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TTC at (Almost) 101

The TTC hit its centenary a year ago, September 1, 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic shutdowns. A planned very public event to mark the occasion turned out to be a private affair at Roncesvalles Carhouse.

Almost a year later, the TTC mounted a similar event with the doors open for everyone at Hillcrest Shops.

Here is a selection of photos of the event for those who were unable to attend.

10 thoughts on “TTC at (Almost) 101”

  3. Do the Witt and PCC (I doubt 4545 will ever see the light of day again) operate on their own power anymore, or were they towed?

    Steve: Nothing was running. As far as I know, both the Witt and PCC can run on their own. The challenge is that with so much overhead converted for pans, there are limited places they can operate. There has been talk of retrofitting them, but no action as everything has been focused on the pandemic for the past two years.

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  4. Steve, it makes my heart go pitty pat! to see your photos of “trolleys” from yesteryear. Los Angeles’ equivalent would be the Yellow Car Line.

    A small waterfront community, San Pedro, my home for 50 years was serviced beginning in the 1920’s by the Red Car Line and eventually was replicated by 2 cars which ran as a tourist enterprise along the waterfront and downtown area of San Pedro.

    Love the whole subject of transportation. Thanks!

    Best, Barbara Crutchfield

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  5. What vehicles did they have on display?
    Really wanted to go but had errands and chores to do. 😢

    Steve: You can see them all in the photos: Peter Witt, PCC, CLRV, Flexity and a collection of buses. I did not write down the fleet numbers of the buses.

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  7. I’m clearly no engineer, but I would have thought panto wiring was backwards compatible with trolley poles.

    Or is it a matter of straight wiring is “universal,” but it’s the switches that are the issue?

    Steve: Switches are one issue, but there are also locations where sections of pan-only overhead have breaks for tensioning, as well as the wire being slewed right to left. Poles can deal, albeit poorly, with te latter, but not the former and certainly not with intersections where there are on frogs, only overlapping contact wire.

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  8. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 has been serving Toronto for 119 years. It took more than a decade for workers at the Toronto Street Railway System to form a union. The Toronto Transportation Commission took over from the PRIVATELY run TSR because they did not provide good service for the city, and expand into new annexed sections of the city.

    There are people, usually with connections in the private sector, who want transit in Toronto to be run privately. Based on transit experience, that would be a mistake.

    Steve: Correction: The TSR (Toronto Street Railway) existed from 1861 to 1891. It was succeeded by the TRC (Toronto Railway Company) from 1891 to 1921. It was the TRC that refused to extend its system into newly annexed portions of the City.

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  9. Re the TSR: Wasn’t it owned by the city?

    Steve: No. A private company. See Wikipedia.

    The Toronto Civic Railway was formed to build the extensions that the TRC refused to, and that set the stage for a municipal takeover in 1921.

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  10. Steve: Thanks for the link; it’s an interesting story. It’s not that I confused the TSR with the Toronto Civic; public ownership of the TSR was something I ‘picked up on’ as a child and have retained ever since. Given all the later friction between the the TRC and the city, I just assumed that the city wouldn’t have made the same mistake twice.

    They would never do something that stupid today, of course.

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