Day: May 5, 2007

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Intersection Replacements on Dundas

With the reconstruction of the Dundas route, we will get several chances to see the TTC’s new method of installing intersections this summer.

The special work is pre-coated with rubber and assembled into panels before it arrives at the worksite.  The rubber provides mechanical isolation of the track from the roadbed just as the sleeves now used for tangent rails do, reducing vibration and increasing the lifespan of the entire installation.  Pre-assembly of track panels simplifies work at the site because each individual piece of track does not have to be fitted into position and welded one at a time.

Tentative dates for intersections (as shown on the TTC’s construction site) are:

  • Victoria Day weekend:  Bay & Dundas
  • Canada Day weekend:  Ossington & Dundas
  • Simcoe Day weekend:  Church & Dundas
  • McCaul & Dundas is not explicitly scheduled, but trackwork in the surrounding area is planned for late May

The TTC is quite proud of advancements they’ve made in track construction quality and speed, and Dundas Street is certainly a chance to show their progress.

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Jane’s Walk 2: My Home Streetcar Lines — Mt. Pleasant & St. Clair

Back in the days when goodly chunks of “the suburbs” were still farms, I grew up in North Toronto near Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton.  This neighbourhood dates from the building boom of the 1920s, although our house was older, 1906, the third one built in our block.  The old farmhouse up the road was replaced by two monster homes a few years ago, and now ours is number 2 in seniority.

When I was young, I spent a lot of time down at Mt. Pleasant Loop watching the streetcars.  This was a typical old style TTC loop with trees and benches, a house to the north and a BA gas station to the south right on the corner.  All of that’s gone now, and the loop is simply a hole in the front of seniors’ building where, infrequently, one can find a Mt. Pleasant bus.

The other corners held Ted’s Restaurant (gone — replaced like other stores around it with an ugly midrise office block), Eglinton Public School (replaced by a new building that turns its back on the intersection with a dead wall where once there was a playground), and the Bank of Commerce (now a Second Cup, but at least the original building).

Tracks ran west on Eglinton to Yonge, but these were never used for revenue service.  These had been installed in 1930 to allow operation of the St. Clair line from Eglinton Carhouse, but this never happened.  The junction at Mt. Pleasant came out in 1959, but the track to Yonge, buried under pavement, remained years longer until Eglinton was repaved. Continue reading →