From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rochester Subway
Rochester Subway
Rochester Subway Reporting mark Locale Dates of operation Track gauge Headquarters RSB Rochester, NY 1927–1956 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) Rochester, NY
The Rochester Subway (reporting mark RSB) or Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway was an underground rapid transit line in the city of Rochester, New York from 1927 to 1956. Contemporary photos show it used single streetcars, like Boston’s Green Line, as a light rail line, with a large portion underground. It ran on its own private, grade-separated right of way through its entire length.
restoration by the Rochester Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. The subway from Court Street to Rowlands was replaced by the Eastern Expressway in 1956. Limited freight service operated by connecting railroads lasted on the subway route from Court Street to General Motors until 1976, when the City of Rochester elected to fill the cut to eliminate the numerous bridges. Rail freight deliveries in the subway tunnel continued until 1996, when Gannett Newspapers moved their printing operations to another location.
Stations
Stations on the subway from west to east were: • Kodak Park (via Dewey Ave surface route) • General Motors (loop and shops location) • Driving Park • Lexington Avenue • Glenwood • Emerson Street • Edgerton Park • Lyell Avenue • West Main Street • City Hall • Court Street • Clinton Avenue (Proposed) • Meigs-Goodman • Monroe Avenue • Culver Road • Colby • Winton Road (former shops location) • East Avenue • Halfway • Highland • Ashbourne • Elmwood Avenue • Sunset • Rowlands (loop)
History
In 1900, the Erie Canal was re-routed to bypass downtown Rochester, and in 1919 the abandoned canal was bought to serve as the core of the subway. The subway was built below, and the subway’s roof was turned into Broad Street. Construction was completed and operations began in 1927.[1][2] Only two miles were in the tunnel, the rest of the route in open cut. The term "subway" did not refer to the tunnel, but to the route being gradeseparated and operated as rapid transit. Connecting interurban lines were routed into the subway and off city streets, easing developing traffic congestion. When the Utica streetcar system was abandoned in the late 1930s, New York State Railways transferred the relatively new steel cars to Rochester to replace the 2000-series center-door cars that had been in service since the opening of the subway. The Utica cars ran until the end of passenger service on June 30, 1956.[3] Car #60 was saved for preservation, and is currently undergoing
Fleet
• L1 locomotive - electric locomotive • L2 locomotive - Plymouth Locomotive Works of Plymouth, Ohio - 1937 • 0205 locomotive - Jewett Car Company of Newark, Ohio - 1903
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rochester Subway
[2] Middleton, William (2003). Metropolitan Railways: Rapid Transit in America. pp. 90. ISBN 0253341795. http://books.google.com/ books?id=foSEPTUE7NMC&pg=PA90. Retrieved on 2008-12-08. [3] "ROCHESTER’S HISTORY: AN ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE". http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-tl/ Photos/pages/last_run.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-07.
Current rapid transit proposals
The subway sits abandoned. There is much controversy over what should be done with it. In the words of Laurie Mercer, "It’s either a giant hole waiting to be filled with dirt or an impressive asset in a city that needs to revitalize its downtown."[1] Rochester officials want to do something with the tunnels, because it costs an estimated $1.2 million in repairs and shoring up every year to maintain them.[1] There were proposals to use some of the tunnels in a new rapid transit system. Another proposal was to transform the Broad Street Aqueduct into an underground walkway connecting the Rochester Riverside Convention Center with the Blue Cross Arena. A component of this walkway would include a Rochester Transportation Museum. Some suggested filling the remaining subway tunnel with water, rerouting the Erie Canal and restoring the aqueduct to its original purpose. Rochester city officials decided in 2004 to fill the remaining subway tunnel with dirt. This decision caused public outcry, since residents regard the subway as part of their history.[1] On June 15, 2006, the city promised to form a committee to investigate all possible options. In July 2008, the city voted to fill in a portion of the tunnel, citing safety concerns.
External links
• "The End of the Line" on DVD - a documentary about the Rochester Subway. • Lipman, David (April 1974). "The Rochester Subway: Experiment in Municipal Rapid Transit". Rochester History. http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/ ~rochhist/v36_1974/v36i2.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-12-08. • Railroad.net’s page devoted to the Rochester Subway. • Rochester Wiki - Abandoned Subway • A modern-day tour of the Rochester Subway at Infiltration.org. • A slideshow from Urban infiltrators who explored the Rochester Subway. • 1928 map of the Rochester Subway. • Site of the Rochester Rail Transit Committee. • Pictures from the construction of the tunnels. • Car 60 from Rochester Subway at the Rochester & Genesee Valley RR Museum [1] ^ Mercer, Laurie (October 31, 2007). • L2 Engine under restoration at the New "Rochester Ponders Future of Once York Museum of Transportation Vibrant Subway". Construction • "The Rochester Subway" Poster - a Equipment Guide. modern day map of the subway and http://www.cegltd.com/ proposed extensions. story.asp?story=9527&headline=Rochester%20Ponders%20Future%20of%20Once%20Vibrant%20Su Retrieved on January 8, 2008.
References
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Subway" Categories: Defunct New York railroads, Transportation in Rochester, New York, Underground rapid transit systems, Light rail in the United States, Defunct public transport operators in the United States, Railroad tunnels in New York This page was last modified on 20 April 2009, at 10:53 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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