A trolley car that once operated between Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas was a feature inside the Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant on Central Avenue in Rochester. The well-remembered car now lives inside the New York Museum of Transportation where it marks its centennial this year. Visitors to the museum will be treated to a slice of birthday cake at 1 p.m. on Sunday, September 8 in honor of the occasion.
Trolley car 409 served in luxury non-stop service on the Northern Texas Traction Company from 1919 until 1934. The car was saved after the line was abandoned and in later years purchased and restored by the Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant chain. The company decorated their restaurants with vintage signs, furniture, and artifacts, and a trolley car body took a prominent place in each location.
Rochester was honored to have a beautiful example of the interurban trolley era in car 409, and when the restaurant closed, the local owner of the building donated the car to the New York Museum of Transportation so it could be preserved and one day operated again.
The car’s mahogany paneling, stained glass upper windows, and decorative wall sconces are a reminder of the glory days of interurban trolley transportation before the Great Depression and the popularity of automobile travel.
The museum is open Sundays only, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and trolley rides operate throughout the day, included in the admission price of $8 for adults, $7 for seniors age 65 and up, $6 for youths ages three to 12, and free for youths under age three.
The New York Museum of Transportation is located at 6393 East River Road, just 20 minutes from downtown Rochester. For information, call 533-1113 or visit www.nymtmuseum.org.
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