. As one can see in the picture at the upper left, the roundhouse has a vast expanse of roof. Roughly half of the roof is being re-waterproofed as weather allows. . The three museum stalls will rely on a pair of original Richardson Ventilators for heat and fume extraction. In the photo at the right above, we find one of these reconditioned units on its way back up onto the roof above stall 15. . Story by Mike Guy; Photos by Michael Guy and Dave Wetherald
Restored Watchman's Shanty Returns to Roundhouse Park!
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . Recently, the watchman's shanty was returned to Roundhouse Park after being fully restored by Tom Murison. The three pictures above are some close up views of the exterior and interior of the completed shanty. In the pictures below, we see the shanty being loaded onto the trailer for the trip to the roundhouse and the shanty after its journey from Oakville resting near the Don Station in Roundhouse Park awaiting final placement. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures by Tom Murison
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . The TRHC's miniature steam locomotive was moved into the newly cleaned and painted roundhouse blacksmith's shop today. In the picture at left, we find Dave using the newly installed chain hoist to lift the locomotive from a rolling stand onto a more secure elevated assembly track. The locomotive and its tender are seen together for the first time in the middle picture. TRHA Director Michael Guy is sitting on the tender in the engineer's position. Finally in the right hand picture, we see the engineer's view of the cab interior. . Story by Michael Guy; Pictures by Michael Guy and Dave Wetherald
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . The museum's collection of railway equipment includes Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Caboose #70. Currently it is being stored outside while renovations to the roundhouse are underway. The protective coverings have been temporarily removed allowing us to bring you these pictures of the unrestored caboose. The history of this caboose is captured in the Collections section of this website. It says ..... . "This steel-sheathed, woodside caboose was constructed in 1921 by the TH&B Railway in its Aberdeen (Hamilton) shops using some components from caboose #51 acquired in 1907 from the Michigan Central Railroad Its present appearance came about in the 1950's when steel sheathing was added. Around 1954-1955 it received the yellow paint scheme already being applied to their boxcars since early 1952. The TH&B chose yellow and black from the colours of the Tiger Cats football team in Hamilton. ........ Click Here for more information ...." . NOTE: If you have pictures of this caboose in operation please contact Russ at trainz@cogeco.ca
... Click on each picture for a closer look! . The four pictures above all show the Central Heating Plant (CHP). The top two pictures are from 1929. The picture in the lower left is from 1931. The right hand picture was taken in the 1950's. . In October 1928, the Toronto Terminals Railway began building the Central Heating Plant at the northwest corner of York Street and Fleet Street (now Lakeshore Boulevard). The new facility replaced the old Toronto Hydro Scott Street plant, which was expropriated by the Toronto Terminal Railways (TTR) for the building of the railway viaduct. When the CHP was completed in 1929, it was the largest such facility in Canada. The building housed eight boilers and was 275 feet long and 60 feet wide. There were two smoke stacks, each 232 feet high and later extended by 100 feet. The plant was fuelled with coal brought in on a Canadian National siding that led from the High Line. At its peak, the CHP could produce 330,000 pounds of steam per hour or an average of 600 million pounds annually. . The plant provided steam heat piped through underground tunnels to a wide variety of railway facilities including Union Station, the CNR and CPR express buildings flanking the station and the CPR John Street roundhouse, as well as supplying heat for individual passenger cars stored in the coach yard. The steam used for the direct steaming process in the roundhouse's resident steam locomotives also came from this source and was piped over each stall. The CHP also heated the Royal York Hotel, the Dominion Public Building, the Postal Delivery Building and the CN/CP Telecommunications building at Front and Simcoe Streets. Later the plant was converted to natural gas. In the 1980s the Toronto Terminals Railway decided to purchase their heating capacity directly from a commercial supplier and the Central Heating Plant was demolished, with the stacks tumbling down on June 17th, 1990 as described in a previous post. Even today, a system of tunnels radiates from the site of the CHP to Union Station and other buildings. . Story by Derek Boles, TRHA Historian; All images from City of Toronto Archives
From the Archives - Smoke Stack Demolition in 1990
On June 17th 1990, from his vantage point high atop the Gardiner expressway, which was closed for the occasion, photographer Norm Betts recorded the demolition of the two smoke stacks of the Toronto Central Heating plant. This coal-fired plant produced steam to heat much of the downtown core including Union Station, the Royal York Hotel and the John St Roundhouse. A network of steam pipes ran underground through tunnels, many of which are still there today. . In the first four pictures, we see the demolition of the western smokestack. . Click on each picture for a closer look! ...... .
