For almost 30 years, Rochester had a subway system. It was shut down in 1956 as ridership dwindled, and the automobile became the dominant form of travel.
The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum says it has the last remaining subway car from that system. It's known as Car 60, and it's undergoing a restoration thanks to a $10,000 historic preservation grant from the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
The restoration project has been underway for several years, said museum volunteer and past president Jeremy Tuke.
The first phase will restore the upholstery and other finishings to their original style. The second phase involves mechanical work, "where we get the traction motors and the trucks rehabilitated so that it could be actually run under its own propulsion," Tuke said.
There are no plans for museum visitors to one day ride on the railcar, even though the goal is to restore it to operating condition. But visitors might be able to walk through it once the cosmetic restoration is completed. In the meantime, visitors can go to the museum to see the restoration in progress.
Tuke isn't surprised that people are still fascinated by the former subway, which ran east and west through Monroe County, from Lexington Avenue in Rochester to Brighton, where I-590 intersects Monroe Avenue.
"It's a significant part of Rochester's history," he said. "There are fewer and fewer people who have actual memories of riding the subway."
Car 60 languished for years in an outdoor shed at a New York State Thruway maintenance facility in Albany. The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum acquired the railcar in 1998.
The museum is located at 282 Rush Scottsville Road in Rush.
