CHANGING OPERATIONS AND MODERNIZATION With the coming of the automobile, the future of the interurbans was plain. The Rochester & Western quit on August 2, 1930; the Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo on April 30, 1931; and the last interurban out of Rochester made its final run from the Rochester & Syracuse terminal at University Avenue and Culver Road when the line ceased operations on June 28, 1931. Considerable revenue was lost when the interurbans ceased using the subway tracks, but this was made up in part by increased freight operations. Meanwhile, the once powerful New York State Railways which had come into being in 1912 and controlled practically all electric lines in Central and Western Mew York State was entering receivership. The continual abandonment of the interurbans, loss of revenue to the buses, and demands of stockholders were taking their toll. As the results of lengthy litigation in the late 1930s, the Rochester city lines came under the control of the newly formed Rochester Transit Corporation, the RTC immediately began a rapid plan of bus substitution in Rochester. The subway continued to operate on a yearly loss, and in 1938, the utility purchased for $100 apiece, 13 steel m.u. interurbans from the abandoned Rome-Little Falls line. With the introduction of these newer model care, the motorized trailers were relegated to rush hour tripper service and for use on the Dewey subway-surface line. This line represented the only attempt to link the subway with city trolley lines, and it was accomplished through a cut-off near Emerson Street and Dewey Avenue, the cars emerging from the subway and running to the Dewey terminal not far from Kodak Park in rush hours only. It may be stated here that the late George Eastman, the Kodak King, had visions of seeing a stub line of the subway extended to Kodak Park, but such a dream never materialized in his day. Thus, Rochesters largest industry is not served by the subway, a very regrettable situation. It is bemoaned that the subway-surface idea was not made possible in other parts of the city. Such operation might have put a halt to the complete bus substitution plans of the RTC. In July 1940, when the RTC sought Public Service Commission approval of its plan to abolish all surface trolleys, the idea of running a subway-surface connection to Lake Avenue via Emerson Street was brought up in the PSC hearings. The examiners sought to prove that trolleys, operating on their own rights-of-way on either side of Lake Avenue could make faster time than could buses on the crowded street, but RTC representatives did not agree. This idea, plus the use of new PCC trolleys, was not dwelt on long enough, but it served as a means of getting off the knotty subjects of finance and disposition of funds representing trolleys, track, wires and poles when complete substitution would be effected.

No. 208 leaving Colby Station eastbound 4-car Chamber of Commerce Special in 1938

PRESENT SYSTEM

As it is situated today, the Rochester subway is a nine-mile. run between the General Motors station near Mt. Read Boulevard to Rowlands Loop near Monroe Avenue in Brighton. Why the original plans wore not adhered to which would have allowed the subway to end at the two major thoroughfares never was explained. The earlier tracks of the R&E crossed the canal bed a few feet south of the present Rowlands terminus, and that might have presented a problem of constructing the catenary system there. On the west end, the terminal ends at about 2700 feet from Mt. Read Boulevard, with the city still having title to the canal bed for several miles beyond. Eight of the nine miles of the system is open-cut, and the word "subway" therefore, could be appropriately substituted by "suburban" as it closely resembles the latter type railway. Ninety-pound rail is laid the entire length on rock ballast. Wire is strung in double catenary fashion, supported in the open sections by steel gantries, spaced 300 feet apart. These huge steel gantries, in the writers belief, represents another bit of extravagance in the subways construction. Steel or wooden poles with arms could have adequately served as a supporting medium, particularly on the eastern end, where only two tracks are served by the catenary system.

 

Rochester Transit number 2010. built by J. G. Brill Co. in 1912 as a trailer on the Rome-Little Falls interurban line of the New York State Rys.
Rochester Transit #68. Mainstay of the system are these fine Cincinnati built steel cars. Formerly used on the interurban and suburban lines at Utica, they were transferred to Rochester in 1938.
Subway kiosk in downtown Rochester's "Times Square." Note the slogan "The subway is the fast way" and the neon "Subway" sign.	#64 in interurban service on N.Y. State Rys. Utica Div. in 1936, just two years before being transfered to Rochester. Car is at Clinton loop. Note different paint sceme and old style fenders.