The final three pictures show the eastern chimney coming down with a great view of the Lakeshore Blvd and Bay St intersection and downtown as it was eighteen years ago.
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In our next news item tomorrow, the story of the Central Heating Plant will be told.
......... Click on each picture for a closer look! . In the picture at upper left we find (from left to right) Richard, Michael G., Jason P., James and Dave them grouped around our miniature steam locomotive which is of course now relocated to the machine shop in the roundhouse. They formed yesterday's work team. In the next picture, the new storage rack is being carefully measured by Richard before cutting timbers to complete the structure. In the next picture we find Jason continuing to clean and polish our engine lathe. Finally in the rightmost picture we can see the newly painted wall in the blacksmith's area where our new miniature steam locomotive will be completed. We also find Michael G. and James working to build a door for this opening to help seal off this area. . A bonus addition for the blacksmiths (shop courtesy of Arno) is an old but excellent 1.5 ton chain hoist which is now hanging from the original overhead beam and dolly. It fits perfectly and looks like it was there forever. This hoist will be essential when the time comes to remove the locomotive boiler for the paint stage of construction. . Story and pictures by Russ Milland
From the Archives - Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 8 of 8
We wrap up this series with a list of the passenger train arrivals and departures from Union Station in June of 1868.
. ARRIVALS . .
DEPARTURES Railway Companies . GWR = Great Western Railway (trains terminated at the GWR's Yonge St. Station) GTR = Grand Trunk Railway NRC = Northern Railway of Canada (trains terminated at the NRC's City Hall station) . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . Today, our steam engine was successfully moved today from our assembly shop space in Markham, Ontario, Canada to our machine shop space at the roundhouse. In the picture at left above, we see the engine and the cab in Dave Wetherald's van ready to leave the assembly shop. In the middle picture, we see the engine being lifted into the roundhouse thanks to the generous assistance of the contractors working at the roundhouse. Finally in the right hand picture we see the steam engine resting comfortably in the roundhouse machine shop. It will now awaits its being reunited with its tender and then a subsequent partial disassembly for painting. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures by Dave Wetherald
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . Just when you think you have an almost finished steam engine and tender, you are challenged with the need to work up all of the water and steam lines and associated fittings. You quickly discover that this work seems to take a lot longer than one expected. This was my experience with completing what looked like a finished engine of my own that I had bought from a fellow modeler. . Our "tender men" have just invested the needed time and energy and have completed the "plumbing" for our steam engine tender. In the pictures above you can view some of their handiwork. In the picture at the right, you will find a complete view of all of the plumbing required to bring fuel oil and water to the front of the tender where flexible hose connections will bring these essential fluids to the engine itself. As you can see, we have fitted valves in various spots to allow us to control the flow of these fluids and to drain the tender tanks if necessary. . The tender is now ready to be shipped out to the roundhouse where it will be temporarily united with the steam engine which will be arriving there as well in the next few days from our other assembly facility. The next step will be to disassemble both to be able to ship the appropriate parts out for painting using a powder coating paint process. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Gibbon
From the Archives - Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 7 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . The above illustration shows the site of the 1858 Union Station, now buried under 17 feet of landfill that supports the railway viaduct built for the present Union Station in the 1920s. Although all the railway tracks using Toronto's first Union Station have since been replaced and realigned, GO Transit and VIA Rail continue to offer passenger service along the original routes. These are now all owned by Canadian National Railway except for the Union Station Rail Corridor between the Don River and Bathurst Street, which is owned by GO Transit. Many of the original right of ways still exist in the following forms:
The Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Railway route now hosts GO service between Toronto and Barrie.
