Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum

The Rochester Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society is founded in 1937, establishing the organizational roots that later become the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. After the former Erie Railroad depot in Industry is abandoned in 1957, the Chapter adopts the building in December 1969 and purchases it outright from the Erie Lackawanna Railway for a ceremonial $1.00 in 1971, marking the museum’s formal inception. Volunteers lay the first track in 1979, enabling the arrival of the first piece of equipment, a Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway caboose, and in 1981 the museum acquires its first locomotive, EK 6, from Eastman Kodak. The one‑mile demonstration railroad is completed in 1993, and the annual Diesel Days celebration begins in 1998, showcasing the museum’s operating diesel fleet. Regular track‑car rides cease in 2010, and in 2011 the museum separates from the Rochester Chapter, becoming the largest operating railroad museum in New York State.