Track(s) to the Future: Railroad Museum looks for room to grow

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum (RGVRRM) is charting a new path, looking at long-term growth potential with its Tracks to the Future expansion project.

“We’ve reached a plateau with the property and are now looking at ways we can grow,” said Otto Vondrak, the organization’s president.

That includes a review of the museum’s facilities, programming and governance, with potential action items ranging from new landscaping and buildings to vendor partnerships and more events.

The organization is also looking at hiring a full-time executive director as part of a transition from a volunteer-run organization to one that is staff run.

Vondrak noted that the museum has been on a growth path for the past decade, expanding its collection and increasing its visitor attendance to 7,000 people a year, up from 2,000.

The RGVRRM — located in Rush — has been preserving Rochester’s transportation history since 1937 when a group of railroad enthusiasts met to celebrate their inclusion as the sixth new chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

As membership grew, the group began to collect various artifacts and host excursions on local rail lines that had not seen a passenger train in many years. It has been holding public train rides since 1993.

The organization now maintains the largest collection of historic trains and is the only operating railroad museum in New York state.

Vondrak said now is a good time to think about the organization’s future and how it can improve the visitor experience.

To help, the museum has partnered with the Community Design Center of Rochester on a master plan. Now in its preliminary stages, the master plan will then give the organization a blueprint for growth, he noted.

The two organizations hosted a design workshop this summer, which allowed community members to share their ideas for the museum’s future.

The museum — which mainly operates from May through October, with Santa train rides in December — depends entirely on ticket revenue, grants and donations from visitors. A focus on fundraising efforts will begin upon completion of the master plan, Vondrak said.

While there is a strong educational component to the museum, Vondrak said there is also a focus on entertainment, which includes themed-train rides, like Oktoberfest Rails and Ails, Princess Tea Party and Pumpkin Patch.

Additionally, the museum operates a restoration and repair program on-site and houses a vintage fleet, which includes a General Electric 80-ton diesel-electric switch engine,  originally built for the U.S. Army in 1959, which has been completely rebuilt to like-new condition and a 45-ton switcher designed to work in industrial settings. Built in 1941 by General Electric, the latter is the oldest operating diesel-electric locomotive in its fleet.

The museum would not be as successful as it is without the support of its volunteers and other businesses it works with in the community, including the Community Design Center, Vondrak said. That also includes its banking partner, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust and C.P. Ward, a general contracting firm in Scottsville, which has been a supporter of the organization.

Vondrak has been involved with the museum since the late 1990s, starting as a volunteer while attending Rochester Institute of Technology. Now a graphic designer, illustrator and author, he has served as board president since 2018 and transitions out of the role at year-end.

Vondrak said there is a need for board members with various expertise, including those in law, banking and industry, especially as the organization looks to the future.

“We’ve grown and transformed so many times and if we want that to continue, we have to think like a business,” he said.

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