The Great Western Railway route is used for the GO Lakeshore West corridor as well as VIA trains for Niagara Falls, London and Windsor and the daily Amtrak train to New York City.
The Grand Trunk's Western Division now carries GO trains to Georgetown and VIA trains to Guelph, Kitchener, London and Sarnia.
The Grand Trunk's Eastern Division hosts the GO Lakeshore East corridor as well as VIA's numerous trains between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Next TRHA Union Station Tour on Saturday, February 28th, 2009
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . The TRHA offers tours of Union Station on the last Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. Cost is $10 each payable on arrival for the tour. Reservations are not necessary and those interested should meet by the Traveler's Aid counter in the centre of the Great Hall at 10:50 a.m. For more about these tours, click here.
From the Archives - Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 6 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . The two tenant railways at Union Station were apparently not satisfied with the facility. The Northern Railway opened its own terminal just west of Brock Street in 1861. The Great Western Railway moved into its own station at the foot of Yonge Street in 1866. In 1868, the Northern Railway also opened City Hall station on the Esplanade west of Jarvis Street. At that time Toronto's City Hall was located in the structure that is now enclosed within the northern end of the building housing the St. Lawrence Market. Some of the Northern's best customers were farmers bringing their agricultural products for sale at the market. As a convenience for their passengers, both Great Western and Northern trains continued to stop at Union Station on the way to their own terminals. . In the early 1870's, the Grand Trunk decided to build a much larger Union Station in the same location. In 1871, Toronto's first Union Station was demolished and a temporary station was erected west of Simcoe Street. This facility served for two years until the second Union Station opened on July 1st, 1873. It was at the time the most lavish train station ever built in Canada and is shown in the illustration above. This facility will also be the topic of a future installment of this column. . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
Click on each picture for a closer look! . This past weekend at the Roundhouse, there was a productive work session with Lance, Wilson, Jason, Ron, Bob, Richard, and James forming this Saturday's work team. Lance and Wilson tackled the main challenge this weekend - the clearing and cleaning of the old triangular shaped blacksmith area for the new miniature steam engine's arrival. This space was being used to store paints and solvents. The space (seen in its final splendour in the middle left picture above) is required next week as the locomotive will likely be moved into this space next week. There the work on the locomtovie will be completed and the engine united with its tender. . Elsewhere, Ron, Richard, Wilson and Lance began the construction of an additional module for the skid storage by sorting through the unusable pieces to get a frame up and in place. The partially completed frame can be seen in the middle right picture above. . Bob and Jason continued cleaning the lathe testing three methods: a mild organic paint remover, a rust remover, and a paint thinner as shown in the picture at the upper left. . In the upper right photo, we see that the new doors for bays 26 and 27 are now complete. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures by James Rasor and Lance Gleich
From the Archives - Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 5 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . There was thought to be no photograph of this first Union Station, however the illustration above was recently found in the National Archives in Gatineau, Quebec. It is a stereograph image dated about 1860 and is looking west, similar to the view of the Armstrong watercolour. In fact this photograph may very well have been taken by Armstrong and used as the basis for his painting. This is also the same Armstrong who headed the Armstrong, Beere & Hime photographic firm that was responsible for the 1857 panoramic photos of the city. William Armstrong will be the topic of a future installment of this column. . The first era of railway building in Canada West (Ontario) ended about 1859, a reaction to a financial depression that had begun two years earlier. There were no new railway companies entering Toronto for at least another decade. However, the existing railways continued to improve their Toronto facilities as Canada prepared for nationhood and the city assumed its role as the capital of the new province of Ontario. While the 1858 Union Station impressed Torontonians when it first opened, the facility was soon inadequate to handle Toronto's expanding population and increased railway traffic. By 1868, a year after Confederation, there were 24 trains a day using the station. . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
