Leslie Barns

In previous years, the Toronto Transit Commission has opened the doors to one of its several maintenance yards, such as Greenwood Yards, Russell Carhouse and Hillcrest Shops .

This year, as part of Doors Open, the TTC's brand new Leslie Barns were opened to the public to show where (eventually) 123 new Bombardier Flexity streetcars will be housed. By now, there should have been over 70 plying Toronto's streets. Production delays with the builder Bombardier has meant that only 20 are in the Commission's possession. One of these is being used for training purposes (4401), while the newest arrivals, cars 4420 and 4421 are undergoing testing. After several years of disrupting the neighbourhood surrounding the Barns, it gave the community an insight into what the source of their headaches and hopefully a source of pride for the entire city. That is if Bombardier manages to finally deliver the entire fleet.

Photos taken near Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard East in Toronto, Ontario on May 28, 2016.

Highway 6 Rocket

On Highway 6, just south of Highway 401, sits a farm called Wagyu World, which breeds cattle with the intent to ship to the lucrative Japanese Wagyu beef market. The sounds (and smells) of the ranch are complemented by a highly unusual sight for a rural Ontario farm, an old TTC PCC streetcar. This particular vehicle has been stripped of not only its motorized parts, but also any markings aside from the TTC's distinct cream and red livery.

On the fence along the driveway to the farm is a hand-painted sign which read "You take picture, I charge $100".

Suffice to say, I did not pay.

Photos taken along Highway 6 in Puslinch, Ontario on April 16, 2016.

New Streetcars on the 510 Spadina Line

 

For the first day of revenue service for the new Bombardier Flexity streetcar fleet on the Toronto Transit Commission's 510 Spadina streetcar line, the TTC introduced cars 4400 and 4403 to the general public. This comes after their unveiling in local parades and months of testing both day and night.

Photos were taken from within or around the cars as they trundled along Spadina Avenue and Spadina Crescent on August 31, 2014.

Union Station Second Platform

Photos taken beneath the intersection of Bay and Front Streets, Toronto, Ontario on August 18, 2014.

New Toronto Streetcar - Night Time Test Run

Nighttime shots of the TTC's new streetcar (4401) beginning a test run near Connaught and Queen Streets in Toronto, Ontario on April 9, 2014. 

For the daytime version, see my previous post here.

New Toronto Streetcar

Today I finally got to see Toronto's newest generation of streetcar in action as it entered a testing run from the Russell Carhouse at Queen and Connaught Streets in east-end Toronto. The sleek, quiet and LONG (30m) vehicles are meant to replace an aging fleet of Canadian (and Articulated) Light Rail Vehicles which have been plying Toronto streets since 1979 (1988 for the ALRVs). The first of these new quasi-"Flexity" cars will enter service on the Bathurst, Spadina and Harbourfront routes later in 2014.

Photos taken near Queen and Connaught Streets in Toronto, Ontario on April 2, 2014.



Some additional photos of the new (and old, older and REALLY old) cars are in in the posting TTC Hillcrest Shops Tour 2013 from November 2013.

TTC Hillcrest Shops Tour 2013

On a brisk December afternoon, the Toronto Transit Commission opened the doors of probably the most important (and taypayer-friendly) facilities in their system: the Hillcrest Shops. This is where the heavy lifting (literally), refurbishing, repairing, repainting, reverse-engineering and restoration of the TTCs surface fleet takes place.

It's amazing how much actually has to be built from scratch at this place. From obsolete streetcar doors, to ventilation systems, to manual track switchers, the behind-the-scenes members of the TTC toil to keep the rolling stock rolling, without having to prematurely replace a bus, or in the case of streetcars, retirement.

The star of the show was the new low-floor, articulated behemoth of a streetcar, which is guaranteed to cause nightmares in the mayor's office. This thing is HUGE. There are plenty of chairs, some facing each other, which should be an interesting experience for the average above-ground straphanger. Also plenty of doors for entry and exit, which in theory should keep things moving along more quickly. Lots of LED lighting along the sides of the doors which flash to alert potentially-passing drivers of their open status. The thing is, you won't be able to pass these things. Unless you're driving a dragster and have an open curb lane for at least 1000 ft., that is. They also had a NovaBus articulated bus on display, which should be entering service in the near future.

For heritage sake, they had the PCCs, a Peter Witt, and a lonely ALRV out in the yard for people to walk through, and reminisce over.

Photos taken at the TTC Hillcrest Shops on Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario on November 23, 2013.