on the New York Central!   From the Central's Water Level Route main line coming out of Grand Central Terminal in New York City to the Hojack Line or the Auburn Road, a passenger had choices on how to get to Rochester and its surrounding communities.

Here we have three New York Central cash fare receipts from the R&GVRRM's archives for three different routes that included both Syracuse and Rochester which lets us see just how many communities one railroad served and how one could travel just between two of upstate New York's larger cities and beyond.

  New York Central - Main Line
Fare was for travel between Rochester & Buffalo

New York Central - Auburn Road
Fare was for travel between Camillus and Martisco

New York Central - Hojack Line
Fare was for travel between Rochester and Forest Lawn (one stop from Webster, NY)

 While a passenger no longer has three choices, they still can travel between Rochester and Syracuse by rail via Amtrak on the former New York Central 'Water Level Route' main line.

More to come... From the archives...

From the archives... Car illustrations from a 1928 MDT calendar

Merchants Despatch Transportation called East Rochester, NY home and most of its railroad cars were built there starting in 1898.   Here are several illustrations scanned from a 1928 MDT 12-month calendar showing some of the different cars and specifically refrigerator cars that were built by MDT for different purposes.

Can't see the embedded player?   Here is a direct link.