From the Archives - Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 4 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . The illustration at the right above is a circa 1860 watercolour by William Armstrong that has been reproduced in almost every book about Toronto history and depicts the first Union Station looking southwest. Armstrong used artistic license to incorporate a number of interesting details into his work. Just south of the tracks can be seen the shoreline of Toronto's waterfront, with Grand Trunk passengers cars stored on a siding. The uniformed gentleman with the walking stick standing under the overhang is probably the first stationmaster. The family in the centre of the picture is enjoying a picnic on an overturned crate while awaiting their train. Possibly they are recently arrived immigrants waiting for a connecting train to take them to a smaller agricultural community. . Above them in the distance can be seen a railway brakeman engaged in the dangerous but then standard practice of standing on top of the cars and using hand signals to communicate to the engineer while the train is being assembled. The woman on the left illustrates the propensity for new world artists to include First Nations people in their scenes to provide a touch of the exotic for the European audiences who purchased these prints. In the far distance can be seen the Northern Railway grain elevator that was located at the foot of Portland St. between Bathurst and Brock (now Spadina Ave.) Streets . There were two separate structures comprising the station and both can be seen in the illustration. The far building housed the dining room, telegraph office and ladies waiting room. The nearer building contained the baggage facilities and possibly the men's waiting room as separate facilities for the genders were maintained in railway stations well into the 20th century. The station also included a barbershop, a tradition that has continued in Union Station up to the present time. . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
From the Archives - Union Station and the Model Railroad Club of Toronto
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Click on brochure or each picture for a closer look! . TRHA plans to develop a model railroad depicting the Toronto Rail Lands to likely be located within Union Station as part of its plan for the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. It will not be the first such model railroad to be located there. From 1938 to 1945, Model Railroad Club of Toronto developed and operated such a model railroad in Union Station. After 71 years, the Club still thrives today in the Liberty Village area. Here is an excerpt from their extensive history to be found the their website ( http://www.modelrailroadclub.com/ ) .
"On January 30, 1938, a small group of model railroaders met in the basement of Harry Ebert. From those humble beginnings came the Model Railroad Club of Toronto. In April 1938, the Club found and leased Room 470, a 16 foot by 165 foot space in Toronto's Union Station. Within five years the Club had built a credible O gauge layout. More incredible is that it was constructed through the early years of World War II, when both manpower and supplies were in short supply due to the war effort." . "After World War II, the railways required the Union Station space the Club occupied, so a hunt for a new home was on. In January 1946, the Club moved to its present location in the basement of 171 East Liberty Street (formerly 37 Hanna Avenue), a former munitions factory. Over the years, a great many have belonged to the Club and enjoyed themselves through fellowship with others that share their passion for the hobby. For many, membership at the Model Railroad Club of Toronto has been a lifelong commitment." . The black and white pictures above are from their Union Station period. The colour pictures above were taken on their current model railroad. As per the above brochure, the Club will be holding open house on Sunday, Feb 15th, Monday, Feb 16th (Family Day) and Sunday, Feb 22nd. Take the opportunity to visit their comprehensive website for more information about the club, their history and the Open House events. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures from the Model Railroad Club of Toronto Website.
From the Archives: Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 3 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . The illustration above is a reproduction of an 1858 map of Toronto and shows the location of several railway facilities. Union Station can be seen in the center of the map just to the left of the Esplanade. The two earlier stations can be seen at the corner of Front and Bay Streets. Other sites of interest include the Parliament Buildings, now the location of Simcoe Place and the CBC Broadcast Centre; Upper Canada College north of King St. and the Rossin Hotel at King and York Streets. The heavy black line indicates the railway track. . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
What will the Steam Engine look like when finished?
