Rochester Subway

Here is a link to a short video from the Albany Times Union. Interesting enough the Rochester Subway was the last electric passenger rail line of any sort outside of the New York City area. I'll bet the city fathers of today are sorry it is gone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2oG0BRUUR4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This video may have been posted here previously but this is the first time I have seen it.
Noel Weaver

Noel, I'm not sure how sorry they are. Part of the route is now an Interstate, and much of the rest has been filled in. But given where it came from and went to, I don't see there would have been a huge demand if it were here today. The north/west segment in particular would not serve any place people wanted to go to. It's possible the south/east part could be made into a park/ride for the last 3 or so miles into the city but I believe most motorists would elect to just keep driving.

As a taxpayer I'm just as glad it's gone.

BR&P wrote:Noel, I'm not sure how sorry they are. Part of the route is now an Interstate, and much of the rest has been filled in. But given where it came from and went to, I don't see there would have been a huge demand if it were here today. The north/west segment in particular would not serve any place people wanted to go to. It's possible the south/east part could be made into a park/ride for the last 3 or so miles into the city but I believe most motorists would elect to just keep driving.

As a taxpayer I'm just as glad it's gone.

YEA you're probably right
Noel Weaver

Noel Weaver wrote:Interesting enough the Rochester Subway was the last electric passenger rail line of any sort outside of the New York City area.

Does this mean "last to be built" or "last to be abandoned" or "last to _______________ (fill in the blank)"??

The last electric railway line OPERATING passenger service.
Noel Weaver

Would this exclude Buffalo's subway?

We are talking the 1950's, not the 1990's. After this operation ended the remaining electric passenger operations were the subways, to New York, the Hudson Tubes (AKA Tubs), the electrified rail lines, the remaining trolley lines in Brooklyn and finally the Queensboro Bridge Railway which lasted until 1960 I believe, that was a short but really neat ride. I have some tokens from that operation in my collection. While this was hardly "light rail" by today's standards it was the last trolley line in New York State. The line had good connections at the Queens end but in Manhattan end it ended at the entrance of the Queensboro Bridge and you had to walk west to subway connections. I don't remember what the fare was at the end but for a long time it was 5 cents.
Noel Weaver

Noel is correct, the Rochester Subway was the last trolley operation outside of New York City. Rochester Subway abandoned passenger service in 1956. Electric freight operated by RTC continued one more year until 1957. While the majority of trolley service was abandoned in New York City prior to 1948, the last trolley to operate in New York City was the Queensboro Bridge line, which quit in 1957. The NFTA MetroRail in Buffalo is a light rail transit system, which opened in 1984. If you want to split hairs, the Rochester subway and other streetcar and trolley lines ran on single-contact trolley wire. The NFTA line and other light rail lines are built to a heavier standard and operate off of tensioned compound catenary systems, which rely on messenger and contact wires as part of the structure. The only private trolley operation in New York State is the trolley at New York Museum of Transportation, which had its first test run off live overhead wire in 2001, and has operated regularly since 2008.

The Rochester Subway was designed for a time when people lived at the city's edge, and shopped and worked either downtown, at Kodak, or General Motors (all served by the Subway). Not sure how successful it would be today on the same route, you could speculate that any of the proposed extensions would have helped/hurt, but the fact of the matter is that it is gone now. Any new opportunities for rail transit will be based on new routes reflecting current population centers and development.

I like trolleys.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:Noel is correct, the Rochester Subway was the last trolley operation outside of New York City.
I like trolleys.
-otto-

Don't bite me. I'm not expert on trolleys nor being troll

can u clarify this - what about N.O.'s trolley? Boston's (I rode on them in 90's) I am pretty sure that they are old...

I am assuming that SF's trolleys are in different catalog.

I take it that Toronto's trolleys are not old...

I think Otto is referring to trolleys in NYS only.

My reference was also New York State only. I know there are still quite a few different trolley lines still in operation or new and in operation in various locations.
Noel Weaver

sd80mac wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:Noel is correct, the Rochester Subway was the last trolley operation outside of New York City.
I like trolleys.
-otto-

Don't bite me. I'm not expert on trolleys nor being troll

can u clarify this - what about N.O.'s trolley? Boston's (I rode on them in 90's) I am pretty sure that they are old...

I am assuming that SF's trolleys are in different catalog.

I take it that Toronto's trolleys are not old...

This is the New York State Railfan Forum. We are discussing New York State operations.

-otto-

They built an interstate grade highway on part of the route, that kind of implies to me that lots of people still travel from outside the city, into it, for whatever reasons.

In fact the interstate probably serves more people. I almost wish the trolley was still there, I have to go to downtown Rochester next month and can't figure out where to park for the place I'm going, looks like I'll have to walk a few blocks.

lvrr325 wrote:They built an interstate grade highway on part of the route, that kind of implies to me that lots of people still travel from outside the city, into it, for whatever reasons.

In fact the interstate probably serves more people. I almost wish the trolley was still there, I have to go to downtown Rochester next month and can't figure out where to park for the place I'm going, looks like I'll have to walk a few blocks.

you could park at one of these public garage - one near library/hyatt/convention and one under court. They are really cheap. I cant remember if it was $8 or $10 for all day parking. There's some pretty much cheaper at outdoor parking lot.

Toronto... Boston... NYC... Forget it! they're 40's or higher during ball games. $20 for awful gravel parking lot in Toronto downtown... I thought that $8 was so expensive until I went these cities since 2012... The places in Boston that I was looking for to park my car during Yanks-Boston game wanted $40 or higher that YOU could park on side street with coin meters. Just don't pay the meter. Because the ticket with fine would be much cheaper than these $40 plus parking fee.

Otto Vondrak wrote:This is the New York State Railfan Forum. We are discussing New York State operations.

-otto-

That what I thought so. But I just wanted to make sure... Sometime we do talk about general... not just limit to NYS...

Thanks for clarify.