Once upon a time, for many Rochester area youngsters, Christmas holiday excitement went off the charts with a ride on the Midtown Plaza Monorail. Suspended high above the mall shops, riding in the diminutive train was right up there with meeting Santa himself as a high point of the season. Memories of those rides are rekindled at the New York Museum of Transportation, in Rush, where the monorail cars and apparatus are on display.
The monorail will be one of many features when the museum presents its annual “Holly Trolley Rides” December 10, 16 and 17. Event Chair Doug Anderson has the museum decked out in holiday decor, and there will be cookies and hot chocolate, a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, as well as the museum’s unique two-mile round trip vintage trolley ride.
Midtown Plaza was the nation’s first urban indoor shopping mall, and shortly after its 1962 opening, the monorail was introduced as a feature attraction for families at holiday time. Each season, sturdy stanchions and 400 feet of overhead rail were erected to carry the two-car trains on their two miles per hour trip around the mall.
The cars had a capacity of 16 children, each child nervously peering down at shoppers and anticipating an interview with the Big Man. A side exhibit at the museum displays a collection of coins, ticket stubs, gum wrappers and small toys gathered when museum volunteers were preparing the cars for the exhibit. At one time each item was clutched by tiny fingers, no doubt dropped in all the excitement.
The monorail exhibit is complete with the original overhead rail system manufactured by the Louden Machinery Company of Fairfield, Iowa. The design was originally patented for handling heavy equipment in factories. In the late 1940s, Rocket Express monorail ride systems were created for use in department stores throughout the country. The Midtown system operated each holiday season until 2007.
Reservations for the Holly Trolley Rides event can be made at http://www.nymtmuseum.org/Christmas. Tickets are $17 for adults and $13 for youths age three to 14.
Provided information and photo
