If you’re looking for something to do with the kids while they’re off from school for the holidays, grab your conductor hats and head out to the Garden Factory [map]. They’ve got a 60’x20′ model railroad on display thru the end of the month that you won’t want to miss.
Archive: ‘Video’...

Rochester’s Miniature Polar Express
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011Tags: David Rouse, G scale, Garden Factory, holidays, miniature, model railroad, Peter Todd, train, trolleys
Posted in Art + Culture, Train/Railroad Stuff, Video | 4 Comments »

A Drive-Thru Rochester
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
A few weeks ago I was driving home from my downtown office and happened to have my camera with me. Not sure why but I thought it be interesting to see what I’d capture if I left it on my dashboard for the ride. Now don’t try this at home—distracted driving is not cool. I’m a professional… idiot that is.
Anyway, the results I thought were pretty cool. And it got even cooler with some quick editing and quadruple speed playback. Throw in a mirror effect and some of that dope-ass hip hop music all the kids are listening to… and now we’ve got something worth sharing.
So go ahead—turn down the lights, pump up the volume, and hit it full screen. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Tags: ad, automobile, dashboard camera, downtown Rochester, drive, hip hop, rapper, Rochester, rochester music video, Rochester New York, Rochester NY, Rochester Subway, rochestersubway.com, urban
Posted in Art + Culture, Transit + Infrastructure, Video | 14 Comments »

New Circulator Would Connect the Dots for Downtown Rochester
Sunday, March 20th, 2011The City of Rochester has been busy busy busy. Last week we took a look at our new Bike Master Plan. This week we’ll get a chance to review and ask questions about the proposed Center City Circulator. What? You have no idea what a “circulator” is? No worries. Watch the video clip below and learn about Washington D.C.’s new-ish circulator system with Gabe Klein, Director of Washington D.C.’s Department of Transportation (DDOT).
Tags: Center City Circulator Study, circulator, City of Rochester, commuter survey, Erik Frisch, public input, public meeting, Rochester, Rochester NY, RTS, shuttle bus, streetcar, transit, transportation, Washington D.C.
Posted in Events, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure, Video | 4 Comments »

iPhone Band Rocks It Out On NYC Subway
Monday, October 18th, 2010The latest subway performance making the rounds actually has a tech-angle. A band known as Atomic Tom recently staged an “impromptu” show on the B train, but played one of their songs using only iPhones. The video was uploaded to YouTube and has since logged more than 633K views.
Tags: Apple Computer, Atomic Tom, B Train, iPhone, New York, New York City, New York City Metro, New York City Subway, subway video, video, YouTube
Posted in Art + Culture, New York City Subway, Subways Around the Globe, Video | No Comments »

Rochester: A City of Quality (1963)
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
In light of some of recent civic developments in our town over the past few months (high speed rail, transit centers, new theaters, etc.) I thought it appropriate to pull this old film out of the archives to take a look at the history of Rochester through the eyes of some good old-fashioned propaganda. Rochester: A City of Quality is the title of a film made in 1963 by Rochester Gas and Electric. The film presents Rochester in the most glowing light possible through a narrative that is clearly a product of Cold War industrialism. In one section the narrator declares “Rochester has made peace with the automobile”. And in another, “Change is necessary to keep competitive in industry as well as cities. If you don’t change, change will change you.”
Tags: film, history of Rochester, Jam Handy, Jam Handy Company, movie, New York, old photos of Rochester, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, video, vintage views
Posted in Art + Culture, Rochester History, Rochester Images, Video | 2 Comments »

Graffiti: Rising Up From Rochester’s Underground
Friday, March 26th, 2010The story of the Rochester Subway is not complete without at least mentioning Rochester’s deep-rooted hip hop culture. If you’re less than familiar with Rochester, I assure you, this shizzle is fo’ real. The “Flower City” has street cred, and our abandoned subway tunnel has long been used as a canvas to show off some of our best underground talent…
Tags: abandoned subway tunnel, art, artist, Beyond Gotham, Cab Calloway, Carlos Perez, Chuck Mangione, Clifford Avenue, Day26, Dejilon Studios, Eastman School of Music, Evak FUA, Famous Urban Artists, Flower City, From Up Above, FUA, Garth Fagan, Ginuwine, Giovanni McClain, Graffiti, Graffiti Convention, hip hop, Jodeci, Juse One, Making the Band, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, New York, North Clinton Avenue, P-Diddy, Que Mosley, rapper, Rochester, Rochester NY, Tim "Timbaland" Mosley, Tupac Shakur
Posted in Art + Culture, Interviews, Rochester News, Rochester Subway, Video | 9 Comments »

