HORNELL — Inside two industrial shops tucked along the old Erie Railroad yards of this

Steuben County city, workers are reshaping subway cars 114 and 123, as well as the future of

Buffalo's Metro Rail system.

Perched on stationary platforms, they certainly resemble what rumbled through the Buffalo subway just a few months ago. But the stripped-down shells delivered from Japan's Tokyu Car Co. in 1984 is where the similarity ends.

Workers from Gray Manufacturing Industries are reconstructing almost every aspect of 114

and 123, just as they eventually will for the other 24 cars of Metro Rail's fleet. They crawl

through the bare car bodies installing new control consoles, interior walls, lighting, floors,

doors and windows. And in every nook and cranny, they run wire through conduits — literally

miles of it.

In a few weeks, GMI technicians will fasten down new seating, poles, electronic signage and

audio systems. Then they will remount the shells on refurbished trucks with new wheels, gear

boxes and overhauled traction motors and install new pantographs to connect with overhead

catenaries, as well as new brakes and air compression systems. Say goodbye, also, to the "earth tones" paint scheme.

Call it an "extreme makeover" for the system's aging fleet, where each car's odometer

averages about 812,000 miles.

"This was a must," said Lawrence M. Meckler, executive director of the Niagara Frontier

Transportation Authority. "We couldn't move forward without it."

The approximately 25,000 commuters who ride Metro Rail daily will begin to notice their new

conveyances in May, when they return to Buffalo for trials in the system's yard and shops and

then nightly test runs in the subway itself. They are expected to re-enter revenue service in

July.

"With our rail cars rebuilt and our [96] new buses, we're giving the people of Western New

York pretty close to a brand-new system," Meckler said.

The rebuild of cars 114 and 123 is just the beginning of a $40 million rehabilitation

program, with federal and state agencies covering all but about $3 million. After a

quarter-century of plowing through Buffalo snow and salt on Main Street as well as the

dampness of subway tunnels, the deteriorated truck assemblies now sitting in the GMI shop are

caked with grease and grime. And it didn't take much muscle for crews to rip off the corroded

exterior shells.

"The vehicles needed it, that's for sure," said Michael Bykowski, NFTA's engineering

director.

But NFTA engineers saw the bustling transit industry the New York City system has spawned

around the state and realized the Hornell shops were offering a bargain — $1.1 million per car

as opposed to almost $3.5 million for new models.

"Without this rebuild, our ability to run Metro into the future would have been brought

into question," Meckler said. "It would have cost over $100 million and [been] impossible to

fund. So the only option was to rebuild."

It will take 2 and a half years for the entire fleet to emerge from the Hornell shops, but then it

will be at least 2030 before the NFTA figures it will have to address the problem again. It

amounts to an ambitious engineering and business project, with about 30 subcontractors

providing the thousands of parts and materials comprising a light rail vehicle.

The program aims to give Metro Rail riders comfortable new seats mounted over a smooth

suspension system. Exterior sensors will automatically trigger audio systems and LED panels

notifying passengers of upcoming stops — a state-of- the-art innovation.

"It's one of the amenities we think the public should have here," Bykowski said.

NFTA officials say the two-hour trip to Hornell to oversee the program amounts to a big plus

compared with about four hours to Glenville.

GMI President David Gray said his four-year-old operation drew on the expertise of the

neighboring Alstom plant that builds new subway cars for New York City when he and his

partners launched their venture. He currently employs 18 workers.

"We're probably the right guys for a smaller job," he said, explaining his crew can

concentrate on technology while the prime contractor handles the complexities of bonding and

financing.

While the giant Alstom complex next door turns out one subway car per day for shipment to

New York, Gray expects to return one car per month to Buffalo.

Shawn D. Hogan, the longtime mayor of Hornell, said the GMI operation and its NFTA contract

is another example of how the city of 9,000 has adapted to the loss of its once-sprawling Erie

Railroad shops. Since the railroad left in the 1970s, the city has attracted a succession of

rail equipment manufacturers to the complex — Morrison Knudson, Amerail, General Electric —

and now Alstom to serve New York City and other transit systems.

"We've gone from the grease and bolts of the railroad to the highly technical and digital

world of transit cars and stainless steel," Hogan said, adding that the city helped GMI with

financing to become another Hornell transit firm.

"We have developed a transit cluster and center of excellence like Buffalo has with its

biotech center of excellence," the mayor added. "With the movement to high speed rail and the

enhancement of many transit systems, the future is tremendously bright for this small

community."

Meckler exhibits similar optimism about what lies ahead for Buffalo.

"Now we're just chomping at the bit to get those first two cars in," he said. "That's when

we know we're on our way."