The photos above are trolleys on Main Street Sodus in the early 1900s.

From 1900 to 1929, the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railroad ran trolleys from Rochester to Sodus Point with several stops in Sodus.  It was known as The Royal Blue Line due to the fact that at first, all the trolley cars were painted a royal blue color. In the month of May it was often referred to as The Apple Blossom  Line as many special cars took hundreds of people along the Ridge Road to see and smell the apple blossoms. In 1901, a trip from Rochester to Sodus Point cost $1.32 on the trolley.

The trolley was an important part of Sodus commerce for not only the tourists it transported but also for the freight it carried. Along with locally grown produce, it also carried mail to and from Rochester. The trolley used 60 lb. narrow gauge rails (the weight was from a 3 foot section) laid on gravel that came from the Glen Edith quarry near Rochester. Thirty five sidings were located approximately every mile for the expected traffic of one trolley every five minutes that was never realized. Business was such that a car ran every hour. The trolley used 625 volts DC current and required battery stations to boost power along the lines. Two of these stations were located at Webster and Williamson with substations at Ontario and Sodus.

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of the trolley to Sodus. When it first came to town from Rochester, via Webster, Ontario and Williamson and onto Wallington and Sodus Point, many in the village felt that their village was finally being connected to the rest of the world. For many in the village, it was their first introduction to electricity. When the first trolley came to Sodus it was lit up like a Christmas tree. What an amazing sight that must have been! Not everyone liked the idea of a trolley coming down the middle of Main Street however:

Down town Sodus

In the summer of 1900, despite the predictions of many skeptics, the laying of trolley tracks was approaching Sodus. The arrival of the trolley was wildly anticipated in Sodus as it was felt they were being connected to the rest of the world. There was a problem however. Some of the Sodus folks heard that the trolley track was going to run right down the middle of main street and they did not want that to happen. An injunction began to stop this and was scheduled to be heard in local court on a Monday. The Railroad got wind of this and took the unheard of step of laying the track in the middle of main street on Sunday!

On the evening August 8^th, 1900 the first trolley (a work car) ran up the middle of the street all lit up with electric lights and appropriately stopped in front of “Wat” Woods saloon where it was wildly greeted by a large and enthusiastic thong of men, women and even children. Rumor has it that several of the trolley workers also got “lit up” that evening.

The Sodus Trolley Barn

Trolley Barn circa early 1900s

This barn served two purposes. Repairs and maintenance was done on the trolleys which often required it. It also contained a power house to boost the power a s well. Two Sodus residents worked in this barn. One was “Bob” Forster and the other was George Barlow, one worked days and the other nights. Rumor had it although they worked together for several years, they did not speak to each other. Outside the barn was a “balloon switch” which could turn a trolley car all the way around and head it back to Rochester. This meant the conductor didn’t have to get out and change trolley poles and the fair and fragile sex were protected from having to invade that awful place on the car “the smoker” which was always at the head end going down to Sodus from Rochester. No one but real “brass” got on at the head end of a trolley.

The following information is from Sandy Hopkins

Located at 31 State St.in Sodus

The Trolley Barn was built in 1904 as a trolley barn and repair terminal.   It is located at the east end of town and was referred to as the “barns”.   It was used to store and repair trolleys in the village until June 28, 1929.  Just outside the barns was a wonderful invention called a “balloon  switch”.  You could turn a trolley around all the way and head it back to Rochester. The trolley line was called the Blue Line or the Apple Blossom Route.  It ran from Rochester to Sodus Point.  After the end of the trolley system the building was subsequently used by the Rochester Transit System to store their buses and by the Sodus School District  to house school buses prior to construction of the bus garage. The building was also used by GLF Petroleum Company for storage of Fuel  trucks and in the early 1950′s Robert Johnson, then the local Chevrolet dealer, operated a used car conditioning shop and a used car Lot  on the premises.  In 1960 it became a laundromat owned by John Buzzell  of Newark. John added the second and larger portion of the Building three to four years later. On April 28, 1977 the building caught on fire.  A faulty aluminum electric cable is believed to be responsible for the fire. The fire destroyed the  building . At the time of the fire the owner  was John Buzzell  Jr. also of Newark. The station stood empty for 15 years until the Hombergers  and  Hermanet‘s  bought it and opened Another  Laundromat and the Ice Cream Junction in January of 1992.