Road Rage
Thursday, February 25th, 2010In Oregon, a battle raged for nearly twenty years over the construction of a highway project, proposed by the once acclaimed city planner Robert Moses. If approved, the Freeway would have removed more than 1% of all housing stock in Portland. In the mid 1970s, after the proposal’s defeat, the city opted to build a mass transit infrastructure instead. The result can be seen today in the form of a more pedestrian-friendly and livable city.
Tags: BQE, Brooklyn, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Clinton Ave, Elmwood Avenue, Goodman Street, highway, I-390, I-490, Mt. Hood Freeway, New York City, Oregon, Portland, Robert Moses, Rochester, Rochester NY, urban planning
Posted in Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development, Video | 16 Comments »

See Seattle’s Super Sweet Streetcar
Saturday, February 20th, 2010About a year ago I had the awesome pleasure of riding Seattle’s new South Lake Union Streetcar—a 1.3 mile line that opened in December 2007. Peep this video from Streetfilms.org. Seattle’s state-of-the-art streetcar line features real time arrival message boards, solar-powered ticket vending machines, and human-activated doors to save energy while the train is in layover mode. And check this out, you can find out the next arrival time and actually watch the streetcars moving
via GPS trackers all from the Seattle Streetcar web site.
But what has this hi-tech investment done for the South Lake Union neighborhood? For one thing, a Whole Foods Market moved in—downtown Seattle’s first full service supermarket in decades. Plus, new condos, mixed-use development, and Amazon.com’s brand new world headquarters. That’s impressive.
Oh and while I was there I made sure to ride the monorail ! You know I love you Rochester, but I had some serious reservations about returning fromthat trip.
See also Rochester’s Case for a Streetcar Line.
Tags: Amazon.com, light-rail, mass transit, mass transportation, mixed-use, Rochester Streetcar, Seattle, Seattle Monorail, South Lake Streetcar, streetcars, transit, urban planning, urban renewal, video, Whole Foods Market
Posted in Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development, Video | 1 Comment »

Rochester Subway Super Bowl Ad Featuring 50 Cent
Sunday, February 7th, 2010It’s been widely reported that RochesterSubway.com is spending millions on a new Super Bowl TV spot this year featuring rapper and hip hop megastar 50 Cent. We’re not going to rain on the parade—maybe the ad will air during the Super Bowl, maybe it won’t. You’ll have to watch the game to find out. But you won’t have to wait to see it. Watch the spot… then read the rest of this post to find out how we got 50 to star in our Rochester Subway production…
Tags: 50 Cent, ad, Facebook, hip hop, rapper, Rochester, Rochester NY, Rochester Subway, rochestersubway.com, Super Bowl, superbowl, urban
Posted in Art + Culture, Rochester Subway, Video | 4 Comments »

How the Recession will Improve Mobility in the U.S. vs. China
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Similar to how the Interstates reshaped America 50 years ago, the Chinese landscape is now being reshaped by historic levels of infrastructure spending. While the U.S. government seeks to revive it’s struggling economy in part by spending billions on shovel-ready, band-aid projects (i.e. re-surfacing roads), it seems Beijing’s goal is to put 26 million Chinese to work building new high-speed rail connections between its cities.
(more…)
Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Beijing, Caldecott Tunnel, California, China, Clearwater, economic stimulus, economy, federal stimulus money, Florida, high speed rail, highway, I-215, I-405, infrastructure, Los Angeles, rail, railroad, Ray LaHood, recession, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Shanghai, transportation, Transportation Secretary, U.S., U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), US19/SR 55
Posted in Train/Railroad Stuff, Transit + Infrastructure, Video | 2 Comments »

Light Rail 1 – Van 0 Caught on Camera
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Wow, this match wasn’t even close. An Arizona driver runs a red rail crossing signal and gets plowed into by an oncoming commuter train. Her van is then dragged… well, I don’t need to give you the play-by-play. The entire violent fiasco was caught on the train’s onboard surveillance camera! Watch the video…
Tags: Arizona, light rail transit, light-rail, mass transit, Phoenix, Phoenix AZ, public transportation, rail crash, railroad crossing, surveillance video, tracks, traffic, train, transportation, video
Posted in Subways Around the Globe, Train/Railroad Stuff, Video | 1 Comment »