Click on the picture for a closer look! . As noted in an earlier news item, the cab is now complete and awaits mating with the locomotive. Dave W. picked up the cab last Sunday and brought it to our steam engine assembly shop. Since the reach rod and brake rod were disconnected already, we took the liberty to put the cab in position and take pictures. In the picture we see Dave W. posing with the engine with the cab in place giving us a good idea of the size of the engine and what it will look like when finished. . Story by Russ Milland; Picture by Michael Gibbon
From the Archives: Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 2 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . The Grand Trunk had quickly evolved into the most important railway in Canada, connecting the east coast of the United States with Montreal, Toronto and eventually Chicago. The illustration at teh left is an 1857 handbill advertising the railway's routes and services although most of the U.S. destinations highlighted were only reached by other connecting railways. Also shown is an illustration of the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, the first bridge over the St. Lawrence River, then under construction. On June 21st, 1858, the Grand Trunk opened Toronto's first Union Station on reclaimed land about 200 feet west of York Street halfway between Front Street and today's Bremner Boulevard. It was by later standards a modest frame structure built of wood, although at the time Torontonians were thrilled with the new station. The GTR shared the facility with the Great Western Railway and the Northern Railway of Canada (renamed from the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Railway). . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . Last Saturday, a team of eight volunteers (James R., Bob, Ron, Richard, James G., Paul, Jason, and Lance) quickly noticed something different in the machine shop--the door to the stalls had been bricked closed (see picture at upper left)! Taking advantage of the new wall space, Ron led most of the crew in assembling shelves to occupy this space (see middle pictures). We now have room for 12 more storage skids which will be a big help in clearing the machine room floor. Meanwhile, James R. completed the painting of the bottom side of the speeder passenger car (see picture at right) while Bob and Jason continued with the cleaning and lubrication of the fixed power tools. . Story and pictures by Lance Gleich
Click on each picture for a closer look! . The "tender men" have now completed the cab and will send it off shortly to the shop where the steam engine is being assembled. Once it arrives there it will be test fitted on the chassis before being sent off for painting. . Story by Russ Milland; Photos by Michael Gibbon
From the Archives - Toronto's 1st Union Station - Part 1 of 8
Click on the picture for a closer look! . 2008 marked the sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary of the first Union Station in Toronto. The railway era began in Toronto in 1853, when the first Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Ry. train departed from the city for Machell's Corners, thirty miles to the north. A year later, that community was renamed Aurora. The Toronto passenger station was located on the south side of Front Street about where the eastern entrance to Union Station is today. The Great Western Railway opened between Toronto and Hamilton in 1855 and built its own station at the foot of Bathurst Street. . In October 1856, the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) opened between Toronto and Montreal and between Toronto and Stratford although the two separate lines did not yet connect. The Western Division from Stratford terminated at Queen's Wharf near the foot of Bathurst Street. The Eastern Division from Montreal ended at the first Don Station located on the west side of the Don River. Passengers traveling through Toronto were carried by horse-drawn omnibus between the two terminals until early 1857, when the Grand Trunk joined the two divisions by building a right of way along the Esplanade. . The first Grand Trunk downtown station opened on February 12th, 1857 adjacent to the original Ontario, Simcoe and Huron station on Front Street. This structure was located close to the present Scotiabank entrance to the east wing of Union Station. Newspaper accounts describe both stations as rudimentary wooden sheds and both were soon replaced. There were by then three railways in Toronto and there wasn't enough room for them between Front Street and the top of the embankment above the waterfront. It was at this point that the filling in of Toronto Harbour began in earnest, with the railways quickly occupying the new real estate and the wharves extending further out into Lake Ontario. . The illustration above is one of the famous Armstrong, Beere and Hime series of panoramic photographs taken from the roof of the Rossin Hotel. The shoreline at the center of the illustration was to be the site of a new station that would replace the two earlier structures on Front St. The new station was to be built by the Grand Trunk and would be a "union" station, a facility that is used by two or more railway companies. . By Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
... ... Click on each picture for a closer look! . Now that the Burlington based team has completed their work on the steam engine's tender, they have been working on assembling the cab which is now almost nearly complete. In the above pictures we find Pat in action fastening the cab sides to spectacle plate. This work should be finished tomorrow. At that time, the tender and the cab will be sent out for painting using a powder coating process. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Gibbon
Click on each picture for a closer look! . In the picture at the left of the 1873 Union Station, we see its prominent clock tower. The clock in that tower was removed in 1927 after the present Union Station opened. What is truly amazing is the fact that the clock, re-installed in the Huntsville, Ontario City Hall as seen in the picture at right continues to serve up time today, 135 years later. To paraphrase the old Timex ads, it just keeps on ticking! . Story by Derek Boles; 1873 Union Station Image from Toronto Public Archives; Huntsville City Hall image by Bob Dickson
More News on Last Weekend's Progress at The Roundhouse!
