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Fast forward or rewind? The dream of high speed rail in Upstate NY is nothing new. Back in 1993 Mario Cuomo wanted to see Amtrak service upgraded to 125mph between Albany and Buffalo. And the idea has been studied up and down since the 70’s. But now with Obama and Biden calling for a new high speed rail network to ease congestion on U.S. roadways, and Representative Louise Slaughter spearheading a new push to bring high speed upstate , what’s old just may be new again. Check out this poster…

The poster shown above was commissioned by the Genesee Transportation Council back in 2002 and designed by Laura Wilder . Its purpose, according to the former Director of the GTC, was to “support public outreach efforts associated with a redevelopment study of the Rochester Amtrak Station. The catalyst for the study was a NYSDOT initiative—subsequently shelved—to extend high-speed rail service from Albany to Niagara Falls.”

For me, the design conjures up wonderful visions of old Art Deco poster ads. This one in particular for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. I don’t know if I will ever live to see a high speed train barrel into Rochester, but I do know this poster will look pretty swank on my living room wall. Thanks goes to Matt Denker for bringing this poster to our attention and Laura Wilder for tracking down the info for us.

Where To Buy?

You can order a copy of the High Speed Rail for Rochester poster from Laura’s web site for $20 + shipping. Or, if you live in Rochester, you can contact Laura Wilder directly and save shipping.

Tags: Albany, Amtrak, art, Art Deco, Buffalo, Chicago World's Fair, Genesee Transportation Council, high speed rail, highspeed rail, infrastructure, Laura Wilder, Mario Cuomo, mass transit, Niagara Falls, NYSDOT, poster, President Obama, railroad, Rochester, Rochester history, transportation, Vice President Biden

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 8:37 pm and is filed under Rochester Gifts, Rochester History, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.