“The End of the Line” Special Edition DVD contains over forty-five minutes of extra features, including:
The Steel Wheel
This feature allows the viewer to experience a round trip ride on the subway as it existed in the 1950s. In early 1956, Leslie Edgcomb and Bob Messenger produced a 16mm short subject entitled “The Steel Wheel.” For the DVD, this silent film has been combined with a re-edited soundtrack from “The Rochester Subway,” a 1950 RIT masters thesis film produced by Vitaly V. Uzoff. Since no prints of “The Rochester Subway” are known to exist, Animatus Studio has decided to combine its sound elements with “The Steel Wheel” to preserve these unique records of the subway’s operation.
Prodigal Son: Rochester Subway Car 60
Video of the subway’s last surviving passenger car and an all new interview with one of the last motormen, Don Espenmiller. Rescued from scrapping in 1956, Car 60 was exhibited at Rail City, a museum near Watertown, New York, before being moved to state property in Albany. In 1998, it returned home and is undergoing restoration at the Rochester chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
Motherless Child: Remnants of the Subway
Take a “phantom run” through the abandoned Broad Street tunnel before it is filled in with dirt. This featurette shows the subway as it exists today, a subterranean remnant of Rochester’s past. See a video preview of this feature here.
Over one hundred and fifty archival photographs
View the story of the subway in pictures, including the original Erie Canal, the construction of the subway, its operation and abandonment.
Artifacts of the subway
A look at maps, schedules, tokens, and other items from the subway’s operation.
Original artwork
Full color depictions of the subway by railway historian Tom Kirn.
Interactive Menus
Here are some snapshots from the DVD:
