Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Site, Transportation

Location

7853 Co Rd 42, Victor, NY 14564, USA

Lat/Long

43.008405, -77.467212

Grant Recipient

Friends of the Railroad

The Rochester & Eastern Rapid Railway was an electric interurban trolley line running 45 miles between Rochester and Geneva, New York from 1903 until 1930. Formally opening in September 1903, the trolley included stops at Rochester, Pittsford, Victor, and Canandaigua before reaching Geneva. Along the route, the trolley stopped in the hamlet of Fishers in the northwest corner of the town of Victor. In Fishers, a small waiting shelter served passengers at the stop.

In July 1930, the Rochester & Eastern trolley suspended all service. The July 30, 1930 Naples Record reported that the trolley “for a number of years did a thriving business” but now blamed automobiles for cutting into their business. It noted that the trolley claimed a daily loss at the time of $200 a day and were therefore forced to shut down.

According to the June 6, 2011 Daily Messenger, the former waiting shelter in Fishers was donated to the Friends of the Railroad of Victor in 2009, and in 2011 the structure was moved to its present location along the Auburn Trail, a rail trail running along the path of the former New York Central Railroad. The waiting shelter was originally located about a mile away, near the intersection of Fishers Station Drive and Main Street. After the railway closed in 1930, the shelter was relocated to a farm on Benson Road before being moved to its present location in 2011. It has been thoughtfully restored by the Friends of the Railroad group and stands as a proud reminder of a piece of local transportation history.