There are three turn-arounds or loops between termini on the subway. One for east-bound traffic is situated south of Court Street, and is built over the right-of-way, cars entering it via a ramp. This ramp is used by occasional trippers, and will be demolished, according to plan, when the new Troup-Marshall bridge over the Genesee River is built, construction to start next year. The second loop is east of Winton Road for east-bound traffic, and is used for Winton Road trippers. The third is at Oak Street, built especially for use of the former R&S express cars, It is regrettable that this loop cannot be used for east-bound traffic, for once the Court Street turnabout is eliminated, any tieups on the system will cause operations to cease entirely. The 13 steel cars, purchased in 1938, still handle the bulk of the traffic, with 3 of the motorized trailers left for emergency use. Normal running tine over the full nine miles between termini is 25 minutes - with rush hour schedules somewhat slower. Until March of 1949, rush hour m.u. trains of two cars were commonly used. However, with institution of one-man service, this feature was eliminated. Platform men now operate the rear doors of the cars at peak periods.

BARNS AND SHOPS

In 1941, a combination barn and repair shop was constructed at the Driving Park Avenue terminus of the line, It is a concrete-block, wooden-beamed structure, capable of housing 6 cars at a time, Two pits are available for repair work, and due to the large assortment of railway repair equipment, major repairs are done here with the exception of rewinding motors. That task is accomplished at the Main Street East repair shop, which was once the center of considerable trolley repair work. Spare parts are kept in the Driving Park Avenue repair shop. Rails, ties, switches, electrical equipment, and other right-of-way material are stored in the yard near the repair shop.

All surplus cars are stored in the covered downtown area between Oak Street and City Hall Station, mostly on track #3. Kept in the murky darkness of the underground are several work cars, dump cars, trailers, flat cars, and a snow plow. Also stored there are ten ex-city surface trolleys. They have been there since 1941, and it is a mystery why they are being kept there. They are not suited to high-speed subway operation, as their trucks would have to be replaced. The explanation given at the time they were transferred there was that they would be used if the subway patronage increased.

ACCIDENTS

In the 28½ years of operation, the Rochester subway has been relatively free of serious accidents. A few years ago, in one early morning hour, car #60 while approaching Rowlands Loop, hit a broken rail, plunged off the tracks and plowed into a steel wire support pole. The motorman was killed instantly, and some passengers shaken up. The front vestibule was reduced to scrap metal, and it took several hours to restore service. There have been some disruptions due to broken trolley wire or broken car axles in recent years, but no serious accidents.

FARES AND REVENUE

There are no more surface trolleys operating in Rochester, the last line having gone out on March 31, 1941. Since complete bus substitution, the city has been plagued with overcrowded buses, poor operating schedules, and worst of all, increased fares. The high operating costs of the utility can be directly attributed to increased costs of labor, spare parts, repairs, and the cost of 300 or more buses purchased since 1941. All this has forced the RTC to boost its fares with no end in sight. While all this has been going on, the subway, largely through the promotional efforts of former Railways Commissioner, Harold S. W. MacFarlin, has carried a top load of passengers at the rate of 5,000,000 a year. To show the increase in service, in 1938 the subway carried only 1,195,000 riders. Passenger revenues were only $54,286. With MacFarlin promoting the cause of the subway, in 1941-42 his efforts were rewarded by a jump of 1,000,000 a year. During 1942, passengers riding the subway more than doubled those of 1937, and revenues were up 100 per cent. In 1947, passengers carried totaled 5,112,596 while revenues totaled $202,312 - nearly four times the figures of 1937. At the present time, fares are 10¢ cash or 1 token. Tokens are sold now at the rate of 12 for $1.00 (later to be changed to 10 for 90¢). Weekly passes are honored - the suburban pass, which is $1.75 (soon to be raised to $2.00), is necessary on the eastern end from Highland Avenue to Rowland,, else an additional 5¢ each way is charged. Transfers to an RTC lines are given and honored.