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Click on each picture for a closer look! . As we see in the photo at the upper left, work continued on building four new doors for two stalls of the roundhouse. The old doors had been modified in the past with upper sections of corrugated fibreglass and didn't match the others. So the new doors will replace those doors with new doors which are faithful to the design and construction of the originals. . As shown in the other two photos above, some of the TRHA team of volunteers (Paul, Dave, Lance, James and Dan) worked on the speeder passenger car while others worked on the engine lathe. As a result, the passenger car now has its wheels, axles and bearings cleaned up, assembled, bolted down and ready for paint. . Story by Russ Milland; Photos by Lance Gleich
Click on each picture for a closer look! . This past weekend, Dave, Arno and Michael G. split their time between the roundhouse work (partly reported in the prior news item) and the shop where we are assembling the steam locomotive. . In the left hand photo above, we find Michael G. running an Induma vertical milling machine to put a rectangular hole in the bottom of the Sweet Creek smokebox to clear the steam and exhaust pipes. This was one of the few instances where the holes provided by the vendor were too small and in the wrong place. . At the shop, the team had a great time sorting out pipe fittings and dry fitting them to the boiler to find out where everything went and whether 'this' elbow needed a nipple 'that long' and if it went over 'there' with 'this' union and a valve. By the end of the weekend they were almost out of plastic bags of fittings and the steam engine looked more complete than ever. In the picture in the middle above, we find the team admiring the assembled locomotive. In the right hand picture we get a close up view of the backhead where most of the fittings are applied. . This past weekend, we were also able to pressurize the boiler to 90 psi with shop air to check for leaks (we found none), run the chassis briefly and blow the whistle for the first time. The whistle has a nice three note chime. The whistle has a more full and rounded tone than is apparent in the video below. Click on the arrow in the video below to listen to the whistle! . Story and Photos by Michael Guy; Video by Dave Wetherald .
...... Click on each picture for a closer look! . One of the major artefacts remaining in the machine shop area of the roundhouse is a large engine lathe as show in the pictures above located near the west windows of the shop. The "Wisegeek" website begins to answer the question of "What is an engine lathe?" as follows:
"An engine lathe is a horizontally shaped piece of machinery that is most often used to turn metal manually. By turning the metal and using special cutting tools, the engine lathe is capable of forming the metal into specific shapes. As its name implies, the engine lathe is often used to create metal pieces for use in an engine, whether it be for an automobile, a tractor, a boat, or any other motorized vehicle or machine ......" - Click Here to learn more! . Yesterday, a TRHA weekend work team of 7 volunteers appeared. Given the numbers, several team members were deployed to clean up the engine lathe to see if it could be brought back to life. They vacuumed away a great deal of dusty crud and washed away dirt with solvent-soaked rags. After that an hour of scraping away rust from the bed-ways saw the carriage and tailstock moving freely on fresh oil. A little investigation into the old 550v supply wiring revealed that they could indeed run a temporary feed for test purposes so they did. . As you can see in the picture at the upper right, the chuck (the round part that is used to hold the work being turned) is a blur suggesting that the team did get it to run. More conclusive evidence can be found in the video below. Click on the arrow to see the action. .
. Story by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich; Video by Michael Guy
