Toronto Railway Historical Association

The Annual Railway Heritage Walk - May 10th at 11:00 a.m.

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TRHA Historian Derek Boles will be conducting his annual railway heritage walking tour for Heritage Toronto on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 beginning at 11:00 a.m..

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The sites that Derek will deal with in some detail include:

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1. The CPR Building at King & Yonge.

2. Canadian Northern headquarters at King & Toronto.

3. Toronto Railway Company headquarters at King & Church.

4. The Gooderham (Flatiron) Building.

5. The Great Western Railway station at Yonge & Esplanade.

6. The Railway Viaduct.

7. Union Station (although only the public areas, not the restricted areas we access on our monthly tours)

8. Old Union Station.

9. Roundhouse Park.

10. CPR John Street Roundhouse

11. The Railway Lands
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These walks are free and no reservations are required. Just show up!

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Saturday, May 10th - 11:00 AM

Toronto's Railway Heritage

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On May 16, 1853, the first passenger train steamed out of Toronto from a wooden depot located close to the eastern entrance of the present Union Station. Over the course of the next century, the railways were to have a profound impact on the city. This walk explores the railways' influence on downtown Toronto, with an emphasis on the Railway Lands and the old CPR John Street roundhouse.

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LEADER: Derek Boles, Toronto Railway Historical Association

START POINT: Courtyard on North side of King St, just East of Yonge St

FINISH POINT: John Street Roundhouse, Rees St and Bremner Blvd

LENGTH: Approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours

FOCUS: Historical, architectural

DIFFICULTY: Long walk on sidewalks, some stairs

Tooling up for even more progress!

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Last weekend, despite the lack of TTC service, we had a good productive weekend at the roundhouse. Thanks to James R., Bob D., James G. and Dave W., the CLC-W now has even more fresh paint and we can refer to it now as "No.1" as the numbering has been applied to the cab sides. The air horn is also suitably painted.
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Other work underway is the restoration of the first of the three maintenance lorries. Wooden frame reconstruction is happening with help of three machine tools provided courtesy of Russ Milland - a bandsaw, drill press and radial-arm saw.

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by Michael Guy with photo credit to James Rasor.

Cancellation of the April 26th Union Station Tour

For the first time since the monthly Union Station tours began in 2006, we were forced to cancel the April 26th tour due to the unexpected TTC strike that began at midnight the night before. Tour leader Derek Boles was heading out the door on Saturday morning when he read about the strike in the newspaper that was waiting at his door. At this point, there was no way of getting to Union Station by 11 am and it was unlikely that there were many people who had planned on taking the tour that would have been able to get there as well. Attempts were made to contact the Travelers' Aid information booth at the station but it appears that the staff were unable to make it there either.
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To anyone who did show up for the tour, we offer our sincere apologies and hope you understand that the circumstances were beyond our control.
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There is no full Union Station tour in May as the annual Doors Open event will be held at the station, as well as at 150 other venues throughout the city, including the John St. Roundhouse. As part of this event, free Union Station tours will be offered on May 24th & 25th, although these are considerably shorter and less detailed than the regular monthly tours.
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The next regular Union Station tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 28th at 11 am.

Still Workin' on the Whitcomb!

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In the picture at left, Dave W. replaces a fuel hose while in the middle picture, I put a dab of paint on the newly extended drip rails on the cab roof. These will prevent (we hope) dirty rain water marks on the cab sides where the TRHC logo will go soon. In the picture at right, Grant K. and myself complete the installation of headlight bulbs. Grant was responsible for providing new 32 volt 250 watt genuine locomotive headlight bulbs for the CLC-W. Both headlights now work with correct high and dim settings.

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By Michael Guy, TRHA

Workin' on the Whitcomb!

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After completing a period of winter maintenance on the two engines of TRHC #1, the Canadian Locomotive Company Whitcomb industrial switcher, a TRHA crew in roundhouse stalls 16 and 17 works to re-assemble the hood and doors of the rear engine. Built in 1950, the locomotive has two Cummins 150 hp six-cylinder diesel engines. As the engines are long obsolete, parts are a challenge to find. But these two engines continue to run well fifty-eight years after they were built.

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by Michael Guy, TRHA

Progress on several fronts!

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Work continues on several fronts at the roundhouse. In the picture at the upper left, TRHA volunteer Dave W. cuts a new engine gasket on the bench in stall 16. In the middle picture Western Mechanical technicians install the new turntable bridge safety railing. In the picture at the right, we see the new air compressor installation to supply air to the turntable drive motors and the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre workshops. This compressor replaces the mobile compressor we have been using to date.

by Michael Guy, TRHA