Boy Lived in NYC Subway for 11 Days
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Until now I’ve tried to keep the subway stories I post limited to those out of the abandoned Rochester Subway. But recently there have been a rash of great stories from the underground I’ve just had to share. There was the drunken lady who fell onto the tracks in the Boston Subway. Then the unfortunate murder on the “D” train in Manhattan. And here’s another one. We’ve all heard stories of people living in New York’s subway tunnels. And you might immediately conjure up an image in your head of what such a person would look like. But how about a mild mannered 13 year old boy? Watch the video…
Tags: Asperger's, boy, Bronx, Brooklyn, Francisco Hernandez Jr., Manhattan, Marsiela Garcia, MetroCard, New York, New York City, New York City Subway, New York City Subway Map, NYC police, NYC Subway, Queens, runaway, subway video, teenager, train, transit, transportation
Posted in New York City Subway, Subways Around the Globe, Transit + Infrastructure, Video | No Comments »

Harry Davis for Rochester City Council
Sunday, August 9th, 2009On September 15, 2009, there’ll be a gentleman on the Democratic primary ballot for Rochester City Council. Harry Davis is a big advocate for Rochester, sustainable urban planning, and rail transit …That’s all it took for us to take notice. Mr. Davis doesn’t have a long political resume or a lot of connections with big names. He’s a graduate of Brighton High School (1969), owned an antique store on Park Avenue, ran a small alternative Rochester newspaper called The Journal, and traveled around a bit while working as a video producer for Greenpeace. From my brief conversation with Mr. Davis, I’d say whatever he lacks in political experience he more than makes up for with heart and enthusiasm. Take this self-produced anti-RenSquare ad for instance…
Tags: Bill Reed, Brighton High School, Democrat, design charette, election, Evan Lowenstein, Greenpeace, Harry Davis, High Falls, high speed rail, Joni Monroe, Mayor Duffy, New York, NY, Renaissance Square, Rochester City Council, Roger Brown, The Journal, urban planning, vote, Working Families Party
Posted in Interviews, Rochester News, Video | 5 Comments »

A Miniature Wunderland in Hamburg Germany
Monday, July 6th, 2009
I hope you like model trains. Because if you don’t, you’re about to get an eyeful. This is simply unbelievable. The Miniature Wunderland model railroad in Hamburg, Germany is the largest in the world, covering 16,146 square feet of space with more than 10,000 train cars running around its 6.8 MILES of HO scale track! Now that’s large, but it’s not even the size of this plastic micro-world that’s most impressive—it’s all in the details. See for yourself…
(more…)Tags: Germany, Hamburg, HO scale, Miniature Wunderland, model railroad, track, trains
Posted in Art + Culture, Train/Railroad Stuff, Video | 2 Comments »

New York Museum of Transportation
Sunday, May 17th, 2009If you’re visiting Rochester, or you and the kids are looking for something to do this weekend, the New York Museum of Transportation should be at the very top of your “to-do” list. The NYMT, located
just off the New York State Thruway and I-390 in Rush, NY, focuses on not only the State of New York’s rail history but also its transportation history in general as well. Its exhibits range from railroading equipment and trolley cars to historic vehicles and carriages. Jim Dierks, a member of the NYMT Board of Trustees, tells us the museum also boasts plenty of Rochester Subway artifacts. “…not the least of which is the Casey Jones speeder… the only surviving piece of Subway rolling stock that is in operating condition. We also have models, station signs, and a video that operates continuously in our gallery.” Dierks adds, “We also operate a mile-long electrified interurban trolley line…the only trolley operation in New York State.”
Tags: caboose, Casey Jones, Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad, Elmira Corning & Waverly Railway, HO scale, interurban, locomotive, model trains, New York Museum of Transportation, New York State Railways, Northern Texas Traction Company, NYMT, Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, R&GVRRM, rail, railroad, railroad museum, railroad ties, railroad tracks, Rochester, Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, Rochester Railway Company, Rochester Subway, Rush NY, snow sweeper, speeders, things to do in Rochester, train museum, trains, transportation, trolley, Whiting trackmobile
Posted in Rochester Destinations, Train/Railroad Stuff, Video | 2 Comments »
