March Update

This past weekend saw a flurry of activity inside our Restoration Shop as we clear out space to make way for new concrete floor construction. The additional floor space will make it easier for our volunteers to work inside the shop, and it will also help us keep things a little cleaner by eliminating the exposed dirt floor. Part of this take involves temporarily removing part of Track 9. Joe Nugent, Dave Scheiderich, and museum manager Mark Wilczek helped work on this task through the weekend. We are looking to start pouring the floor in April. Your donations will help us offset the cost to "Pour the Floor!" See more photos on our Facebook fan page.

2014 Rules Class

If you are interested in helping operate our trains, track cars, or trolleys this season, then you must attend our 2014 Book of Rules Class being held Saturday, March 29, at RIT. Brakemen, conductors, engineers, and motormen are all required to attend, whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned veteran. Hands-on training will be scheduled to follow. Please contact Rich Fischpera if you plan on attending the rules class.

2014 Depot Guides Training

We rely on our Depot Guides to greet our visitors and show them around our museum grounds. We are always in need of friendly people to help make our museum experience a memorable one. To get ready for the coming season, we will be holding a refresher session at Industry Depot on Sunday, April 27, at 1:00 p.m. The session will explain how to sign in, open the depot and display cars, and how to close up at the end of the day. We really need your help to make this season a success! Please contact Otto Vondrak if you plan on attending.

Opening Day is May 11 - National Train Day Weekend

We will be opening a week earlier than usual to coincide with Amtrak's National Train Day celebrations nationwide. Look for our full event schedule information to be posted soon!

February Meeting, March Banquet

Monthly Meeting: Thursday, February 20

RGVRRM member Dale Hartnett presents "Railroad Palaces From a Century Ago." Dale's program will feature New York's Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station as well as Washington's Union Station. The program will include some construction photos as well as when the facilities were new.

The museum store opens at 7:00pm, a brief business meeting takes place at 7:30pm, and the program begins around 8:15pm. This is a FREE event open to everyone. We meet at the 40 & 8 VFW Club located at 933 University Avenue, Rochester, New York. You can RSVP on our Facebook fan page.

R&GVRRM Annual Banquet: Saturday, March 8

We will be holding the banquet at the recently refurbished River’s Edge Party House, located near the airport at 31 Paul Road, Rochester, New York. Doors will open at 6:30, and guests will enjoy a cash bar and social hour prior to seating for our buffet dinner. Following dinner will be some brief awards presentations before we introduce our keynote speaker, Eugene H. Blabey II, President and CEO of the Livonia, Avon &Lakeville Railroad Corp. Please join us for this wonderful opportunity to celebrate our organizations achievements over the last year as well as congratulate the LA&L Railroad on fifty years of excellent service.

Tickets are $25.00 per person, and can be purchased from our web site using PayPal. You can also order by mail, payable by check or money order to R&GV BANQUET, P.O. Box 23326, Rochester, NY 14692-3326. You can also purchase tickets in person at our February 20 meeting (7:00pm at 933 University Ave., Rochester, NY) Please R.S.V.P. no later than February 28 if you are planning on attending. We cannot accept ticket orders after February 28, so please reserve your spot early! You can RSVP on our Facebook fan page.

Please visit www.rgvrrm.org/banquet for more details.

February Newsletter

The February edition of The Semaphore, the official newsletter of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum is now available for download. Catch up on back issues of The Semaphore here. We hope you'll join us for our February Monthly Meeting on February 20 (933 University Avenue, Rochester, NY) and for our Annual Banquet on March 8 (Tickets $25.00 each - See newsletter for details). We're gearing up for our 2014 season, keep watching this web site for details!