2009 Annual Report - the Seashore Trolley Museum

2009 Annual Report
Rochester Area Community
Foundation Support
by Frederick J. Maloney
Several years ago veteran member Lloyd
E. Klos, of Irondequoit, New York, adjacent
to Rochester, passed away. Lloyd
was a life-long transit enthusiast, who
long served as the Rochester correspondent
for ERA Headlights magazine. Additionally
he was a major donor to Rochester
streetcars at Seashore, and heavily
supported restoration work on Peter Witt
car No. 1213. As a prolific local historian
he authored a number of books on Rochester.
Lloyd channeled much of his estate into
the Rochester Area Community Foundation,
an umbrella organization dedicated
to aiding Rochester area causes.
Above: For many years Seashore has been a regular participant in Biddeford’s La Kermesse parade and
festival celebrating the city’s French-Canadian heritage. Here bus 6069 runs in the annual parade. TG
a large array of carefully chosen unique
mechanical components. They also secured
a local firm to move the coach to
Maine at a very reasonable price. Their
generosity was especially valuable in that
all serviceable coaches and spare parts,
as well as overhead fittings, were sold for
reuse in Bulgaria. We also received valuable
assistance from our friends at the
Illinois Railway Museum, who also are
preserving one of these coaches.
On arrival, No. 125 was serviced by our
visiting trolley bus experts from Switzerland,
and operated on Transit Day.
The cost of acquiring the coach was underwritten
by a major donor to the museum’s
trackless trolley program.
Transit Day. The annual Transit Day
event, formerly known as Bus Day, was
held on October 10. The goal is to feature
as many rubber tired vehicles as possible,
along with rail vehicles that are seen
infrequently—such as rapid transit cars—
all in addition to streetcar operation. This
event has grown and attracts an increasing
number of bus and rapid transit enthusiasts
from all across the United States
and Canada.
Consequently, the Foundation makes a
bi-annual grant to Seashore which is assigned
to the restoration of New York
State Railways Rochester Railways Division
No. 1213. Receipt of the first two
grant awards, and other member contributions,
have enabled a resumption of
work on the car this year, with a substantial
amount of body reconstruction accomplished,
and more to come.
The grant support from the Rochester
Area Community Foundation, resulting
from Lloyd Klos’ bequest, represents a
major breakthrough in receiving localized
funding of a car restoration project from
a distant large city.
We would encourage members to investigate
imaginative strategies for supporting
Seashore’s advancement. The restoration
of vehicles is probably the most attractive
type of project since the results serve
to give tangible and dynamic visibility
to any city or region from which the
museum has a restored car or bus. We
are very grateful to our late member
Lloyd Klos for remembering the museum
in such an imaginative way, and to the
Rochester Area Community Foundation,
for enabling this large scale resumption
of restoration work on car No. 1213.
Left: Shop Restoration Technician Bernie Bisnette
sprays a protective coat of the green livery
carried by Peter Witt 1213 in Rochester. Due to
the extensive corrosion damage the car suffered
after decades in the snow belt, thorough rebuilding
has been required. At this point the car has a
complete new underframe and floor, new vertical
T-posts, and much new steel on the side sheets,
all fastened together by the same hot-riveting
technique used when the car was constructed. DC
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