Some of you might recall the spectacular fire that destroyed the historic New York Central freight station and the business, a model railroad store called Despatch Junction, that was located here in my area. There's a thread around here someplace about this (I'm too lazy to find it but mods, please feel free to merge). Well, good news straight from the owner, whom I spoke with: the store IS being rebuilt. It will be modeled after another New York Central station that was built a couple of years after the original "Despatch" (East Rochester) station. This has been reported here and there around the 'net but I can now positively confirm the reports. Target opening is Memorial Day 2015, a year after the fire. This will allow the owner to get back to business with a lot less red tape ("grandfathering" the site to be more specific).
I would hope local "government" is this accomodating. We see far too often where they sure don't have the brains to figure it out.
I think the village really wants Despatch Junction back and they're willing to work with the owner within what they can do. I believe that the "grandfathering" refers to not having to jump through various zoning hoops. They need to be open for business by Memorial Day, but as I noted to the owner, they could have one item on the shelf for sale and that would be "open for business."
Well, Memorial Day came and went and Despatch Junction did not reopen. Hopefully that does not mean all that red tape that the proprietor had been concerned about. News item here: http://www.twcnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2015/05/25/despatch-junction.html Fair use quote:
George... I havent been following the rebuild. Was he able to rebuild on the original site or just in the general vacinity ?
Sounds like there is progress. Couldn't view the news report video. It's yet another of those sites requiring registration to watch. Not sure who the moron was, first coming up with that idea. When I hit such garbage, I tend to never come back. I guess discouraging people is somehow a positive.
I got the popup too but was able to click the "Watch the Video" button and it played without having to register.
Great News! I grew up in Rochester (actually Greece) but never made it over to the Junction. I was on the West side and it is in East Rochester. If I get back there again, I will make time to go over and check it out.
I didn't even notice the black square for the video - it's Adblocked with the bonus of lots of crossed-out "goodies" courtesy of Ghostery. I think my brain automatically deleted that part of the page. George (THE RR): It's the same site as before but a different building footprint. The design is that of a New York Central station somewhere in Michigan if I recall correctly.
It's still remarkable to me that this could be rebuilt in slightly over a year and not just the construction. In many places in California, the paperwork might still be in process. Kudos to Stan Slade!
I'm glad he could rebuild on the same site. There has to be a ton of emotions and nostalgia involved in this whole thing.
Update... the store is now open but Stan and staff are still unpacking. Regular store hours will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 to 5. (Or, 10 to 5 except Sunday and Wednesday). There is some N Scale there, including Atlas track and rolling stock, Kato buildings, and some additional British and European stock from their buyout of E-R Models. I would give them a bit more time to get settled before planning a visit, particularly if you're out of town. They are on Facebook now also; one of "the kids" (not sure to whom Stan was referring!) set up a page for them.
It is so nice to know of a shop which was not lost, as so many have been closed for various reasons.....
I wonder about the long-term viability of a business catering to leisure activities that maintains what used to be known as "banker's hours." Who can shop there during the week? Is it the unemployed, those who are retired or in the vicinity and able to take an extended "lunch" break or shift workers whose off hours overlap with shop's schedule. My gainful employment has me occupied (at least) from 10-5 M-F and, on Saturdays, a trip to the LHS is seldom the top priority. In my neighborhood is a mom & pop hardware store with similar hours. While I'd gladly do more business there, if I need something on a weeknight or on a Sunday, then it's off to a "big box" store.
Hours like that are what led to my city's old downtown fading. For the most part, they still won't budge. So everyone goes to shop at the malls and big box stores. Meanwhile downtown whines about the big chains ruining them. Brilliant, huh. The old 8a-5p or 9a-6p days are long, long gone.
Quick update/bump... the unpacking continues. N Scale is starting to show up, with several brands reasonably well represented. A fair amount of stock that was stored off-site when the original store burned down is now in stock at the new place. Though off-topic for this particular board, they have a large selection of the E-R Models HO Scale Monorail train sets (!). More than I've ever seen in one place, in fact. That's a sentimental favorite model since it's based on Sydney's Darling Harbour Monorail which my wife and I rode on our honeymoon in 1991.
umtrr: Do you know if they have, or plan to stock Atlas code 55? It's a bit of a drive out there from North Tonawanda...
