http://www.animatusstudio.com/subway
The definitive history of Rochester, New York’s subway will soon be available on DVD. “The End of the Line - Rochester’s Subway” tells the little known story of the rail line that operated in a former section of the Erie Canal from 1927 until its abandonment in 1956. Produced in 1994 by filmmakers Fredrick Armstrong and James P. Harte, the forty-five minute documentary recounts the tale of an American city’s bumpy ride through the Twentieth Century, from the perspective of a little engine that could, but didn’t.
Billed as the story of the smallest city in America to build and abandon a subway, “The End of the Line - Rochester’s Subway” originally aired on PBS and The History Channel. It earned a Bronze Telly Award and was voted Best of the Fest at The Rochester Independent Film Festival. For twelve years it has taught young and old the history of New York’s third largest city.
Now that Rochester has made the controversial decision to bury its experiment with rapid transit, Armstrong and Harte have decided to re-master “The End of the Line” for DVD. This Special Edition will contain forty-five minutes of extra features including:
• Over one hundred and fifty archival photographs
• Artifacts of the subway
• A period motion picture and soundtrack
• Original artwork
• Video of the subway’s last surviving passenger car and one of the last men to operate it
• Unique footage of the subway’s doomed remnants
This last feature stands out as the only safe and legal way to tour the subway’s Broad Street tunnel before it is filled with dirt next winter.
“This was a very important production for us,” says Armstrong, owner of Animatus Studio and The Animation Workshop. Since making “The End of the Line,” I’ve received letters from customers all over the world telling me how much they enjoyed watching it. I grew up in Rochester and rode the subway when I was about four years old. I co